Help!

[alexbaca]

Hello. I'm in desperate need for some help.
I do a lot of film work, and my workhorse has been the 13" MacBook Pro since December of 2011. Lately, though, it's considerably slowed down, and I'm considering getting a new mac laptop. I wanted a MacBook Pro, but since I've now found out that the new one doesn't have a disc drive, I'm much less sure. I've thought about getting an Air just for schoolwork, and then the Pro for any film work, but please tell me what you think.
Here are my options, since I can't afford to buy it all . I can buy a new MacBook Pro, and just bite the bullet and buy the disc drive. I can also buy a MacBook Air and use that for school, while I continue to use my MacBook Pro, but JUST for film. I can get a new Pro next year, but will my current one hold out for that long?

 

[Dweez]

Are you referring to the lack of an optical (CD/DVD) drive?

 

[motrek]

Hello. I'm in desperate need for some help.
I do a lot of film work, and my workhorse has been the 13" MacBook Pro since December of 2011. Lately, though, it's considerably slowed down, and I'm considering getting a new mac laptop. I wanted a MacBook Pro, but since I've now found out that the new one doesn't have a disc drive, I'm much less sure. I've thought about getting an Air just for schoolwork, and then the Pro for any film work, but please tell me what you think.
Here are my options, since I can't afford to buy it all . I can buy a new MacBook Pro, and just bite the bullet and buy the disc drive. I can also buy a MacBook Air and use that for school, while I continue to use my MacBook Pro, but JUST for film. I can get a new Pro next year, but will my current one hold out for that long?

You can use any external DVD drive with a Mac. You can buy them for $30-$40 on Amazon. No need to buy Apple branded stuff.

 

[alexbaca]

Are you referring to the lack of an optical (CD/DVD) drive?

Yes.

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You can use any external DVD drive with a Mac. You can buy them for $30-$40 on Amazon. No need to buy Apple branded stuff.

I'm a lot more worried about carrying it around, and I think it would be a big hassle getting it out on airplanes, etc.

 

[motrek]

Yes.

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I'm a lot more worried about carrying it around, and I think it would be a big hassle getting it out on airplanes, etc.

I guess I don't understand what you're going to do with the drive. You say "film work" ... does that mean you are creating films/videos on your computer? And presumably you want to burn them to DVD after you're done? Surely you don't have to burn them while you're on a plane?

 

[alexbaca]

I guess I don't understand what you're going to do with the drive. You say "film work" ... does that mean you are creating films/videos on your computer? And presumably you want to burn them to DVD after you're done? Surely you don't have to burn them while you're on a plane?

I apologize for not elaborating. I do edit and create films on the computer, and no I do not burn them on a plane. However, I would like to be able to watch movies and such on long flights without having to
a.) download the movie onto the computer before the flight
or b.) use the disc drive on the flight.

 

[motrek]

I apologize for not elaborating. I do edit and create films on the computer, and no I do not burn them on a plane. However, I would like to be able to watch movies and such on long flights without having to
a.) download the movie onto the computer before the flight
or b.) use the disc drive on the flight.

So you want to watch a movie without reading it from disc, either beforehand or as you watch it. Good luck wit that, I guess.

 

[Dweez]

FWIW, I make mkv's from my DVDs for use while traveling and use VLC Media Player to view them. Of course there's the need for an optical drive to read the source material.

 

[alexbaca]

So you want to watch a movie without reading it from disc, either beforehand or as you watch it. Good luck wit that, I guess.

I thought this was implied, but I guess not?
I meant that I would prefer to not have to pull out an EXTERNAL disc drive, and plug it in and everything, but since you're the expert, please tell me if that's actually not a big deal.

 

[capathy21]

I would try to ween yourself off of a disc drive since they are becoming obsolete. Of course with you being in film, I can definitely understand the need to have one at the office or home but you shouldn't need it all the time. Take a few minutes to rip your movies to your computers drive and then you won't have to worry about carrying around discs. It will lighten your load when traveling.

 

[Traverse]

You can buy a cheap external disk drive.

You need a more descriptive title.

 

[motrek]

I thought this was implied, but I guess not?
I meant that I would prefer to not have to pull out an EXTERNAL disc drive, and plug it in and everything, but since you're the expert, please tell me if that's actually not a big deal.

Well, since no modern Apple laptop has an internal disc drive, and you don't want to rip any discs in advance, then it looks like you're stuck using an external drive regardless of your preferences or whether or not you think it's awkward. I don't know what other response you thought you might get from this message board.

I don't understand your reluctance to rip discs before going on a plane flight. It only takes a few minutes, it means you don't have to pack an external drive, and it probably saves a lot of battery life if you don't have to power an external drive while watching a movie.

 

[Mrbobb]

Speed bump from a 2011 is not that huge. Perhaps u just need more ram, maybe a SSD.

 

[alexbaca]

Well, since no modern Apple laptop has an internal disc drive, and you don't want to rip any discs in advance, then it looks like you're stuck using an external drive regardless of your preferences or whether or not you think it's awkward. I don't know what other response you thought you might get from this message board.

I don't understand your reluctance to rip discs before going on a plane flight. It only takes a few minutes, it means you don't have to pack an external drive, and it probably saves a lot of battery life if you don't have to power an external drive while watching a movie.

I do not like to download movies onto my computer because it takes up too much space, which I understand is an opinion, but that's not going to happen. I don't like downloading big files because it's hard on the computer, it takes a while (in my experience), and in the end, deleting it and getting any remnant files off is more trouble than it's worth.

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You can buy a cheap external disk drive.

You need a more descriptive title.

I don't want to purchase 3rd party accessories (doesn't that void the warranty?)
And I'll keep that in mind.

 

[motrek]

I do not like to download movies onto my computer because it takes up too much space, which I understand is an opinion, but that's not going to happen. I don't like downloading big files because it's hard on the computer, it takes a while (in my experience), and in the end, deleting it and getting any remnant files off is more trouble than it's worth.

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I don't want to purchase 3rd party accessories (doesn't that void the warranty?)
And I'll keep that in mind.

1) I'm not sure what you mean by "downloading" because it sounds like you're talking about downloading something from the internet. What's being discussed is simply copying your DVDs to your computer. Neither one is "hard" on a modern laptop. Deleting the resulting files couldn't be easier--you just drag them to the trash. Not sure what you mean by "remnant files." And once you're on-board with deleting the videos after watching them then the space they take up on your computer is no longer a concern.

2) Plugging external devices into a Mac, regardless of manufacturer, definitely does NOT void your warranty.

 

[alexbaca]

1) I'm not sure what you mean by "downloading" because it sounds like you're talking about downloading something from the internet. What's being discussed is simply copying your DVDs to your computer. Neither one is "hard" on a modern laptop. Deleting the resulting files couldn't be easier--you just drag them to the trash. Not sure what you mean by "remnant files." And once you're on-board with deleting the videos after watching them then the space they take up on your computer is no longer a concern.

2) Plugging external devices into a Mac, regardless of manufacturer, definitely does NOT void your warranty.

a.) Download is a pretty generic word, I thought you'd know what I meant. And I said it was MY OPINION that it's hard on the computer. I don't understand why you're getting so worked up, considering that this is my problem not yours.
b.) I don't like buying third party devices, I thought I had made that clear. I'm sorry that a fact (that I actually posed as a question) was incorrect. Obviously, you're much smarter than me because you know all about Macs.

I love Apple, but some users have given the brand a bad rep because they're so snobby. I didn't think I'd run in to any here, but I guess they're everywhere .
Get off your high horse, because nobody's perfect (except for you obviously!)

 

[motrek]

a.) Download is a pretty generic word, I thought you'd know what I meant. And I said it was MY OPINION that it's hard on the computer. I don't understand why you're getting so worked up, considering that this is my problem not yours.
b.) I don't like buying third party devices, I thought I had made that clear. I'm sorry that a fact (that I actually posed as a question) was incorrect. Obviously, you're much smarter than me because you know all about Macs.

I love Apple, but some users have given the brand a bad rep because they're so snobby. I didn't think I'd run in to any here, but I guess they're everywhere .
Get off your high horse, because nobody's perfect (except for you obviously!)

Not trying to be snobby or perfect, just trying to save you some money. Sounds like you want an optical drive and I'd prefer if you bought a $35 drive vs. a functionally-indentical Apple-branded $80 drive. Seems like the opposite of snobby.