Will Any Usb DVD-RW drive work with the 2011 Mac mini?

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Will Any Usb DVD-RW drive work with the 2011 Mac mini?

I am considering buying a USB DVD-RW drive, and i wanted to hear from people with first hand experience of USB dvd drive support for Mac's I'm looking for a DVD-RW DL drive, so It can burn DVD DL CD's normal DVD's RW's etc. Things a modern superdrive would do esentially.

I have checked and i personaly think the Official apple one will hit my bank too hard, not to mention it doesn't bother me what It looks like

Can anyone recommend any Drives that work?(It will also be used on My PC and Macbook with a broken superdrive)

I was looking around the £15-£25 price range

I was allso wondering if a USB to Sata with a Sata DVD drive will work? As from what i can see nobody has tried it!

Any help will be appriciated.

Thanks, Scott.

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.7), Intel core i5 2.3 8GB of ram

Posted on Mar 23, 2012 5:36 AM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

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Mar 23, 2012 10:51 AM in response to Scottixboy

No 1st hand advice, but I'd avoid Bus powered ones.

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Answer 2

Scottixboy Author

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Mar 23, 2012 12:02 PM in response to BDAqua

By bus powered you mean powered by the USB port itself right? In that case one with an extrnal power supply would be more acceptable, but thats a thing, isn't the official apple one bus powered?

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Answer 3

a brody

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Mar 23, 2012 12:20 PM in response to Scottixboy

The problem is a lot of non-Apple USB devices croak at the first sign of Energy Saver. This is even more a problem when it is getting the power from the computer. http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/ rates drives and their compatibility.

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Answer 4

Eric.

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Mar 23, 2012 1:26 PM in response to Scottixboy

Scottixboy wrote:

I was allso wondering if a USB to Sata with a Sata DVD drive will work? As from what i can see nobody has tried it!

Umm...that's what most of the USB DVD you but today are. They're basically "internal" SATA DVD drives stuck in an enclosure with a SATA-USB bridge board.

You can always assemble your own with a USB enclosure (which includes a SATA-USB bridge board) and a SATA DVD drive. It will probably cost more than your budget.

You might run into compatibility issues with either or both the bridge and dvd drive -- which is actually no different when buying one already put together. Compatibility issues are usually either the bridge or the drive.

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Answer 5

BDAqua

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Mar 23, 2012 1:32 PM in response to Scottixboy

It's not that Bus powered ones can't work, it that AC powered ones work more often & have less problems, a Powered USB Hub may solve some of that with Bus powered ones.

Some USB Bus powered drives require 2 USB connections to get enough power.

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Answer 6

den.thed

Level 10

91,618 points

Mar 23, 2012 5:29 PM in response to Scottixboy

This OS X compatible > LG GE24LU20 Reviews works great with my iMac and Mac Mini.

Boots System Install and OS X Upgrade Disc's, plus burned and boots a Lion Recovery Disc.

Plus other trick features, like opening and closing from the eject button icon on the menu bar.

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