"I have had no problems with the LG GSA-H55N. I have burned audio cds, data cds, DVDs with data using Toast 8.03, and DVD slide shows using photo to movie and Toast 8.03 , and DVDs from Quicktime movies (made from DV camcorder and imovie) using Toast. The only problem that I had is that this drive would not work in any external case (I tried 3 different ones) but works fine in my Mac Pro, running OS X 10.5.1. Although I have used 10.4.11 without any problems.
(he later wrote)

I have used LG 55N firmware 1.01, 1.02, and now I am using firmware 1.03 (the latest version to date). I use quality media. I use TY (Japan) 52X cdrs and TY 8X DVD-R and also use Verbatim 52x cdrs and Verbatim 16 X DVD+/-R.
The drives are set to master when in the external cases. I have two different versions of Otherworld Computing Firwire/usb combination cases (they look the same but the older one is oxford bridge and the newer one is not an oxford bridge) and a Bytecc firewire case (oxford bridge).
On a side note , I have a Sony DRU-820 A which will only work in two oxford cases and will not work in the non oxford case.
-Robert"

This is from the reader that had posted a drive db report on Nov. 20th. He had said back then that iApps and Toast burns were ok, but didn't specifically mention DVD burns but this reply confirms that.

" Yes, I'd burned successful DVD discs with LG H55N drive.
It was Data (I use for my backups) but DVD Movies backup too.
I'd burned DVD-RWs too.
Discs were Single layer (4.7 GB), of several manufacturers: Multilaser, LG (DVD-Rs), EMTEC (DVD-RW) and Philips (DVD+RW). Double Layer I had not tested yet.

Software used was Toast 6, in Panther (10.3.9), although I used Burnxfree too (since Toast refused to burn a CD, but after deleting its files and reinstaling it all came back to normal)
Also I had used Patchburn for Panther. (Patchburn 3 used w/10.3.x for iApps burn support, not needed typically for OS X 10.4.x and later-Mike)
Happy New Year
Luciano"

I added the above to Luciano's Nov. 20th drive db entry. And another reply to this post:

"This (the LG GSA-H55N) is the burner I have been using in a G5 for almost two months now. Currently running 10.4.11, but I have been using 10.4.10 untill a few days ago. It's working perfectly at 8x with Verbatim 16x DVD-R media. I also have an LG GSA-H62N hooked up via eSATA which is working fine. Both have the latest firmware. (just for the record I asked for specific version number - as "latest" varies over time.-Mike)
The 55N is at 1.02 which was the latest two weeks back. (v1.03 is out now per above-Mike) Sorry for forgetting to add that :)

As a rule of thumb you should never exceed half the label speed of the media, always verify and, of course, use good media and an up to date firmware. That is if you care about your data, but you know that I guess :)
(he later wrote)
The first 62N I got gave up the ghost after just 10 burns and had to be replaced. LG maybe has quality issues...
I can burn at whatever the burner offers and can even get the disc to verify. If you take the disc to a professional quality measurement system, the error rate goes through the roof at more than 8x. This will lead to the disc being partially or completely unreadable within a few years.
I have some discs I burned with a Toshiba burner this summer in a hurry (at 16x) that are not readable anymore. None of the ten or so disc set is. So the measurements from the quality checker make sense. The measurements were done by the renowned German computer technology magazine C't.
Cheers, Jan"

Good point - Burned disc life is another potential can of worms. I generally don't burn DVDs at half the media rated speed, but then I don't have a 20x or 16x rated drive - I'm still 'trailing edge' I think at 8x max drives. (But I do burn Audio CDs at very low rates though.) I have had some older DVD+R discs (from JVC IIRC) that would fail a verify (DVD Data burns in Toast) if not set to lower than their 8x media rating and years ago had some 'no name' DVD-Rs that would only read/mount in the drive they were burned in (at 4x). This was on a G5 tower w/ATA 100 optical drive bus - for G4 towers, typically the optical drive bus is ATA/3 (appx 16.6MB/sec max - appx 12x DVD rates) - although drive "Max" ratings are for the outer tracks, avg writes across the disc are slower. With Verbatim media I've personally never had to force lower speeds with my (typically Pioneer) desktop drives, although I don't have one of the later -112D models. But again even the drive/firmware version used can be a factor in that. (Some drive/firmware versions have issues with some media types/brands - often firmware updates are released to address that, but not always.) And unfortunately for those without access to a PC (or running Bootcamp/Windows, or VPC with a USB adapter), there's few native OS X drive firmware flash utilities. I don't know of one for OS X and LG drives, although there are a few linked in the FAQ over the years for some Pioneer, Plextor and some NEC/rebranded NEC mechanisms.

"We've got the Western Digital Scorpio (2.5in) 320GB 5400RPM SATA HDs now in stock. Listed at $205 for XLR8yourMac readers, $12.99 off our normal price
$2.95 for ground, $7.95 or less for 2nd day air within 48 continental USA. "

BTW -some wrote again today about this, but about about 1/2 dozen times since late Oct. there's been notes/drive db reports on buying the WD Passport USB drive model on sale (at times $50 or so off list) at places like Bestbuy and Costco (often when on sale it's cheaper than the bare drive alone). Then cracking open the case to put the new drive in a MacBook/MacBook Pro or (Intel) Mini and reusing the original drive in the USB case. And don't forget the past post on the drive jumper on the Scorpio inside the passport case - that's for reduced power draw on the USB bus (slowing/delaying spin-up I assume) and although not required, I'd remove it when putting the drive on the internal SATA interface. I had one reader say he thought his USB cased drive may have had only 2MB cache (vs 8MB), but there's been no proof of that so far. (No info at WDC.com that noted 2MB cache versions of the drives were made.)

DVD+R/RW + DVD-R/RW Drives:
• IDE LG GSA-H55N (Super Multi DVD Rewriter 20X) in G4 Mirror Drive Doors (OS X 10.4.11)
  (problems noted burning DVDs on 2 samples using Toast 8.0.1 - I asked he try updating to v8.0.3 and also try a different brand of media, try iApps, etc..)
• IDE LG GSA-H55N (Super Multi DVD Rewriter 20X) in G5 Tower (OS X 10.4.11)
  (Noted no problems burning DVDs - see reply above in request for H55N DVD burning feedback)
• IDE LG GSA-H55N (Super Multi DVD Rewriter 20X) in Mac Pro (OS X 10.5.x)
  (no DVD burning problems noted - his notes are also mirrored above)
• USB LG GSA-E60L (20x max rated) used w/PowerBook G4 (OS X 10.3.9)
  (Using Patchburn 3 for 10.3.x iApps burn support.)
  
  Hard Drives:
• IDE Hitachi 100GB HTS721010G9AT00 in (Ti 550Mhz) PowerBook G4 (OS X 10.4.11)
  (noted drive errors (Intech Integrity tests) initially which he said was due to migration of Norton AV from other Mac. Same issue seen with tests on another Mac. Interesting.)
• SATA Samsung SpinPoint F1 HD753LJ 750GB in iMac Intel CPU (OS X 10.5)
  (pre-AL iMac model - includes notes on take-apart)
• SATA Seagate ST3500320AS 500GB in iMac G5 (OS X 10.5)
• SATA Western Digital WD7500AAKS 750GB in iMac Intel CPU (OS X 10.5)
  (pre-AL iMac model - includes notes on take-apart)

You can read full reports (latest shown first) by searching the database by drive/brand/interface/mac models (the latest reports are shown first in searches). The database includes reports on Optical Drives (Blu-Ray, DVD, CD/CDR, etc.), Hard Drives, Tape drives, Removable media (ORB, ZIP, MO drives), NAS (Network Attached Storage), in all interface types (IDE, SATA, Firewire, SCSI, USB, adapters).
If you've added/upgraded a drive in your Mac send me the details (drive info/speed rating/mac model/OS used, etc.). Note: Please use the drive for at least a week before reporting on it and test for booting from Disc with internal Optical Drives (as well as burning discs). Thanks.

• Other World Computing G4/1.2GHz (7455) in (Digital Audio) G4/AGP tower (rated 9)
  
  (Full reviews of G4 and G3 upgrades compared to stock CPUs, including real world apps/game tests, install info, etc. are linked at the G4 upgrade reviews and G3 upgrade reviews pages. OC/CPU module articles are on the Systems page.)

If you've upgraded the CPU on your Mac, send a review with your experience (performance/stability/installation, etc.), Mac Model/Upgrade brand info and overall rating (1= worst to 10=best). If you can, please run some tests with the original CPU vs the upgrade (for example time some tests with your favorite app, game, etc. - see full reviews here for example tests with common apps/games/benchmarks.)

• 'WolfQuest': An Educational Game About Survival
  (for more info see WolfQuest info/home page - for OS X 10.3.9 or later and Win XP)
• Adobe Quietly Monitoring Software Use? (links to Adobe Blog with response and user replies)
• Activate Front Row 0.1
• iCab X 4.0
• iPhone 1.1.3 Update Confirmed, Breaks Apps and Unlocks
• MacPool 8.6.2
• Retrospect Express 6.1.138
• VueScan 8.4.53
• SwitchResX 3.8
• In the DVD War Over High Definition, Most Buyers Are Sitting It Out
• Download Uproar: Record Industry Goes After Personal Use (but see later article RIAA Not Targeting CD Ripping After All)
• 2007 in video games: Wii is the champion
• Toshiba Sues Italian Company Over DVD Patents
• Expect slow start to (OTA Analog TV to Digital) converter box program
• US broadcasters get leeway on digital TV switch
• NVIDIA ForceWare Beta for UT3 (FYI for bootcamp users)