USB 3.0 Superdrive?

D

ddarko71

macrumors newbie

Original poster

Jan 31, 2013

9

0

NH

• Jan 31, 2013

• #1

Hey everyone! New here to the forum, and (eagerly) anticipating the arrival of my new 27" iMac (i7, 680MX, 3tb fusion), which is replacing my trusty but worn out 2007 20" iMac.

My question is this: I need an external CD/DVD drive, is there any possibility of one that takes advantage of USB 3.0 speeds available, or planned? Or are CD/DVD throughputs not fast enough to warrant anything faster than USB 2.0?

Thanks for the help!

 

OllyW

Moderator

Staff member

Oct 11, 2005

17,196

6,799

The Black Country, England

• Jan 31, 2013

• #2

USB 2.0 is quick enough.

 

Outrigger

macrumors 68000

Dec 22, 2008

1,765

96

• Jan 31, 2013

• #3

ddarko71 said:

Hey everyone! New here to the forum, and (eagerly) anticipating the arrival of my new 27" iMac (i7, 680MX, 3tb fusion), which is replacing my trusty but worn out 2007 20" iMac.

My question is this: I need an external CD/DVD drive, is there any possibility of one that takes advantage of USB 3.0 speeds available, or planned? Or are CD/DVD throughputs not fast enough to warrant anything faster than USB 2.0?

Thanks for the help!

Click to expand...

The CD/DVD speed won't even surpass 2.0 so there is no point in 3.0.

 

D

ddarko71

macrumors newbie

Original poster

Jan 31, 2013

9

0

NH

• Jan 31, 2013

• #4

Thanks for the advice, guys. I figured that might be the case.

 

S

seanm9

macrumors regular

Dec 29, 2007

143

0

Cape Cod, MA

• Jan 31, 2013

• #5

24×DVD-ROM is 265.92 Mbit/s....
48xCD-Rom is up to 48 Mbit/s....


USB 2.0 is 480 Mbit/s (real world 285 Mbit/s)

so a 24x dvd ROM might saturate the connection, but that is doubtful...

Long post short 2.0 is faster than your DVD (and BluRay)

and higher rotational speeds for drives are not gonna happen until they can find a way to stop the media from shattering at high RPM...

 

D

ddarko71

macrumors newbie

Original poster

Jan 31, 2013

9

0

NH

• Jan 31, 2013

• #6

seanm9 said:

24×DVD-ROM is 265.92 Mbit/s....
48xCD-Rom is up to 48 Mbit/s....


USB 2.0 is 480 Mbit/s (real world 285 Mbit/s)

so a 24x dvd ROM might saturate the connection, but that is doubtful...

Long post short 2.0 is faster than your DVD (and BluRay)

and higher rotational speeds for drives are not gonna happen until they can find a way to stop the media from shattering at high RPM...

Click to expand...

Thanks for the detailed info!! I suspected this was the case.

 

Lancer

macrumors 68020

Jul 22, 2002

2,217

147

Australia

• Jan 31, 2013

• #7

One think I have noticed is at a retail level the Apple USB Superdrive is no more expensive than some other PC options and the upside is they look much better. Most of the others use the same ugly laptop tray load system.

I guess the biggest upside to Apple removing the internal DVD is choice and the fact that if the DVD fails you just need to plug in a new one. No expensive trip to Apple to have it replaced.

Personally I'm shopping for a BluRay option that I can hide off to the side and have it to use when needed.