Product Reviews

Most of Apple's current mid-range and high-end Mac models come with the option of a built-in SuperDrive. For those with other Macs, the easiest way to reap the benefits of a SuperDrive is to add an external model connected to a FireWire port.

SuperDrive is actually just Apple's name for an industry-standard optical drive that can read and write both CD and DVD media. The rest of the industry refers to them as DVD-RW drives. It's taken as a given that the drive has CD-RW functionality, too. The most widely used DVD-RW drive mechanisms are built by Pioneer, and the one in LaCie's new DVD Rewritable Drive is no exception.

As is the case with CD-RW drives, it can be pretty hard to differentiate between products based around identical mechanisms. So what has LaCie done with its drive to make it stand out from the competition? For starters, it's enclosed in an understated, stylish and attractive aluminium and plastic case, which wouldn't look at all out of place on a desk next to a PowerBook or iBook.

Second, although the Pioneer mechanism is from the same family as those used in Power Macs, it's the latest generation, called the DVR-105. Its speeds are rated as 16x8x32x for CD-RW, and 4x2x12x for DVD-RW. The most important figure here is the 4x DVD-R speed, which means the drive is capable of burning data to recordable DVD media at four times normal playback speed. All but the most recent SuperDrives only run at 2x.

Besides its two FireWire ports, the only connectors on the drive are a power socket and a slot for a Kensington security lock. It's perhaps a little frustrating that the drive requires an external power unit, rather than having it built into the enclosure. This could become irritating if you're planning on using the drive on the road, as it's one more thing you have to carry with you and it creates more clutter, but the power supply itself is small and unobtrusive so won't be a problem in a desktop environment.

What's in the box?

The install

The inclusion of CaptyDVD in the package is designed to address the biggest problem for all external DVD drives - that they don't work with Apple's iDVD. CaptyDVD goes some way to rectifying this. On first glance it looks remarkably similar to iDVD. It uses a similar interface, with the main body of the window taken up with the content of the project and a contextual palette down the side, which allows you to edit and customise your content.

However, we found it less intuitive to use than iDVD, and the interface feels rather restrictive at times. It's supplied with a wide variety of 'themes' for background images and menu buttons, but these all look rather amateurish in comparison to iDVD. There's no support for motion menus or buttons, and the ability to customise designs is very limited.

In addition, its Japanese origins mean the documentation and some interface elements can be tricky to understand. We also found it very annoying that the manual was provided in HTML format rather than as a PDF, making it difficult to navigate and find what you're looking for.

CaptyDVD does have one advantage over other consumer DVD creation packages, such as Formac's Devideon, and versions 1 and 2 of iDVD, which is its support for chapter markers. This is a crucial feature for professionals, but it's unlikely to be particularly important for this product's core markets of home and business users, and it doesn't make up for the software's other deficiencies.

Capable and reliable

Having said all that, LaCie should be commended for making sure that buyers of its DVD-RW drive can get the most from the product. CaptyDVD may not be as slick as iDVD, but it provides a way for you to get movie footage and photo slideshows onto a video DVD, which is the most important factor.

What's more, there are plenty of other uses for a DVD-RW drive, many of which LaCie has also addressed by bundling Toast Lite and SilverKeeper. And the drive works fine with Apple DVD Player, so it can be used to play back DVD movies. It's a shame it doesn't work with iDVD, but that's Apple's fault. If you're looking for an external DVD recorder, you'll find little to beat the LaCie DVD Rewritable Drive.