Need to get a CD burner

[Epaminondas]

<< What's the "external firewire box" you mentioned? >>  
   
External Firewire Drive Enclosure  
 
Note that this enclosure utilizes an "ATA interface" not an "IDE interface."  
 
This is important.
   
 
This is just the box ("drive enclosure") - you have to supply the drive.  An external CDRW is useful if you need one drive to transfer data between multiple computers or need one drive to backup multiple computers.  Not of much interest if you just need a CDRW for one computer, however.  
   
Note that firewire transfer rates are much faster than USB 1.1 transfer rates.  If you are going to go with an external drive, you want firewire (or SCSI, but that's another story) over USB 1.1.  
   
I do not believe that your 9600 is  going to handle the faster USB 2.0 spec unless you can upgrade it to Mac OSX.1 or higher - a dubious proposition, at best.  
   
There are probably less expensive external CDRW drive enclosures out there - perhaps someone else can point you to one?  
   
   
<< The info I've read says that PCI IDE cards usually produce audio stuttering in pre-Beige G3 machines. In the xlr8yourmac database, I found 14 reviews of CDRW drives using IDE PCI cards on 9500/9600's, many of which had the stuttering problem. ProMax, maker of the TurboMax IDE PCI card, does not recommend using it on pre-Beige G3's. Unless I'm missing something here, I think I'd better avoid IDE PCI cards for a CDRW drive >>  
   
   
Ru-Ru-Russ Kidd,  
 
 
Exactly.  Precisely.  Correct.  
 
But you are talking IDE cards.  
 
You need an ATA card.  
   
 
I would run this by MacGurus - they know the 9600 like nobody's business.  If this problem has been solved - say, by a specific make of ATA PCI card - MacGurus can tell you how to do it.  If they have no firm answer for you, then agreed - pass it by.  
   
The xlr8yourmac database is excellent as a heads-up for problems - but it raises questions, it does not solve them.    
   
MacGurus solves problems.  
   
   
<< Hope you had a good trip.  >>  
   
She wants to get married in Paris.  
   
   
<< What's the "external firewire box" you mentioned? >>  
   
A little more on this -  
   
As I understand it, all an external firewire or USB drive is - whether you buy it preasssmbled from QUE or Iomega as a package or put it together yourself - whether it is a hard drive or a CDROM or a CDRW - all an external firewire or USB drive is is a plain old IDE/ATA drive in box with a firewire and/or USB controller card inside the box and a port to connect it to your computer - wherein you have to place a PCI firewire or USB card for your computer to connect to it.  
   
You are not buying a "firewire" or "USB" external drive.  Ain't no such animal.    
All you are buying in an IDE/ATA drive that has been stuffed into a box and jiggered to connect to your computer from an external source.  
   
Some of these external boxes are firewire conversions, some USB 1.1, some USB 2.0, some a combination - but they all have plain ol' vanilla IDE/ATA drives residing inside them.  
   
So - you pay a lot of extra money and put up with a lot of extra noise for an external box/fan/powersupply, a converter in the box, etc. for what?    
   
An IDE/ATA drive.  
   
In doing so you also often sacrifice some functions, such as drive bootability.  This just depends on your setup.  Which depends on your advance research.  Which is what you are doing.  Which is good.  
   
   
Now - people (including  myself) tend to use the terms "IDE" and "ATA" interchangeably, and we usually get away with it fine when dealing with hard drives, but not when dealing with optical CDROM and CDRW drives.  But there seems to be a crucial difference:  a lot of the problem with running ATA CDRWs off a PCI card is that "ATA PCI cards" can handle IDE hard drives and ATA optical drives (CDRWs), but "IDE PCI cards" may only be able to handle IDE hard drives and not optical ATA drives (i.e. not be able to handle CDRoms and CDRWs).  So ya gotta be real careful when choosing an IDE/ATA card for an internal ATA CDRW - it has to be one that can handle optical drives.  
   
I do not know if that is the problem people are having with stuttering internal CDRWs on the 9600 or not.  The people at MacGurus likely already know that.  You might be wise to run a search prior to asking - they are a bunch of swell guys and all that but they do sigh kinda loudly when answering the same question over and over and over again.  Particularly one that they already solved several times years ago.  
   
   
You are going to be running an ATA CDRW one way or another.  One way - internally in your 9600, relatively directly.  The other way - externally while converting it to firewire or USB - which seems kinda Rube Goldberg in comparison to me.  
   
But, hey - that's just me.  
   
An external firewire box may be the best choice for you.  I'm just not sure whether or not that has been fully established.  
   
Looks like there are several good ways to skin this cat.  
   
   
Ruff!  
   
Epaminondas

[krissel]

Here's my setup:
  enclosure (third one down USB 2.0/FW 400)

burner (fourth one down)

note free FedX shipping for both  

You would have to buy separate software if you go this route.  As I said, I already had Toast.

My thinking on external enclosures is that one of these days I will be getting a new puter and when that happens I may install the burner internally in the new machine depending on what comes in the unit and put an extra hard drive in the enclosure, or maybe a DVD burner or whatever. While the 9600 can't use USB 2.0 it would be possible in future Macs. Meanwhile FW400 works great. Oh, and I can use it with my Wallstreet.  

[Russ Kidd]

Bill:

Thanks for your feedback.  

Krissel:

It's amazing all the replies we've gotten on this.  I had no idea there were so many ways to go, but I'm still leaning towards what you have.  Being able to compare notes with someone who has the same thing is a big deal to me at this point.

Don't worry, I'm not planning to do anything to my existing CD-R drive.

Thanks for these latest links on what you have.  That really helps.  

And I like your thinking on integrating your current equipment into an eventual new computer.  What's a Wallstreet?  

Epster:

Hmmm . . .  I love Paris in the springtime . . .

You've really given me an education.  Thanks for your great explanations.  

As I mentioned to Krissel, I think going with what she has is probably the best thing for me now.  I'm just getting my feet wet with adding things to my Mac and to have someone with the same stuff who knows what she's doing is a big plus.

[kelly]

Russ. A Wallstreet is a G3 Powerbook.

http://new.lowendmac.com/pb2/g3series.shtml

http://new.lowendmac.com/powerbooks.html

[Russ Kidd]

Thanks, Kelly.