" Just thought fellow Macbook Air users would like to know. I have bought a bus-powered LG slim external DVD writer which works great with my Macbook Air so far. It is not as sleek as apple's slot based drive as it is tray based, but it is Lightscribe enabled and works with other macs (including my mac pro!). The drive also boots MacOSX discs. I've tried burning some lightscribe discs using Lacie's lightscribe software and it works. Also burnt a few DVD+R discs and works great too. (Reader FYI - the FAQ's DVD section has links to the main Lightscribe site with OS X drivers, free software, templates, etc. although many also just use Lacie's software - same driver I suspect, although versions may differ at times.-Mike)

This is what it shows on the system profile

HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-E50L:
Firmware Revision: NE01
Interconnect: USB
Burn Support: Yes (Generic Drive Support)
Profile Path: None
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -R DL, -RAM, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO
Write Speeds: 2.4x, 4x, 8x

A great alternative to apple's usb-powered DVD superdrive.
LG product page (US page shows MSRP $119.95)

It's been 2 days of usage and appears ok so far. Will update after some more testing.
(I asked what he paid for it.-Mike)
I paid (in Singapore dollars) SG$185 (approx. US$132) for it.

(FYI/Update: A reader had commented that the drive comes with an "Y" USB cable for use with systems that do not provide enough USB Power per port. The Mac Book Air only has a one USB port but I asked him if he needed the Y cable for use with other macs he had.)
I am using it with just a 1 USB port. It also provides a Y-USB cable in case the port that you are using do not have enough power. But I've tested it with the mac pro and macbook air so far for the past week, and it is working great with it being powered from a single port. Burnt DVD+R, DVD-R, CD-RW and CD-R discs and they all work fine. I did not try DVD-RAM but it says it is supported. Also, in case people want to know as it might not seem apparent, this drive is "tray-based". There is also another cheaper model which is white in color but it does not have the "lightscribe" feature.
-Yee-wei "

The Apple MacBook Air Superdrive (USB) is $99 (US) but I had a MB Air owner say he had problems trying to use the drive with other Macs - I wrote to ask if he tried a powered USB hub with other macs to see if that helped or if there was some other issue. (That was before Apple released DVD or CD Sharing Setup Update in case that matters.)

"NewerTech's Guardian MAXimus is the Plug & Play solution that keeps your data safe with real-time data redundancy via hardware RAID-1 Mirroring. Connect to any Mac or (or PC) with FireWire 800, FireWire 400, or USB 2.0 and it does the rest. Perfect for the ultimate Time Machine drive too! (American Photo 2007 Editor's Choice)
The NewerTech Guardian MAXimus RAID-1 FW800/400+USB2 provides high performance, exceptional data protection, and plug and play via its Oxford924 based FireWire 800, FireWire 400, and USB 2.0 interface options. This solution is a hardware RAID 1 'Redundant Mirror' which automatically and real-time keeps your data backed up to protect against a hard disk failure. LED indicators on the front of the solution indicate the status of the two drives. And should a drive ever experience a malfunction, normal data operation continues seamlessly. If the malfunction if a recoverable 'soft' type, the Guardian MAXimus will rebuild the mirror (also without data interruption) automatically. If the disk failure requires a drive to be replaced, once the new drive is installed - again, the Guardian MAXimus will automatically rebuild the Mirror and without data interruption.
In addition to the benefits of Hardware RAID 1 Mirroring, these solutions are full certified for Audio/Video, Backup, Graphics, Music, General Data needs and more! With 2 x FW800 Ports, 1 x FW400 Port, 1 x USB 2.0/1.1 Port - units are fully Bootable and provide excellent access flexibility to stored data based via whatever interface choice(s) are available on systems solution may be connected to.

NewerTech Guardian MAXimus FW800/400+USB2 RAID 1 prices:

250GB + 250GB Mirror 7200RPM w/32MB total Buffer now $295.99 ($24 Drop)

320GB + 320GB Mirror 7200RPM w/32MB total Buffer now $299.99 ($40 Drop)

400GB + 400GB Mirror 7200RPM w/32MB total Buffer now $349.99 ($10 Drop)

500GB + 500GB Mirror 7200RPM w/32MB total Buffer now $389.99 ($10 Drop)

750GB + 750GB Mirror 7200RPM w/32MB total Buffer now $529.99 ($70 Drop)

1.0TB + 1.0TB Mirror 7200RPM w/64MB total Buffer now $799.99 ($130 Drop!) + now $739.99 After $60 Hitachi Rebate! Hitachi Rebate on NewerTech GMAX 1.0TB Mirror available through 3/19/2008, rebate form and information here

Also Available:
150GB + 150GB Mirror 10,000RPM w/32MB total Data Buffer now $649.99

0GB Enclosure Kit - build your own Guardian Mirror available for $149.99

NewerTech Guardian MAXimus solutions 250GB to 1.0TB are covered by a 2 year warranty + up to an additional 3yrs warranty (for a total of 5 years) on the partner hard drive mechanisms used inside. 0GB Kit covered by 1 year NewerTech Warranty.

All models include FireWire 800 connecting cable, FireWire 400 Connecting Cable, USB 2.0 Connecting Cable, Intech HD Speedtools Utility Suite for OS X, retail Prosoft DataBackup III for OS X ($59 retail value), retail NovaStor NovaBackup for Windows ($49 retail value) and everything you need to plug and play and go.

Ground delivery within the 48 Continental states is $2.95 for any of the above solutions. 2nd Day Air delivery also available for $7.95 or less."

" Hi Mike, So working with Microsoft and Fonthaus.com we were able to get to the root of the issue I'd reported to you a few weeks ago with MS Office 2008's font rendering. It seems some, not all Postscript fonts cause Office problems. Without warning or 'font substitution will occur' type messages familiar from Quark and Illustrator the Office 2008 apps quietly replace postscript fonts it doesn't like with things like Helvetica. We aren't using old postscript fonts either, this has occurred with ones bought in the last few months and created in the last year.
This is something for users to keep an eye out for when using Office 2008. It got us into hot water with some Powerpoint presentations created for clients that were to use fonts specific to the project. When they were sent out we didn't realize until it was too late that the fonts were incorrect.

Fonthaus.com was kind enough to let us try TrueType and OpenType versions of the problem fonts and they worked fine so we have been replacing the problem postscript fonts with other versions. I have filled Microsoft in about this issue but suggest that readers affected by the issue also contact Microsoft to let them know this is a problem at their suggestion form:
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/suggestions.mspx
Hopefully they will fix the issue in a future bug fix/update.
(I assume this issue was not fixed in the recent Mac Office 2008 12.0.1 update?-Mike)
I have held off on installing it due to the other headaches it's been causing people, however the change log makes no mention of addressing any font-related issues.
Thanks Again, Tolga"

DVD+R/RW + DVD-R/RW Drives:
• USB LG GSA-E50L used with MacBook Air (OS X 10.5.x)
• IDE LG GSA-H55L in (Digital Audio) G4/AGP tower (OS X 10.4.11)
  (problems noted writing DVDs with Toast 7 and 8 - said other apps write DVDs OK)
• USB adapted (USB-IDE adapter) LG GSA-H55N used with Macbook (OS X 10.5.x)
• IDE Mad Dog 20x (MD20) in G4 Mirror Drive Doors (OS X 10.5.x)
  (filed under "Other" brand)
• IDE Philips SPD6004P (2nd drive bay) in Mac Pro (OS X 10.5.x)
• IDE Pioneer DVR-1810 (retail boxed DVR-112D) in (Quicksilver) G4/AGP tower (OS X 10.5.x)
• Firewire (cased) Pioneer DVR-115D used w/G4 Mirror Drive Doors (OS X 10.5.x)
• IDE Plextor PX-800A in G5 Tower (OS X 10.5.x)
  (includes notes on DVD-RAM use)
  
  Hard Drives:
• SATA PCI card (RocketRaid 3320 PCIe) connected Samsung F1 750GB (x2) used w/Mac Pro (OS X 10.5.2 - Leopard Server ) (noted running 20°F cooler than his previous Seagate drives. Samsung F1 750GB on specials page for $145 currently.)
• IDE Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB in eMac (OS X 10.4.11)
• SATA Seagate ST9200420AS (Momentus 7200 RPM) 200GB in MacBook Pro (OS X 10.5.x)
• SATA Toshiba MK2546GSX 250GB in MacBook (OS X 10.5)
• Firewire (cased) Western Digital Scorpio 250GB used w/PowerBook G4 (OS X 10.4.x)

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 Optical Drives (as well as burning discs). Thanks.

• Powerlogix G3 1GHz (750GX) in BW G3 (rated 10)
• Sonnet Dual G4 1.8GHz (7747A) in (originally single 1.25GHz) G4 Mirror Drive Doors (didn't provide 1-10 rating, but very happy with it)
  
  (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.)

• iStat Pro v4.6 (freeware system stats/info widget)
• Pro Tip of the Week: Annotating PDFs in Preview (Apple)
• OWC announces new Oxford 934 chipset based Elite-AL Pro Firewire+USB2 Drives
• AMUG Mac Pro 2.8 GHz Reference Guide/Review
• Review: Apple's new Mac Pro is a speed demon (computerworld.com)
• What if Apple really opened up the iPhone?
• Adobe Lightroom 1.4
• World War II Online: Battleground Europe 1.28.4
• LightZone 3.5 (Digital photo editing and workflow software)
• Data Guardian 1.3.6
• Super Collapse! Puzzle Gallery 3 1.0
• Mysteryville 1.0
• SpacePig 1.0
• Apple Announces Dates of WWDC 2008
• WWDC Scholarships for Australian University Staff & Students
• Verizon Warms to File Swappers, Adopts Next-Gen P2P Tech
• Canon announces three new 10-megapixel PowerShot Digital ELPHs