iDVD3- does it work w/ non-Apple superdrives?

[Charles Martin]

> From: Shane Walker <shane at soldesignfx.com>
>
> Sorry if this has been covered a dozen times, but will iDVD 3 work on
> systems where an after-market (i.e. Firewire external) SuperDrive has 
> been
> added?

I can't say personally, but the answer seems to be "no." Internal 
after-market Pioneer A03, A04 and A05 drives seem to work okay, though 
this is probably a "loophole" rather than an actual conscious decision 
by Apple.

> I really, really wish Apple would get off this idiotic kick of 
> shutting out
> 'upgrade' customers.

This is not the reason they do this. They do this because they have to 
pay a hardware-based licensing fee to the MPEGLA group to do MPEG-2 
exporting. That's their deal with them.

> I have DVD Studio Pro and THAT works w/ third party drives.

Because the licensing fee has been included in the price of DVDSP.

Apple *could* rectify this by simply adding third-party support to 
iDVD3, but the price would go up by at least double. I guess they 
looked at that scenario and decided that a hardware-based scenario was 
cheaper for them, and cheaper for their customers.

_Chas_

"The Box said 'Windows 95 or better' ... so I got a Macintosh."