Alternative to external SuperDrive?

[B Gallagher]

Hello all,

I'm looking at getting a new MacBook Pro once the new model's released, and have, as most will, heard rumours that it may remove the optical drive.

I would normally look at purchasing the external SuperDrive, but I've heard time and time again that there are much faster and more reliable external optical drives on the market. Can anyone recommend some?

 

[AVR2]

Pretty much anything by a name brand will be at least as fast as a SuperDrive, won't it?

A few years back the SD in my MBP died, and as a stop-gap I went out and bought a Sony external USB optical drive. It cost round about half (maybe less) of what a new SD would cost, and it was all-round faster too. I didn't bother doing any research, I just bought on brand name and price (I had good experiences with Sony opticals from my PC-owning days), and it's still working fine.

I've since bought a new SD for my MBP from iFixit, but the SD in my Mac mini stopped working just after the warranty ran out, so it's had the Sony hooked up to it for the past year or so. I pretty much never use the optical drive on the mini anyway; the last time I did was to install Snow Leopard.

Coincidentally, earlier today I thought I might look at prices for replacing the SD in the mini - and after I had, I decided I'd stick with the Sony.

 

[AngelGuy7]

I recently purchased this external drive after the Superdrive in my 2007 Macbook Pro died. It's been working great so far:

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Exter...EDBG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312814429&sr=8-1