I was looking at the emacs and i was wondering id the superdrive will make the system faster or is the superdrive just a dvd burner.thanks
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Combodrive or superdrive
- Thread starter nyprospect
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It's pointless to get unless you burn your own dvd's or if you have a dvd burner somewhere else that you have access to. Otherwise save yourself the extra $200.
it makes the system faster when burning dvds 4x faster then having a combo drive which goes at 0 x 
An 8X DVD burner is a pretty handy thing. My "old" 4X burner has been extremely useful for backups.
Also, with all the iXxxx apps, it's pretty easy to start down the road to burning video DVDs. So I think it's a good investment.
Necessary, though? No. You can always add an external one.
Also, with all the iXxxx apps, it's pretty easy to start down the road to burning video DVDs. So I think it's a good investment.
Necessary, though? No. You can always add an external one.
it really depends what you're all about. if you want to burn DVDs, then the superdrive is the only way to go. if you are strictly burning CDs, then the combo drive would be cheaper and more efficient. the combo drive burns CDs faster than the 4x superdrive.
JzzTrump22 said:
don't forget for backup of music, pictures, or other documents. I would never want to try to backup my picture library from iPhoto and older pics to a bunch of CD's, etc I like doing a DVD once every few months. I would love to have an external hard drive and maybe that is the way to go in your case if you don't burn dvd movies or slide shows using pictures. (Don't forget iPhoto will burn slide shows using iDvd)
You also never know what you will get into in a year or two...so if you want it to be an internal one and not have to deal with buying and having an external one if you should decide to burn dvd's go with the internal. I think it is only $180 more on iBooks right now...dont know on eMacs.
I would recommend going with an external Pioneer 107 DVD Burner. In fact, just buy an internal one for $93 from NewEgg and buy an external enclosure for it. It has native support in 10.3.3 (I think that is the right version) so you don't need to use any hacks. If you want to use IDVD you will want the EasterEgg fix for it, so you can burn to the external drive.
JzzTrump22 said:
I don't think it is pointless at all. Say you want or need to reinstall the system, or transfer some files to another computer. There are three main options: burn CDs, burn DVDs, or buy an external drive:
If I wanted to hold 15 gigs (say my entire music collection), that's over 20 CDs worth of data. However, it's only 4 DVDs. And at a few bucks each, it won't cost much.
An external drive is reusable, but how much is it going to set you back? A lot.
Actualy, you could get an external DVD burner that is as good or better than the Superdrive for less than $200. Therefore for the same price you can get the internal combo drive AND a DVD burner. A much better deal in my opinion.
PS. There is even a hack to allow iDVD burn to an external drive, which is the only reason you might need the Superdrive.
PS. There is even a hack to allow iDVD burn to an external drive, which is the only reason you might need the Superdrive.
virividox said:it makes the system faster when burning dvds 4x faster then having a combo drive which goes at 0 x
Yea, but remember, the eMac with the SD can burn DVDs at 8X, but only burns CDs at 24X. Where as the Combo Drive burns CDs at 32X.
At the time when I bought my iMac, I didn't have enough bling bling to afford the 17" with the SD, so now I can get an external enclosure + an 8X DVD burner for $100. So I get the best of both worlds. So IMHO, getting a Super Drive on an eMac, iMac, or PowerMac is totally pointless and a waste of money...PowerBooks and iBooks I can understand because you can't always be carrying an external enclosure with you all the time, you got a laptop for mobility.