Please recommend External DVD Recorders that works well with Macs.

[MattSh]

Have a two year old Mac mini. Never has burned discs well, but didn't find that out until it was out of warranty. My guess is that it'll be cheaper to just plug in an external than to get the current one fixed.

The mini only has Firewire and USB1. So a firewire connection is pretty much a must.

Doesn't have to be a particular model (ABC-123). Just a brand (Sony, Samsumg, etc). Official Mac support would be nice too.

Thanks!!

[Poiuyt]

1. What do you mean by "never burned disks well"

What kind of problems have you been having? If you're burning a lot of coasters, the problem might be due to the type of recordable disk you are using instead of the burner itself. For example, if you are trying to make DVDs with Memorex, then that is almost certainly the case.

[MattSh]

3. I mean...

During the warranty period, the first year, I used it to burn disks twice. Both times onto Sony DVD+R. There were a few other times it didn't work, but I figured part of it had to do with I've never had a burner before, CD or DVD, and I didn't know what I was doing.

Since then, nothing. I've tried the Sony's, and Pleomax (Samsung) CD's. I've been told by a local Apple rep that these usually work, and that it's probably the Superdrive itsself that has a problem.

[Poiuyt]

4. Before you go out any buy a new DVD recorder, try some more different brands

I've never had a problem with Verbatim or Taiyo Yuden and I've burned hundreds of DVDs. I always use DVD-R. Does your recorder also accept those? (check in the System Profiler to see) That might give better results.

[Captain Angry]

2. I have an old Mini as well...

I bought a DVD+RW drive to use externally when I need to burn something. I only bought the CDRW with my Mini.

So, I use a Plextor DVD+RW drive and an external Firewire/USB2.0 shell. I burn ISOs and stuff from the Disk Utility.

Works pretty well. Stays on a shelf for the time that I don't need it.

But I agree with the other post, if your Mini can't burn CDs, it might be the media's fault.