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Optical drive recommendations

D

digitalfailure

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 24, 2012
166
1
Hi Guys

Now that the iMac is out in the wild, I need to get hold of an external optical drive, must be usb powered to reduce faffing with cables etc.

Must be capable of at least burning dvd's, not really fussed about blu ray.

smaller the better too so as to reduce the clutter on the desk now that the all in one is an all in two :eek:

Cheers
 
phoenixsan

phoenixsan

macrumors 65816
Oct 19, 2012
1,342
2
I would say....

a drive of the following brands can suffice you:

LiteOn, Hitachi, Pioneer, LaCie, Hewlett-Packard

But then, I cant vouch anything because the USB charging requirement:(


:):apple:
 
D

digitalfailure

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 24, 2012
166
1
The connected usb lead put me off the Apple drive, my plan is to leave the usb cable plugged in to the back of the imac and just connect the drive or indeed other devices to the the lead as and when necessary. I have a usb portable harddrive / memory card storage drive which I back up my CF cards to when on a big job. So the aim is to just have the end of a single cable visible and plug bits in when needed.
 
R

Rgladman

macrumors 6502
Mar 16, 2011
262
20
Central Ohio
USB 3.0 possible

Now that the new iMac supports USB 3.0 I am looking at purchasing a 3.0 supported optical drive.

There seem to be quite a few available including LaCie, Samsung and others.
 
Z

zhandri

Suspended
Sep 4, 2012
489
352
just buy whatever you want... both of the below work with mac (although they are samsung :rolleyes:)

if you want a DVD and CD drive i'd get something like this

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Portable-External-SE-218BB-RSBS/dp/B008AJLPYS/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1354497582&sr=8-7&keywords=optical+drive+usb+3.0

if you want a blu ray drive

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SE-506AB-TSBD-External-Blu-ray/dp/B006B7R9QE/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1354497582&sr=8-8&keywords=optical+drive+usb+3.0

imo the blu ray drive is a steal for 85$!
 
C

Chuckstones

macrumors regular
Oct 28, 2012
152
22
Please excuse my ignorance. And I hope I am not hijacking this thread!

But I just got let down on an order I had for the 2011 imac. So have decided to go with the new 2012 model. I was a little disappointed that it doesn't include an optical drive. So am going to purchase a 3rd party one!

Could someone please confirm wether or not the Samsung bluray writer (mentioned in this thread)will actually play Blu-ray Discs on the imac. As I have a read conflicting reports that it will burn them but not play them!!

I would feel a whole lot better. And will not hesitate to purchase one (as I have quite a large BD collection) if the mac will actually play them!

Thanks in advance!
 
J

JustMartin

macrumors 6502a
Feb 28, 2012
787
271
UK
Chuckstones said:
Please excuse my ignorance. And I hope I am not hijacking this thread!

But I just got let down on an order I had for the 2011 imac. So have decided to go with the new 2012 model. I was a little disappointed that it doesn't include an optical drive. So am going to purchase a 3rd party one!

Could someone please confirm wether or not the Samsung bluray writer (mentioned in this thread)will actually play Blu-ray Discs on the imac. As I have a read conflicting reports that it will burn them but not play them!!

I would feel a whole lot better. And will not hesitate to purchase one (as I have quite a large BD collection) if the mac will actually play them!

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

You need an additional program to play Blu-Ray on a Mac. Have a look for the MacGo player. That appears to do the job.
 
M

MetalCooper

macrumors newbie
Dec 3, 2012
16
0
So here is a question which I believe I already know the answer to....so if I load VMware Fusion or parallels and install a Win 7 virtual machine then plug in a Blu-Ray external drive, Windows will recognize the drive and be able to fully utilize it...correct?

Afterall, A vm, no matter the OS, has no idea that it is virtualized.
 
I

Incindium

macrumors member
Apr 3, 2009
72
0
I was researching this on Sunday right before ordering a 2012 iMac... I'm planning on getting the same Samsung Bluray burner that was linked above.
 
C

cschmelz

macrumors 6502
Jun 6, 2007
342
107
bmcgrath said:
Not really sure there's any benefits to a USB3 optical drive...?
Click to expand...

There shouldn't be as I don't believe there is any optical drive that will saturated even USB2.

I really like support OWC. Great Mac products with good support. I got one of their USB2/Firewire Bluray readers/DVD writer setups that works great.
 
T

theanimala

macrumors 6502
Mar 2, 2007
440
228
Rgladman said:
Now that the new iMac supports USB 3.0 I am looking at purchasing a 3.0 supported optical drive.

There seem to be quite a few available including LaCie, Samsung and others.
Click to expand...

Might as well save up for a USB3 Floppy drive at the same time, because there is no reason to wait/pay for a USB3 device that runs under USB2 speeds.
 
P

photoz

macrumors member
Jun 17, 2006
73
3
Does anyone know of an external DVD writer that writes at 16X (DVD R+/-)? All the ones recommended only do 8X.
 
J

Jay9495

macrumors regular
Jul 11, 2011
125
0
Melbourne Australia
I got this one off eBay, USB 3.0, mac and windows and USB powered
For $40

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1354583176.686042.jpg
 
T

taylord22

macrumors regular
Mar 13, 2012
104
0
Is there a large benefit to having USB 3.0? Speedwise?

If not, how long until there is? Just looking to future proof myself (even it means paying a small premium)
 
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