Buying a Powerbook - Superdrive or no?

[Lord Bodak]

I'm getting ready to buy a 12" Powerbook. Been saving my money hoping the update would come while I saved, but it's looking unlikely now.

My plan is to order a 12" after the Paris keynote-- if it's a new one, great, if it's not then I'll live with the current one. I'm upgrading from a Pentium 200 desktop so anything will be lightning fast in comparison!

This will be my first Mac. I am planning on using it mainly as my primary computer for a year or so, when I hope to buy a second or third rev G5 desktop to supplement it.

The question is, should I get the Superdrive? The $200 is a lot of money to me right now, and I would be giving up a lot of CD-burning speed for a feature I don't think I'll use much.

It also seems like DVD burning standards are still changing and there might be support for more standards in future versions of OS X, which would mean better Superdrives in the next G5 desktops.

What does everybody think?

Thanks,
--Mike

 

[amin]

You seem to have a good handle on the issues. For the reasons you cited, I recently purchased a 12" PB without the Superdrive.

 

[caveman_uk]

I've got a Powermac with a superdrive. It was a standard machine spec and was discounted when I got it so it wasn't by choice. I have never used the machine to burn DVDs. I don't have a camcorder which may be why. I know that I could use it for back up but blank DVDs are a lot dearer than CDRs so I don't bother with DVDs.

I personally wouldn't buy a portable with a superdrive unless you intend using it with a camcorder.

 

[rueyeet]

The sole reason I regret buying my TiBook before they made them with Superdrives is backup. Though for the $200 I guess you could get a decent Firewire external drive.

I also wanted to try converting some videotapes to DVDs, but that's not strictly necessary.

 

[Kwyjibo]

i have had the 12" pb for a month now and have not used my superdrive...i'm not into making movies or backing up (i have an ext drive for than and an ipod for music) so in the end of the money is importatnt... i would take the $200 for the upgrade and spend it on some more ram and an APX card if your using wirless to me those things are more important