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Just Surveying; Do most of u get your MBA with the superdrive?

evirob

evirob

macrumors member
Original poster
Hi Guys,

Got my MBA for over a month now. I must say that I seldom find the need for a Cd Rom drive.

Therefore, just checking if most of you guys bought the Superdrive as a package?
 
Well I didnt and when I had my previous macbook, I dont recall ever using the drive either. My music is all through ITMS and I have my iMac to rip Dvds.
 
I never need it either. The first day I got the MBA I did a remote install from an iMac, it took just under 1 hour on 802.11n

I don't see myself ever needing one

Ben
 
I made a Frankendrive. I had a third party external USB enclosure with a 500MB HD, and a DVD-R drive from a PC server. When I did a minimum-size OS X install on the air, I snapped the Frankendrive together, then put the USB drive back together when finished. Not sure I'll need it again!
 
I got one and wish i hadn't bothered, remote disc works a treat, in 2 months i think ive used the superdrive twice.
 
Yes.

Don't use often but happy to have when I do need it. Did not think it cost that much so it's nice to have.
 
i did not purchase a superdrive with my MBA and i don't regret it one bit. I've only needed to use a cd once, to install Microsoft Office. I just used disk sharing with my iMac and it worked fine. the only time i see myself using a cd again is when i install the AppleCare that i purchased this weekend.


chase :apple:
 
Was actually thinking about it....

Reason i did not get the superdrive in the end is due to the fact that it doesn't work with other devices except the MBA....

Cos having some problems with the remote install.....when trying to reinstall OSX.....

Maybe will just follow the franken drive method...LOL
 
Nope. I don't even use the remote disk either. I've only used the remote disk once to format the system to earn some disk space.
 
I did buy the SuperDrive. And I'm glad I did. The remote disk is fine if the transfer involves smallish files.

But installing a program, or transferring large files, video, etc. Is agonizingly slow.
 
I had to, as I'm loading XP via Boot Camp. You can't do it via Remote Disk. I can also see needing it on business trips where I have to burn some disks for others. It's so damn small, throwing it in the suitcase, just in case, is no big deal.
 
chaseardoin7 said:
i did not purchase a superdrive with my MBA and i don't regret it one bit. I've only needed to use a cd once, to install Microsoft Office. I just used disk sharing with my iMac and it worked fine. the only time i see myself using a cd again is when i install the AppleCare that i purchased this weekend.


chase :apple:
Click to expand...

You don't need the CD to activate AppleCare.

The only thing on the AppleCare CD is TechTool Deluxe. If you want it, it's best to download the updated version from Apple after you've activated your AppleCare.

And, No, I don't have the SuperDrive as I don't need it.
 
Yes, you need it for those occasional software installs that can't be downloaded from the Internet. I have used mine at least once a week, including burning DVDs and CDs and ripping CDs. 😎
 
Didn't get one, going to put the money towards a 500GB mybook. And there will always be computers around so i can do remote install...

Although I'm not looking forward to remote installing CS3, I'm doing a fresh install of leopard and it's taking ages.
 
I've got an old USB DVD drive from a Compaq Tablet PC. Worked a thread for re-installing Leopard and WinXP (in Parallels).
 
i got one! and the fact that i have to carry it with my macbook air around plus a time capsule makes me wanna get a macbook pro instead. 😡
 
Yes, I bought the Superdrive the day that I bought my MBA and am glad that I did so. I've used it a couple of times for installing software and will be using it from time to time on trips for burning DVDs to share with friends. Although I could've skipped buying it and could've used one of my other Macs for doing software installations, etc., via the Remote Disk option, I just felt more comfortable having an actual physical optical disk available for that.
 
answers survey: yes, i bought the superdrive and use it on occasion. not as much as I thought I would, but it does get some use. I have a PC tower for ripping, ect
 
Can someone clarify - can you use any externally powered USB CD / DVD drive with the MBA?

tbh I didn't realise that was possible. 😱
 
I debated with myself with buying it or not, and ultimately didn't.

So far, I haven't required it once. Most of my content is in digital form, few new CDs or DVDs. And remote disk (despite the problems I have with it) has been sufficient. In general I only use DVDs for backups.

So time capsule, now, that is something that might actually be useful.
 
RedTomato said:
Can someone clarify - can you use any externally powered USB CD / DVD drive with the MBA?

tbh I didn't realise that was possible. 😱
Click to expand...

Yes, as I've said I've got an old USB DVD drive that perfectly works and I would pretty much guess that any USB drive which works with other OS X machines should work also with the MBA. The only thing which is special with the superdrive is that it can be powered over the (MBA-only!) USB port and hence doesn't need to be plugged in separately for the power. That makes it of course the first choice if you have to use it on the move. But for all us "I may use it to install this and that" users, it's not a must. At least not, if you already have a USB CD/DVD drive. I could even boot with my old USB drive and install OS X from scratch!
 
I did get the external Superdrive. No regrets even though I have only used it twice in two months. I like knowing I don't have to count on "borrowing" another machine's drive for remote usage, even though I think that's such a cool capability.
 
I didn't get one; and I haven't needed one.

JasO said:
Didn't get one, going to put the money towards a 500GB mybook. And there will always be computers around so i can do remote install...

Although I'm not looking forward to remote installing CS3, I'm doing a fresh install of leopard and it's taking ages.
Click to expand...

I installed CS3 Web Premium over remote disk from my XP desktop, and yah, it takes quite a while. iWork '08 didn't seem nearly as bad, but I don't think it was as big, either.
 
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