ext. DVD-RW drive

[()]

i hav an external DVD-RW drive that is an external drive using the firewire port.  i bought a 5 pk of DVDRW disc that had a + on it and it just wouldn't read them at all.  i put in the disc that had the - on it and it worked fine.  Why is it that the external drive which is the same as the internal drive that comes on the iMac G4's, eMacs and Power Macs that all have the Super Drive on them.  mine is the same, just an external version of it.

Then ther is the matter of making a DVD movie and playing it on the DVD players.

What programs do I use for this so i can play my dvd's on my DVD players conneced to the TV's in my home?

I have the external drive so I can connect it to both my iMac G4 700, and my Sony Vaio P4 2.4 ghz.

If any one has any suggestion on what programs and how to burn a DVD, please help!

another question...

Can I burn to a DVD-RW disc and play it back on a DVD player?

 

[Greg Dunn]

There are two kinds of DVDs, the '+' and the '-'.  Diffedrent formats, kind of like VHS and Beta videocassettes.  With a Mac, the '-' seems to be the one to use.  It sounds like your DVD-R drive is a Pioneer, which is what is on most Macs.  Since it is an external drive, you can not use iDVD to burn a disk.  Because of licensing problems of some sort, Apple made the program so that it would only work with an internal DVD drive.  Roxio's Toast seems to be a good DVDs. I don't use Toast, my drive is internal, so I use iDVD,but all reviews of it that I have seen are good.  It's about $99.00.  Using iMovie and Toast you should be able to make a DVD that you can view on most any DVD player.  
     DVD-RW disks are tricky, because some DVD players apparently can't read them.  You're probably better off sticking with DVD-Rs.  I've heard that OSX has trouble recognizing DVD-RWs, but I'm not sure about that.  
     Hope this helps.