Superdrive or other Optical drive?

jpa66 said:

I just bought a Mac mini, and I need to get an optical drive. I'm wondering if the Superdrive is worth it, as I've read some negative things about it's ( rather underwhelming ) construction and durability. I need to be able to play dvd's and cd's, as well as burn cd's ( yes - I still burn cd mixes ). Playing bluray discs would be nice, as well.

I've been trying to research them, but I just get more frustrated. Anybody have any suggestions?

Thanks,
JP

Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat. I went to OWC to look around, and found this:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MRSSBDR6X/

I'm waiting for a bit to see what I find otherwise, but that link points to what seems like a good option for a BluRay burner combo drive - bus powered though so be aware of that.

I bought LG BP06LU10 and I am happy with it.
Size compatible with Mac Mini, reads (and even writes) Blu-ray (using an OS X player like MacGo Blu-ray player) and can be made region-less.

I have one of these ..... Samsung SE-208AB/TSBS 8 x DVD+/-RW Slim Portable External DVD Writer - Black. It was £21.74 on Amazon including the postage. Works a treat, Im very happy with it.

Buy whatever fits your budget and your needs. Frankly I use two external Blu-Ray drives that I paid less than than the Superdrive (well one I paid roughly the same amount for but I bought it a couple of years ago so...).

I use a Blu-Ray external (just make sure the external blu-Ray is either Firewire 800 or USB3) and use the Blu-ray player for Mac. It works good and displays the full 1080 (with a good display connected).

geeji said:

I bought LG BP06LU10 and I am happy with it.
Size compatible with Mac Mini, reads (and even writes) Blu-ray (using an OS X player like MacGo Blu-ray player) and can be made region-less.

Click to expand...

Do they make a USB 3 version of that model?

53x12 said:

Do they make a USB 3 version of that model?

Click to expand...

Not that I know of (the BP06LU30 is USB2 too).
But USB2 is enough, even for Blu-ray.

I have the Apple SuperDrive attached to my mid-2011 base model Mini. It works fine. I like the aluminum body and the aesthetics. I can't say much about reliability for heavy use because I don't use it much except for installing programs from CDs/DVDs and an occasional CD and DVD burning. I don't have a need for BD burning. For BD movie viewing I have the compact and inexpensive ($79) Sony Blu-ray Disc/DVD Player - BDP-BX18 (hard wired to the Internet via Ethernet) on my desktop that is plugged into the same Samsung 23" 1080p LED TV/monitor along with my PC and Mini. I just switch the input on the same monitor and I can use the Sony BD player for playing Bluray movies, DVDs and a number of built in free and subscription streaming services like Netflix.

I would have suggested the Samsung or a similar drive...

The SuperDrive is a typical purty Apple product on the exterior with cheap plastic components on the inside. You would be amazed to see how it is constructed if you took it apart. If you must buy-in to the Apple design ethos then be prepared to pay a price to join the club...

I am glad that Apple is abandoning internal optical drives. If anything is likely to break in a Mac it is the optical drive, particularly if it is used much. I have a dead drive in an iMac that was used less than ten times during its short life; I've had others die in portable Macs that couldn't withstand ripping several hundred CDs.

The great thing about a drive like the Samsung is that if it breaks you can just toss it and get another. Dismantling an MBP or iMac is not for the faint of heart and it costs a pretty penny if you have to pay for a repair.

I bought one of these using an Amazon giftcard after Christmas:

Memorex 98839, External Multi-Format Blu-Ray Writer, USB 3.0, 12X, Black

It's a bit big, bigger than the mini, in fact, but I keep it on a shelf underneath my desktop, so it's not visible. But I can reach down and eject the tray and insert/remove discs.

It rips blu-rays very well (and fast) using makeMKV. I've watched a couple of blu-rays with it (The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises) using VLC and the blu-ray AACS keys/library. I tried the demo of Mac Blueray Player, and it was pretty choppy.

I've burned a couple of BDs and DVD-HD, and they seemed fast. I haven't tried any DL BD or DVDs yet.

John