This depends a bit. DVDs also come in two versions like CDs, write once and re-writeable.
Internal bare 4x DVD drives are running about $190 for the -r/rw version (Pioneer A05 drive which is a combination DVD and CD burner), so you could swap out the CD writers for these if you wanted to. The advantage is that you can make multiple copies of a DVD that can be rewritten to many times. The 4x allows you to burn 60 minutes of video in 15 minutes, so for files that average less than 1 GB, it should be faster. Toast works really well with these drives. It is also cheaper to buy a new blank DVD to replace a lost one than it is to buy a new FW drive if it gets lost or damaged. Just a side note: The -R is more for archival (and yes, making movies) and the -RW is for use as a data disk. On Wednesday, June 4, 2003, at 03:58 PM, Beth Ernst wrote: > Very much! > > I had considered some type of external drive but because of our > schedule we would need more than one. But if they are that inexpensive > we could use a couple of them and still come out cheaper than buying > DVD drives and the media. Thanks for the tip! > > Beth > >> ---------- >> From: Bryan Forrest >> Reply To: macgroup at erdos.math.louisville.edu >> Sent: Wednesday, June 4, 2003 3:53 PM >> To: macgroup at erdos.math.louisville.edu >> Subject: Re: MacGroup: DVD Drive info >> >> I highly recommend a small Firewire hard drive for just such >> occasions. >> OtherWorld Computing has 20GB pocket hard drives for about $170. Get >> the 5400 rpm drive, and make sure it has the Oxford 911 chipset. You >> might also call MacTown to see what kind of drives they might have and >> their prices. >> >> The benefits of these drives are speed, simplicity and size. They are >> much faster than burning data to DVDs, they are very compact, and all >> you have to do is plug them in and they show up on your desktop just >> like any other hard drive. If you go the DVD route, you will be >> looking >> at $3-5 per DVD. Transfer rates will be in the neighborhood of 2-3 >> MB/second and you can only use each disk once. Firewire hard drives >> will transfer 10-20 MB per second, making quick work of large files, >> and just like other hard drives, it's completely reusable - just drag >> old files to the trash when you're done with them. >> >> DVD-R is a fun technology for making movies, or possibly for long time >> data archival, but it's not really ideal for data transfers. >> >> Hope this helps! >> >> Bryan C. Forrest >> Macintosh Specialist >> LifeNet >> http://www.lifenet.org >> >> >> On Wednesday, June 4, 2003, at 03:16 PM, Beth Ernst wrote: >> >>> A couple of questions about DVD drives. >>> >>> I have a G4 800 MHz with a CD drive and another G4 w/mirror doors >>> that >>> only has a CD drive as well. At the time we purchased these machines >>> we didn't see a need for DVD. Now we'd like to use DVD to transfer >>> large files (approx. 1- 2GB) between two locations. We normally send >>> our publications to our pre-press department over our T-1 connection, >>> but there has been the occasional time that the line has been down >>> and >>> we are looking at a backup plan in the event it is down for a long or >>> crucial time period. Most of our publications will fit on a CD, but I >>> have a couple in excess of 1GB. Prior to getting our T-1 we used JAZ >>> drives but they are a rather unreliable media. >>> >>> What I wondering is can we replace the existing CD drives on these >>> machines with internal DVDs? >>> >>> Do they have to be Apple DVD drives? (I understand that Apple's >>> software will not work with external drives so I wasn't sure about >>> internal. ) >>> >>> If the drives can be replaced with internal drives what are some good >>> ones to look at? >>> >>> Is there a better, less expensive option, I'm not aware of to >>> transfer >>> files of this size? >>> >>> Thanks! >>> Beth >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will >>> | be June 24. The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>. >>> | This list's page is <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup>. >>> >>> >> >> >> >> >> | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will >> | be June 24. The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>. >> | This list's page is <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup>. >> >> > > > | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will > | be June 24. The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>. > | This list's page is <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup>. > > > | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will | be June 24. The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>. | This list's page is <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup>.
