AboutJeffrey J. Wrobel Expertise I can answer OS compatibility questions, from OS 7 to OS X 10.5.x Leopard. I have extensive experience in software installation, use, and troubleshooting as well as many aspects of high level hardware repair. Any questions about peripherals and their Mac-compatibility are also welcome. I am very current in all aspects of the Max OS, while having an excellent breadth of knowledge of older machines. My work keeps me in constant contact with Mac suppliers, products, and problems, enabling me to not only draw on my past experience, but also to add to that experience every day. Living in Rhode Island with family near Cape Cod, Mass has proven to be a bit lacking in Mac popularity (Yankees are slow to change), but momentum is building for Apple.
Experience
Past/Present clients My life experience has taken me from the US Army to working with the criminally insane. Pursued a philosophy degree while working in pyschology, then ended up doing graphic design, marketing modular construction products, and ultimately starting the computer business that I now own. At 41 years old, I plan to make my triumphant return to college and get a master's degree in philosophy.
Clients include a multi-million dollar international manufacturing firm, a nationwide jewelry/gemstone distributor, numerous town libraries, 2 school districts, a few celebrities, a famous author, a prominent film maker, Brown University & RISD faculty and students, and numerous small businesses and individuals in Rhode Island, Cape Cod, and Boston. I also have a nationwide Powerbook/iBook/Macbook repair program and I sell refurbished Mac parts. The growth of my company, which was a record-breaker in 2007, has been a direct result of my customer service and the experience gained through helping the folks that use All Experts.
Question I have at Mac at home witch has a DVD/CD player in it.
I was wondering would you please me: is the DVD player on computers the
same as the DVD player witch is connected to your T.V?
Thanks
Answer Dear Cameron,
Well, without knowing how old your Mac is, I cannot tell what type of DVD drive you have in your machine, but let me tell you some of the differences between the DVD Player and the drive in your iMac:
1) The DVD Player that is connected to your television is a non-configurable package of components with built in firmware and software that operates the components. It is a self-contained unit. It scans the dvd disc that you put in to it for the proper Region (which keeps people from importing cheap copies from other regions of the world--Region 1 is North America, Europe is Region 2, Central and South America is 4, etc) and format.
2) The DVD optical drive in your iMac is probably both a CD burner, DVD burner, and player for those discs. Region Codes still apply for commercial DVDs (but not home made ones like the ones you make on your iMac) and you have 5 opportunities to change the region of the drive, but after that, you are stuck with the last region you picked. The drive by itself is capable of reading many more kinds of optical discs than your DVD Player is. It can read Data DVDs, Data CDs, MP3 CDs (some Players can read these now), and certain hybrid CD Audio/Video discs plus all the kinds of discs that the player can read (see below).
3) The DVD Players of today can play PhotoDiscs, Audio CDs, DVDs, and sometimes VCDs.
4) The DVD drive in your Mac is not a self-contained unit and must rely on video processors, RAM, the CPU of the iMac, and other hardware to get things off the ground. In addition, to PLAY the content, it must use software specific to that content. Apple's DVD Player program is included in every Mac and plays DVDs just like a DVD Home Player does. That is limited to strictly DVD discs however and a better free program is out there that plays MANY types/formats of video that the Apple player cannot. That program is VLC and is available free for download here: http://www.videolan.org/mirror.html?mirror=http://downloads.videolan.org/pub/vid...
I hope this answered your question, Cameron. Feel free to ask a follow up question if you have any more specific questions that you need answered, okay? Thanks!
Sincerely,
Jeffrey Wrobel
