DVD-R Only?

I have an 15", 800 Mhz iMac I bought last summer with the Pioneer Superdrive. I have been able to use DVD-RW media using Toast. Toast allows me to reformat and reuse as well.

I have only been able to use the Apple burning software for DVD-R.

So, I would hope the new iMacs are the same. There is no reason to disable the functionality in the firmware. I think it should only be a matter of Apple supports only DVD-R. But Toast should work with DVD-RW. If not, Apple/Sony would have explicitly set the firmware that way.

I just can't believe they would do that. Why would they?

Oh, now I see. They are talking DVD-R vs. DVD+R. Still, I would question if it is really disabled or if Apple is sticking to the party line that they only support DVD-R.

Anyone have a new iMac with the Sony and Toast? I would hope Toast could burn to DVD+R.

Has anyone tried the external Sony FW multiformat DVD+/-R with toast?

Can someone elighten me as to why DVD+R would be an important feature, and which companies are backing each format? It's been awhile since I read up on this, and I forget.

ok so how long til someone hacks it? I don't even own an imac or a superdrive, but it will be interest to see how long it would take someone to hack it

Of COURSE, the evil monopoly just this morning joined a coalition of companies to promote/enforce the DVD+R/RW format. I guess they weren't too happy with Safari & Keynote.

I'm pretty sure that "-" had a defined market lead a year ago. Has that dried up? Why?

Far as I know/have read SO FAR, I can't see any material difference between the two, despite coming across the usual "it's so much better" without any reasoning behind such statements.

Gateway shows the way to a G4 Powerbook

In a print ad touting digital music solutions, a recent Gateway ad features an urban hipster jamming to tunes on his notebook--a PowerBook G4 Titanium notebook to be specific. Gateway said the inclusion of the Mac notebook was a production error and said the ad ran in just one publication in December before being pulled.
[Feb. 19, 2003]

Above was at the very bottom of the linked page.

Originally posted by springscansing
Can someone elighten me as to why DVD+R would be an important feature, and which companies are backing each format? It's been awhile since I read up on this, and I forget.

Probably the biggest important feature si that DVD+ is a part of the Mt. Ranier spec which allows PCs to R/W removalbe storage (with a focus on cd/dvd) without the need for additional software or drivers.

Are we forgetting that SuperDrives can also burn DVD-RWs? Apple hides that fact to sell more of the write-once DVD-R discs, or at least that is what a cinical user would think. By the way, the DVD+R format is completely redundant since it offers nothing that DVD-R has not allready offered.

Two possibilities that I can think of.

1) Apple had trouble getting the Pioneer drives, got the Sony's cheaper, or just wanted a second source (a good thing), or

2) Apple is planning to support DVD+RW as their rewriting format, but not until some future OS update. This gives them a head start with hardware support in some models without announcing anything. Maybe when 10.3 is announced they'll also provide this drive as standard in all Macs. Just not yet.

If Apple gets bogged down supporting every little feature of every OEM'd part they have, they'd have less time for the big stuff. I'm sure Toast will support (of not already) the +RW for those few who really need it now.