Best external optical drive?

[oneMadRssn]

Anyone know of a good inexpensive blu-ray drive that works perfectly on the 2012 MBA using only 1 USB Port? I'm looking for one that I can watch my bd movies on while traveling. Thanks!

Seems none of them use only one USB port. I imagine blu-ray takes more power.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...3527&IsNodeId=1&name=Slim Blu-ray Combo Drive

 

[Rocko99991]

I too am in the market for an external optical drive. I'm going to be ripping my whole CD collection (about 400-500 CDs), so I need something that's rugged and well-built and won't fail after the first 50 rips. Is the SuperDrive good enough or should I go with something else? If not, what should I go for? I have no need for it to be thin nor light nor beautifully designed, I'll only need it while at home.

Make sure you rip in lossless format.

 

[niteflyr]

I've used 3 or 4 different ones. Asus, Samsung, etc. This one is by far the best I've tried.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IPH6170/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Kanunu]

2. I highly doubt Apple would remove support to external USB drives anytime soon. It's a very standard part of the USB spec.

They may do a lot more than "remove support." I had a perfectly functional HP drive that just stopped working, if I remember correctly when I moved from Snow Leopard to Lion or else Lion to Mountain Lion. I put it on a borrowed Windows laptop and it worked fine. If that is what you mean by "remove support" then I guess they do.

 

[akidd]

I don't think the apple SuperDrive is good value for money, I've seen drives half the price that offer 24x speed on cd burning, 8x DVD.

I think the SuperDrive is only 8x for anything.

So, what's everyone else using?

I went to my local pc world and the optical drives there were only for windows...

I bought this:
Samsung SE-208DB/TSBS Slim Portable External USB 2.0 DVDRW - Black
from Amazon a couple of years ago as I needed a drive for trade exhibitions (you still got press kits on DVD then and to some extent you still do) and didn't want to have the Superdrive lost/damaged by the airline. It worked fine but its a little fragile. Just take the SuperDrive now.
The Superdrive is overpriced for what it is, but its small (for what it is) and quality, reliability and look is much better.

 

[Audit13]

Personally, I would not use a Superdrive as it is expensive and may not work with a Windows or Linus OS. I would go with a generic external that will work across various OS platforms.

I've upgraded PC laptops for friends and family by removing the DVD drive and installing a DVD drive caddy and moving the mechanical drive to the DVD caddy and an SSD in place of the mechanical drive. I then take the DVD drive and install it into a USB enclosure like this: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/USB-SAT-Note...hash=item25da20cfd4:m:mluTxRaXTHCuW1QyyAiSkdQ

The result is an external drive that has worked with Mac, Windows, and Linux with no problems.