CD/DVD external reader/writer

[Glennster]

The MacBook Pro I am getting does not have a cd/dvd drive so I need an external one. Looking around I think there are some alternatives other than the overpriced model Apple has.

I am looking at the following and was wondering everyone's input, quality, etc when it comes to working with a MacBook or Mac product.

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7508963

 

[Meister]

Any old external is fine. They are obsolete anyway.

 

[happyfrappy]

I own the black version of that Samsung, the plastics/tray quality is really "cheap" to the point it rattles when reading or writing discs--only kept it as the single USB cable was better than the two cable Toshiba I had. Try LG, Asus, LiteOn or Lenovo if you plan to use it often.

Don't recommend the Apple Superdrive as its the same drive maker(s) used as previous MacBook/MacBook Pros, you'll deal with music/movie discs which have odd issues with the slotloader.

 

[ColdCase]

Many of the CD/DVD drives package up the same optical mechanism. I decided to buy a cheap "throw away" one and replace it every year or so as it wore out. Picked up a $25 Manhattan brand... oh 4-5 years ago now. Its still going strong, reads about everything thrown at it, writes slow but reliably. It has LG GSA-T50N internals. I also have a more recent cheap non name HD DVD drive (toshiba internals) that does an excellent job reading about anything but BlueRays.

My advice is that, if all you need is to read CDs or DVDs, go cheap. Even look at the cheap BlueRay drives if you a bit better technology. If you are going to be burning much, you may want to look at one with better write speeds or just be patient.