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Have you regretted not having cd/dvd drive?

B

bklyn bruiser

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 14, 2008
24
0
Looking to Finally purchase my first Mac... Only 1 question... Is there anyone who owns a Macbook Air that can say that there has been any time u regretted not having a cd/dvd drive??? Thats my only concern right now..
 
Last edited:
bklyn bruiser said:
Looking to Finally purchase my first Mac... Only 1 question... Is there anyone who owns a Macbook Air that can say that there has been any time u regretted not having a cd/dvd drive??? Thats my only concern right now..
Click to expand...
You can always buy an external DVD drive like this, or use a drive on another computer like this.

Also, you may have better success in attracting responses to your thread, and you'll make your thread easier to find for those searching for the same answers, if you follow this tip.
 
bklyn bruiser said:
Looking to Finally purchase my first Mac... Only 1 question... Is there anyone who owns a Macbook Air that can say that there has been any time u regretted not having a cd/dvd drive??? Thats my only concern right now..
Click to expand...

I think I have regretted not having a DVD drive once in the last 6 months. And then I realized I could just download what I already had.

$80 for an external drive is really not that expensive if you find optical media essential to your digital life.
 
I am a full-time college student majoring in computer science and while I do not own a MBA, I have had a 13-inch MBP since April 2010. I very rarely use the SuperDrive and never have I encountered a situation that necessitated its use. I could probably count the number of times I've used it on one hand.

That being said, I never purchase hard media. All my music is from iTunes and all my software is from either the App Store or another online vendor. When I share content, I do so exclusively online as I find burning to a disc both tedious and wasteful.

If my SuperDrive were to malfunction tomorrow, there's a good chance I wouldn't pay for its repair and I certainly wouldn't be losing any sleep over it.
 
TY for the responses. Very helpful.. And GGJ, thanx for the advice. I will be sure to use that tip..
 
Although I use my super drive a lot to burn large media files (e.g. HD and 3D HD video), unless you have a very specific reason like that to use the drive, most people really like not having it as it reduces weight, size, noise etc.

If you find you do need one at some point, as previously mentioned you can always get an external, and I'd even recommend getting an external Blu-ray drive/burner that will also play DVDs and CDs but have the ability to store huge amounts of data and, with enough workaround, read Blu-rays if you're ever so inclined.
 
flynz4 said:
Evidently, you didn't like GGJ's tip enough to actually follow it. Your post still has the lousy title.

/Jim
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i'm actually confused, besides the fact that TC could have circumvented this topic altogether by searching, how could he have made topic title not lousy? Examples?
 
Looking at the size of the superdrive I understand why they took it out. It looks bulky next to the air. For my day to day use I am happy it isn't in there, and I don't use it at all.

But picked one up this week because I am going to visit some family, and there isn't much to do except watching DVD. I for that reason I spend the extra £66, but for nothing else yet.
 
Not even once for me. I do have to note that the dvd-drive broke on my previous macbook pro so I was already used to not having a optical drive.

But to answer your question, I don't miss it at all.
 
I do have the external drive for the rare occasions I want/need one
Usually for ripping a DVD at home

But I love my MBA and prefer not having the drive to carry around in it
The portability is amazing
 
I've only regretted not having a CD drive once and I found out I could download it from the internet anyway so it was no big deal.
 
Thought I would miss it when I bought my Air, but I haven't yet. And otherwise I will purchase an external drive :)
 
daonesteven said:
i'm actually confused, besides the fact that TC could have circumvented this topic altogether by searching, how could he have made topic title not lousy? Examples?
Click to expand...
After flynz4 posted that, the OP changed the title. You're looking at the changed title. The previous one gave no indication what topic was being discussed.
 
Yesterday my wife's sister came over to burn CDs off of my wife's iTunes library.

I'm not sure what mystified me more - the fact that she physically came to get the music rather than doing dropbox/other means of file sharing or that they were burning the playlists to CDs for the sister to put on her iTunes at home.

Sometimes we forget that not everyone is on the cutting edge like we are.

And no, I haven't missed the optical drive at all.
 
GGJstudios said:
After flynz4 posted that, the OP changed the title. You're looking at the changed title. The previous one gave no indication what topic was being discussed.
Click to expand...
Looking back, I noticed that I replied 7 minutes after the OP's reply to you. He might have been changing the title while I was posting my flippant response. My apologies if my response was premature. It just seemed odd at the time that he thanked you for teaching him how to write a better title... but then not doing it.

/Jim
 
bklyn bruiser said:
...
Is there anyone who owns a Macbook Air that can say that there has been any time u regretted not having a cd/dvd drive???
...
Click to expand...

I haven't regretted it at all. I can't remember the last time I even used a cd/dvd drive to be honest...well, ok, when I did a full wipe/re-install of another laptop I own. That's it though.
 
If you don't need a burner, here's a cheap one that works well with my 2011 MBA.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002HKJF6Q/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details

I paid $29 when it was in stock from Amazon, it looks like it's a bit more from 3rd party sellers currently. However, you can find good quality read-only units for around $30 from several sources.

Here's a $31 one from Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106329

For portability, get one (like the above ones) that runs on USB power. You don't want to have to mess with a power brick.
 
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