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eMac Gets SuperDrive

Posted by pudge on from the it-is-nice-to-see-1.44MB-floppies-still-getting-some-use dept.

unspec writes "For those looking for cheap Macintosh DVD authoring, Zettabyte Solutions have a press release describing the SuperDrive-equipped eMac they will soon be offering." I imagine it wouldn't be too hard to convert your own eMac to a "SuperDrive," but I don't really know.

7 of 28 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Apple and their naming by bigdog79 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Here's what they do: just wait a few years until the current technology is left behind, then give "superdrive" to the new standard. remember, "superdrive' was originally the amazing (heh heh) floppy drive that could read both Mac and PC formatted disks.

  2. Read the damned page before posting by tm2b · · Score: 3, Informative

    That's probably why this company offers their own replacement warranty.

    --
    "It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us." - Zelazny
  3. Adding a DVR to your machine by dasspunk · · Score: 2, Informative
    The SuperDrives are just plain old Pioneer DVR drives. You can get a Cheap SuperDrive for $254.49 here or keep checking DealMac.com for falling prices.

    You should be able to slip this drive into a G4 in either it's available drive bay or by replacing your existing DVD/CDRW/Combo/CD with it. The only difficult part of installing a SuperDrives in an eMac would be getting the case apart and then back together. I haven't taken an eMac apart so I can't comment on it's ease but having taken many iMacs apart, I can tell you it's not super easy. If it's like the iMac, you'll have to get in there pretty far to get at the drive bay. The trick is to go slow, think about it and remember where all the screws came from!

    If the thought of taking a machine apart and/or voiding your warranty makes you squeamish, you may be able to put the Pioneer DVR into a Piranha FireWire case for an extra $55. You should give them a call first and make sure this case can handle removable media drives and is fast enough for a DVR.

    1. Re:Adding a DVR to your machine by Tug3 · · Score: 2, Informative

      True!

      But at least for G4 I can't fit in a second CD/DVD/??? -drive in without doing some metal work. At least in the "old" (not quicksilver) G4 case the lower space has metal brackets for 3.5" form drives (such as Zip drive) only. And I still am looking for the DVD-burner to fit into that (and still use use stadard DVDs). *GRIN* Maybe with some sort of "hardware compression technology"?

      No, seriously. It's easy to replace the internal drive with anything (supported). I replaced my internal DVD-RAM with a Sony CD-RW (a model that Apple used in another G4-model) I got cheaply - works perfectly directly from OS, no Toast needed. Only problem is I have to swap in the DVD-RAM to watch movies... I would love to put them both in at once, but I hesitate to cut my G4 case to bits - maybe I'll just buy a PC case and fit everything in that...

      But as for fitting a DVD-R in, I see no reason why it shouldn't work as well (provided model matches those of used by Apple). It seems Apple has used the same (PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-104) drive in both G4s and iMacs. Ofcourse you'll be voiding the warranty and all that, but you can find a pretty good list at Dantz's site:
      http://www.dantz.com/index.php3?SCREEN=osx_ apple_o pt_compat_dev

      Enjoy...

      --
      If all else fails, pull the plug and get out...
      The Life is out there...
  4. Re:iMac vs. eMac by foonie · · Score: 2, Informative

    the larger eMac CRT monitor also supports a resolution of up to 1280x960. the iMac LCD maxes out at 1024x768.

    ken

  5. Dismanteling an eMac by krischan · · Score: 2, Informative

    G'Day,

    I dismantled mine last week as I swapped the CD-RW with an DVD and upgraded the HDD.

    That was a lot of fun!

    basically it comes down to unscrewing 30 or so screws, taking care of many wires and playing around with the mainboard as the drive bay is connected with it.

    I took some pathetic pictures, might post them if someone wants them...

    not for the faint - and I think I lost my warranty

    Krischan

  6. Re:Apple and their naming by LazLong · · Score: 3, Informative

    Actually, the SuperDrive wasn't given that moniker because it could read both Mac and PC formatted disks, but rather because it could write 1.44MB diskettes. At the time this drive was released there was no native MacOS support for reading and writing of PC disks. Apple later released PC Exchange which let you use PC floppies, but only from within the app - you had to copy files to and from the floppy, no on-the-fly use of the disk. Software Architects released an INIT/CDEV called DOS Mounter which would allow the use of PC disks natively within the Finder as if it were a Mac disk (and later PC SCSI hard disks). Apple later purchased the right to bundle this with the MacOS.