This is actually one of a rapidly shrinking number of Firewire/USB 1.0/2.0 external drives. The PowerBook has USB 1.0 and Firewire ports, the Sony VAIO in the other room has the same mix, so a USB 2.0 drive is right out. In general, I have a number of Firewire peripherals anyway and generally prefer it to USB. It is generally the only dual-protocol choice at most retailers (Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.) and is the only one of those that even mentions a Macintosh computer.
Installation was drop-dead simple. I plugged it in, daisy-chained it to my external hard drive and turned it on. I was able to put in a blank disk and burn from iTunes instantly: no drivers, no software installs, no fuss. At 16X, Burning was snappy.
The drive comes with Roxio Easy Creator for Windows as well as a disk of various clips for use in DVD creation. Roxio was obviously useless for the Mac, but since general CD/DVD burning/viewing software is builtin to OS/X, I don't miss it. The only possible downside is if you had a MAc old enough to not have an internal DVD-Reader; then you would have to find and install VLC or something to actually watch movies.
It supports a staggering number of formats and disk types, including CD-R/CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+-R, and various DVD-RAM formats, including 9.3 GB double-sided cartridges.
The last major feature is the case itself. It is solidly and stylishly built with a black metalic case that would go well with any design that Steve Jobs can come up with. All-in-all, I am very pleased with the purchase and intend to see what other peripherals Mad Dog has to offer.
