Apple calls the DVD-R/CD-RW optical drives installed on its latter-day Power Mac systems “SuperDrives” because of their flexible format support. Now Mac upgrade and replace service MacResQ is offering owners of older Power Mac G3 and G4 systems a new “SuperDrive” upgrade.
MacResQ will install a tray-loading Pioneer DVR-106 mechanism — a 4x SuperDrive — to replace existing CD-RW and DVD-ROM drives in Power Mac G4 and Power Mac G3 “Blue & White” systems. The drive is bootable, according to MacResQ, and works in Mac OS X, with iDVD, iTunes, Disc Burner and Apple DVD Player, as well as other third party applications. The DVR-106 model burns CD-Rs at up to 16x, writes CD-RWs at 8x, writes DVD-R and DVD+R media at 4x, and writes DVD-RW and DVD+RW media at 2x.
MacResQ offers this upgrade service as part of its “PowerMacResQ” service, which guarantees 24-hour turnaround. For US$299, the company will arrange for a courier to pick up your Power Mac and deliver it overnight to MacResQ’s facility, where it’s upgraded within 24 hours and sent back to you via overnight courier. If this is a spare machine and you can wait, MacResQ also offers a ground shipping program for $249.
Users interested in this program can get more details from the PowerMacResQ Web site or call 866.MAC.REPAIR.