LaCie Portable DVD±RW SuperMulti DVD Burner

Comments about LaCie Portable DVD±RW SuperMulti DVD Burner:

It works great with my new MacBook Pro. It's very lightweight. I would prefer if it didn't use a tray. Taking out the DVD is difficult, risking getting fingerprints on the face of the DVD. It does not work well with older Macbook Pros. It pulls to much energy from the computer causing it to disengage the burner. It is however good for the person who is constantly on the move. The LightScribe burning takes forever!

Comments about LaCie Portable DVD±RW SuperMulti DVD Burner:

I'm a Mac user and this was one of the only DVD burners I could find that was compatible with both Mac and PC. Because my DVD reader/burner went out on my Macbook (apparently a common problem) I decided this would be a great low-cost solution so I could start burning DVD's for backup purposes.

I had some issues with it when I first plugged it in, but I figured out it's because it has 2 "drives" to it. One is the actual CD/DVD burner and the other is the Lightscribe option. For some reason Toast was defaulting to the Lightscripe drive and I couldn't find where to change it. I had to go back and forth between Toast Basic and Toast 9 to figure this problem out.

Another thing is although it is a portable drive, it is extremely lightweight, so much so that when you go to load in a DVD the pressure you need to use to click the DVD in causes the back half to fly up in the air. Seems like they should have weighted the back at least a little bit to counteract the weight distribution when loading CD's and DVD's. As of right now, I have my spool of DVDs on top of the drive to act as a makeshift weight. It works for now.

Overall, I would recommend this drive but it was fairly difficult in the beginning for me to get it working correctly. It could have very well been user-error also- keep that in mind.

Comments about LaCie Portable DVD±RW SuperMulti DVD Burner:

It works great with my mac book pro. Your computer needs to have 2 USB outlets though.

Comments about LaCie Portable DVD±RW SuperMulti DVD Burner:

Enclosed software on the weak side. Had to buy DiscLabel to get desired results. But other than that, I'm pleased. Be aware that a large design takes a relatively long burn time - like 25 minutes in my case.

Comments about LaCie Portable DVD±RW SuperMulti DVD Burner:

What strikes you on first encountering the portable DVD/CDR/LightScribe burner by LaCie is the solidity with which the substantial, firmly mounted disc drawer is built. This is a small detail, of course, but it's an excellent clue to the thoroughness with which this component has been built. One USB 2 port and two FireWire jacks on the back allow it to remain connected to two or three different sources, including an outboard HD — darned convenient. The firm on-off switch on the rear-panel is another indication that this is a serious component. The drive works fast and quietly, with little of the vibration less well-constructed burners always seem to have. The one annoying thing is not this machine's fault. LightScribe top-of-the-disc labeling is a marvelous technology, but it has two drawbacks: You can't just burn your label, but must through an pointless set of "version update" notices that you can't get around in a preferences pane, and each label takes 17-25 minutes (in my Mac 10.4.9 environment) to make. Nonetheless, this is a robust and gratifyingly straightforward burner.

Comments about LaCie Portable DVD±RW SuperMulti DVD Burner:

I bought this for the LightScribe labeling featue, to be able to easily label DVDs and CDs while traveling. I also wanted to take some of the load off my internal superdrive and needed a Mac-compatible model.

On the positive side, it is small, lightweight and burns DVDs quickly.

However, I was frustrated in several respects.

First, the case has a mirrored finish that scuffs quite easily. I would much rather have a brushed aluminum case which would be better suited to travel and would also match the cases on my MacBook Pro and G-Drive.

Second, I have not been able to power it through a single USB cable. It works fine if I use one USB cable for data and the USB power sharing cable included with the drive for power; however, this ties up both USB ports on my computer. I was not able to use it with a USB hub either. I'd like to find an AC power adaptor to free up my USB port. There is a small, round power jack on the back of the unit, but it is not labeled and I haven't found an AC power adaptor advertised specifically for this unit on the B&H or LaCie web sites. I'm sure I can find one at an electronics store, but haven't had time to research it thoroughly.

Third, I have not been able to burn a label. I've only tried twice and haven't explored it thoroughly. Both times the computer failed due to some data communications error. The two USB ports on my two-year-old MacBook Pro are not quite equal. The port on the right side is a bit more robust and is the only one that powers the Signature HDD. I may have better success by switching the cables around, but I want to find an AC adaptor before I experiment further.

The software for designing labels is fairly intuitive. Several templates are provided, which are easily customized.

I had read that the surfaces of LightScribe discs were somewhat fragile, but they proved to be even more so than imagined. The top disc in the stack had several dings right out of the package. But these seem unrelated to the burning failure.

In summary, it's a nice little lightweight portable DVD burner and is one of the few advertised as Mac compatible. I would be much happier if it operated off a single USB cable and I'm not crazy about the easily scuffed case. The jury is still out on the LightScribe feature.