CD Burning software for OS9/OSX

[bannor11]

Hi guys, I'm new to the world of Mac (coming from a long history with Windows) and I just had some questions about CD burning software available on the Mac side. I've heard all about Toast, but personally it's just too expensive for how often I use it. I really only use my cd burner to burn data and audio cds. I really hate DiscBurner because I really need multisession support and I basically want a useful standalone application that is priced more reasonably for someone that burns a cd maybe once or twice a week. Do I have any alternatives on the Mac like I did when I was using Windows? Thanks for any inputs.

[simX]

Unfortunately, the only other product I know of other than Disc Burner and Toast is CharisMac's Discribe. From multiple MacWorld reviews, it seems that Discribe is more expensive and is of less quality.

I really hope that Apple puts multi-session burning support into OS X and OS 9, because that's a NEEDED feature. If we all submit feedback to http://www.apple.com/macosx/feedback/ , maybe we can get Apple to implement it.

[bannor11]

Why doesn't any other company provide a Mac solution that is simpler than Toast with a reduced price? It's hard for me to imagine that I'm the only one that would be willing to pay a lot less money for something that will allow me to do the basics, burn cd copy, audio, data, multisession support, etc. I'm sure there are others that don't need all the other features and would rather pay less...any thoughts on this?

[simX]

Well, given that Apple basically provides all of the basic needs except for multi-session burning, I'm not surprised that no one's offering it, because you can't beat Apple's price (free with the operating system). Between iTunes, Disk Copy, Disc Burner, and the Finder, you basically have a set of tools that allows you to do the basics of burning. We just need to bombard Apple with requests for multi-session burning.

So if everyone who reads this thread goes to http://www.apple.com/macosx/feedback/ and simply writes a short note about how multi-session burning is essential, Apple will probably listen to us. Maybe they already have it in store for OS 10.2 (wouldn't that rock?). If not, let's get them to put it on the list for 10.2 before it's too late!

Just so you know, you can copy disks by making an image from a disk using Disk Copy and then burning the image to a CD, and I hear that in an upcoming version you can do a direct clone of a disk.

[Sogni]

PLEASE!!!!
Am I asking too much?
I want to use my CDRWs as CDRWs! Like I can on my Windows box using Adaptec's Direct CD (Roxio).

I don't care by who and I'm willing to pay (to a certain extent)...

Am I asking too much???

[simX]

Tormente: Yes, you can use your CD-RWs as CD-RWs. When you have one inserted, open Disk Utility in the Utilities folder that's inside your Applications folder. Then go to the "Erase" tab. Then select the CD in the Disks/Volumes list. Then select the appropriate format and name, and click the "Erase" button.

Once it's done erasing, you can eject and reinsert it and use Disc Burner to burn more data onto it.

Like I said, Apple's disc burning capabilities are pretty comprehensive, except for the fact that they're spread out everywhere. It'd be nice if they put an "Erase..." function in the Finder, at the very least.

The only thing that's missing in Apple's burning software is multi-session support.

[Sogni]

Originally posted by simX
Tormente: Yes, you can use your CD-RWs as CD-RWs. When you have one inserted, open Disk Utility in the Utilities folder that's inside your Applications folder. Then go to the "Erase" tab.

STOP!!! Stop... please stop! You're scaring the children! Namly this one! LOL

That's using a CDRW as a CDR with an erase feature. After trying that twice, I decided it was a lot easier, a lot less painful, and a lot more convinient to just burn CDRs and toss them when I'm done with them.

I want to be able to drag a folder to a CDRW, eject the disk and put it in another computer, add more contents to that same CDRW, take it back to the 1st computer and add even more stuff to it....

In essence, I want to use a CDRW as a 700mb (~500mb?) Zip disk! Not a CDR with an erase feature!

[simX]

Can you do that? I thought the whole erase business was what CD-RWs was all about.

Huh, weird. Well, no you can't use it as a zip disk, but I've never heard of any software that allows you to do this anyway. Care to enlighten me, Tormente?