Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

SuperDrive vs. Remote Disc and some music management decisions

B

Blackened Apple

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 15, 2012
116
0
Hey everyone, I'll be getting a Macbook Air someday soon, and I'm wondering if it's worth it to get the SuperDrive, or if Remote Disc is satisfactory.

I have a large music collection on CD that I have been ripping using iTunes, for the past 5-6 years or so, since I got a 5th gen 60 GB iPod, that totals around 60 GB of 128 kbps mp3s.

I intend to re-rip the entire collection to a lossless format, probably ALAC, for archival purposes, I have a 1 TB USB 3.0 external HDD to keep it in. For regular listening, I'll probably use iTunes Match, if it's good enough. If it's not, I'll just convert a portion of my library into 256/320 kbps AACs. I wish Apple would release a larger capacity iPod Touch... What other high-capacity music players are available right now?

Would I be able to do this using some other PC's optical drive, or is the SuperDrive my best bet? And what other third party external optical drives are also good options?

Cheers
 
K

KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
18,031
7,872
This article may be helpful:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5287

Remote Sharing does not support audio CDs or DVD movies. I believe it was primarily to enable installation of CD-based software. Apple doesn't even mention it anymore on the product pages.

For your needs, you might be better off getting an external CD drive. Just about any should work. It doesn't need to be Apple's.
 
Alameda

Alameda

macrumors 6502a
Jun 22, 2012
925
546
To use the remote stuff, you put the CD or DVD in another Mac, enable CD Sharing in Network Sharing Preferences, and it's available to the MacBook Air over the network. I used it to install iWork yesterday. Works great.
 
Last edited:
B

Blackened Apple

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 15, 2012
116
0
KPOM said:
This article may be helpful:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5287

Remote Sharing does not support audio CDs or DVD movies. I believe it was primarily to enable installation of CD-based software. Apple doesn't even mention it anymore on the product pages.

For your needs, you might be better off getting an external CD drive. Just about any should work. It doesn't need to be Apple's.
Click to expand...

Ok, thank you. Was completely unaware of that...

Well, what external optical drive do you recommend? Is the SuperDrive long lasting and reliable, good quality for its price, or am I better off getting something else?
 
K

KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
18,031
7,872
Blackened Apple said:
Ok, thank you. Was completely unaware of that...

Well, what external optical drive do you recommend? Is the SuperDrive long lasting and reliable, good quality for its price, or am I better off getting something else?
Click to expand...

I have the Apple version that I purchased with my original MacBook Air in February 2008. It still works well, though I don't use it much anymore. It's $79, and works only with Macs that don't have optical drives (MacBook Air, MacBook Pro with Retina Display, and Mac Mini). A third-party drive would have the advantage of working with any Mac or Windows PC.
 
S

Stetrain

macrumors 68040
Feb 6, 2009
3,550
20
If you have another computer with a DVD drive, you could just use that computer to rip the CDs to your external.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom