Slot-loading drives..

[alxths]

Good evening gents, does anyone know where one might find small(laptops-sized) slot loading optical drives for sale? All I can manage to find are the tray kinds...

I guess, as a side note, do you prefer slot-loading or tray drives? I myself prefer teh slot-loading ones... basically because they seem cooler to me...

[sparks9]

Don't they scratch the cds?

[rainman::|:|]

well, slot-loading are cooler in general, but... they seem more prone to mechanical failure; they can't read mini or business-card CD's (not that people use those much anymore), and they're more expensive and difficult to replace. so, i guess it depends :)

paul

[7on]

Desktops should use trays, though in Laptops slot loading seems more viable. Especially when tray loading on a laptop seems to "get in the way".

[Powerbook G5]

My slot drive hasn't scratched a single disc and I use it almost daily.

[alxths]

Yeah, you'd have to be pretty damned uncoordinated to scratch a CD putting it into a slot drive(any of the ones ive seen at least).

[mxpiazza]

Originally posted by paulwhannel
well, slot-loading are cooler in general, but... they seem more prone to mechanical failure; they can't read mini or business-card CD's (not that people use those much anymore), and they're more expensive and difficult to replace. so, i guess it depends :)

paul
you're right as to the fact that slot-loading drives only take standard sized CD/DVD media, however, you are wrong about the price differences.

The costs of making a slot-loading drive instead of a tray-loading are minimal at best to the manufacturer. What it cost's the end user in terms of marketing is possibly another story, but it doesn't cost the manufacturer any more.

[junior]

Originally posted by mxpiazza
you're right as to the fact that slot-loading drives only take standard sized CD/DVD media, however, you are wrong about the price differences.

The costs of making a slot-loading drive instead of a tray-loading are minimal at best to the manufacturer. What it cost's the end user in terms of marketing is possibly another story, but it doesn't cost the manufacturer any more.

He didn't say anything about the cost of manufacturing a drive. He said it just costs more to buy and thus is harder to replace. You're arguing against something he didn't even say:)

[TEG]

Actually, most slot drives can take mini-CD/DVD media. Its the odd sized media that causes problems.

However, the Apple SuperDrive in the PowerBooks, it is advised that you not use the mini disks due to mechincal difficultys encountered by Apple.

Personally I like the slot drive for all uses, especailly those at odd angles, due to not having to use clips on the CD tray.

However, I do see the benefit of the "snap" laptop drive. Esepcially when using odd media.

Try Powermax.com, they can find just about anything you need.

TEG

[Powerbook G5]

I've used the normal optical drives like the one on my PowerBook G3 for years and I have to say that the slot drives are a blessing. The normal one was frustrating because it was so thin and the tray seemed to fragile, not to mention you had to pull it out since it only popped open part way and then you had to kind of slide the disc in on an angle because the tray wouldn't completely open out fully, so it was just a nuisance to use. The slot drive is a nice bit of technology to have in a laptop, since it allows for a thinner case design and you just stick it right in and it just sucks it in for you. It just seems like less hassle and adds to the coolness factor of the overall package.

[Kingsnapped]

One of the tech guys at school has this plastic ring that you can hook onto mini CDs to make them standard size. I can't find one online, but I've touched it... tasted it..
I know it's real.

[7on]

I believe I saw one of those rings at an Office Max.

[virividox]

slot drives have a tendency to get stuck once in a while, maybe its just me, i find it annoying, but i dont really mind cuz it hasnt been a big problem

[Santaduck]

From my fave Cubeowner.com:
http://www.cubeowner.com/buystuff.html
(There are coupon codes here, so please visit cubeowner!)

We need slot loading optical drives too... some of our sources for the cube are at these vendors, and they may have info for your slot-loading needs as well... FYI for the cube these include CD Superdrive with the additional ability of 2X DVD-R/RW with DVD-RAM, as well as other drives such as CD-RW + DVD-ROM.

You mention laptop-sized, and they have slot-loaded laptop ones as well: http://store.mcetech.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=MTOS&Category_Code=STORLTDVDRWINT


Other vendors that have slot drives for cubes ( and by extension, perhaps they carry ones for laptops as well) include OWC, MacResQ, FastMac.com and Mac-Pro:
http://www.macsales.com
http://www.myaffiliateprogram.com/u/macresq/t.asp?id=1081
http://www.mac-pro.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=MPS&Affiliate=cubeowner
http://www.fastmac.com/products.html

sry this is a mishmash of URLs, but hoee it helps.

[alxths]

Hey, great link.. but man those are some expensive drives... somebody here said that they cost the same to manufacture, so is the high price just because they are so hard to find? Or is it because they're for mac?