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MCE Optibay Alternative CHEAP

I'm giving in. I've been debating between using an external enclosure with my MacBook or use the New Modeus setup, and even after buying an OWC enclosure have decided to swap out my optical drive. I was worried about voiding my warranty, but I figure if nothing is drastically changed, then how's Apple gonna know right?

My computer is currently running off an 80GB X25-M GII, and I have a 500GB Scorpio Blue from my old MacBook lying around. I wanted to keep the Scorpio Blue partitioned with a clone of my SSD(just in case something ever happens to my other hard drive), and space for general storage. I was going to put this in the OWC case I have coming in the mail, but I decided I'm going to use it in the New Modeus caddy instead. I'm also going to modify a MacBook Air Super Drive to act as my optical drive for the few occasions I need it(I'm not a fan of these other enclosures). On top of this, I'm still going to have my 1.5TB Barracuda in a MiniStack plugged into my Airport Extreme which will be housing a time machine backup as well as general storage. Eventually I'm hopefully going to upgrade the 500GB Scorpio Blue to a 1TB, and use the 500GB in the OWC enclosure.

I guess my setup is going to eventually look something like this:

-13" MBP w/80GB X25-M GII + 1TB Scorpio Blue(80gb partition for clone/remaining for storage)
-Modified MBA SuperDrive(or something else now I guess lol)
-500GB Scorpio Blue in OWC enclosure
-1.5TB Barracuda in MiniStack enclosure(320GB Time Machine partition/remaining for storage)
-250GB OEM drive and optical drive tucked away for when the MBP needs to look stock for warranty issues.

I'm about to spring for the HDD caddy, but I'm not sure if this is the one I'm supposed to get for a 2010 13" MBP:

http://newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=299

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

EDIT: I just read that people are having issues with DVDs with the MBA drive mod. Ugh. I already ordered the part and it's been marked as shipped :(
 
Are you putting the ssd in the optibay slot? I read somewhere that 12.5 mm drives wont fit in the optibay slot, but will in the original hard drive cage.
 
I found another forum where people have had success with that part, along with another part that's a few bucks more. So hopefully that works out.

I plan on keeping my SSD in the current HDD bay, and then my 500GB Scorpio Blue in the optibay, and the 1TB one later(which I understand is taller).
 
nineohtoo said:
I found another forum where people have had success with that part, along with another part that's a few bucks more. So hopefully that works out.

I plan on keeping my SSD in the current HDD bay, and then my 500GB Scorpio Blue in the optibay, and the 1TB one later(which I understand is taller).
Click to expand...

How do you like your ministack? Would you recommend it?
 
anyone having issues w their dvd external superdrive now? i think since the security update i haven't been able to play the dvd player, the drive does work though.
 
donga said:
anyone having issues w their dvd external superdrive now? i think since the security update i haven't been able to play the dvd player, the drive does work though.
Click to expand...

After the last OS X update (10.6.4), I found, that I had to reapply the modifications to the DVDPlayback.framework file, to make DVD player start up again with only the external drive connected to my Macbook.
 
Just waiting on my optibay :D

tumblr_l5gr7t3NQs1qb6sgio1_1280.jpg
 
Well you should be as much precise as possible to make a good job and avoid having it stick outside or inside the superdrive hole. I wonder if it could then be fixed from the inside or to the optibay itself, then with a quick silver painting job it would look just beautiful. maybe it's worth it a couple of trys by the OP if it doesn't cost him much time and/or money
 
How long does this caddy take to get here (US)??? I ordered it on ebay from powerbluetech on July 3rd, and they said it shipped July 8 (!?!?). It's July 16 now...did it go by sailboat? lol
 
They usually recommend up to 14 days from shipping date. That way they can allow for the usual mishaps and stuff.

If you haven't got it by say the 23rd id be giving them a call or emailing them.

But there should be a tracking number if you ordered from ebay. Cant you track it by that? or at least find out the tracking number and company that is meant to be making the delivery??
 
I ordered mine in the first week of June and now its 16th july- I contacted the seller to let him know I havent recieved it and he is despatching another one FOC.

Now I gotta wait ~2 weeks for it. :(
 
-AG- said:
But there should be a tracking number if you ordered from ebay. Cant you track it by that? or at least find out the tracking number and company that is meant to be making the delivery??
Click to expand...

Oh hey, it just showed up in...New York??? That doesn't make ANY sense. :rolleyes:

Detailed Results:

Processed through Sort Facility, July 15, 2010, 4:45 pm, BETHPAGE, NY 11714
Foreign International Dispatch, July 08, 2010, 8:46 pm, HONG KONG AIR MAIL CENTRE, HONG KONG
Foreign Acceptance, July 08, 2010, 3:52 pm, HONG KONG
Origin Post is Preparing Shipment
Click to expand...
 
problem: ordered the ayagroup caddy and external superdrive enclosure.. got the caddy in after some ghetto rigging, now can't get osx or another windows laptop to recognize the drive.. got a disc in there too now that I can't figure out how to eject. The drive spins up the disc though when you plug it in, but nothing else.. ideas?
 
aznguyen316 said:
problem: ordered the ayagroup caddy and external superdrive enclosure.. got the caddy in after some ghetto rigging, now can't get osx or another windows laptop to recognize the drive.. got a disc in there too now that I can't figure out how to eject. The drive spins up the disc though when you plug it in, but nothing else.. ideas?
Click to expand...

You have to stick in a credit card or gift card.. scary but it works!
 
thadoggfather said:
I did not have to install any drivers. just slid the SuperDrive into there, connected to the two USB's and it worked.

try popping a disc in there and see if it comes up. Should recognize it, if not no idea sorry...
Click to expand...

Strange, it doesn't work for me and the guy who posted just before me.
 
aznguyen316 said:
problem: ordered the ayagroup caddy and external superdrive enclosure.. got the caddy in after some ghetto rigging, now can't get osx or another windows laptop to recognize the drive.. got a disc in there too now that I can't figure out how to eject. The drive spins up the disc though when you plug it in, but nothing else.. ideas?
Click to expand...

Same issue here, neither windows or OS X recognized the enclosure. I had to take the superdrive apart to get my disc out. I'm not sure if it's even worth the effort to RMA it to newegg, as the thing cost like $16, but it's still very annoying. I wrote to sabrent, and they haven't written back. I guess at least this thread will serve as a warning to avoid sabrent enclosures.

I may just get one of those generic USB to SATA adapters and try connecting the superdrive to that.
 
I cant seem to make up my mind. Im not sure if I should go this route or just get a nice pocket-sized 1tb external hard drive...
 
picklesmand said:
Same issue here, neither windows or OS X recognized the enclosure. I had to take the superdrive apart to get my disc out. I'm not sure if it's even worth the effort to RMA it to newegg, as the thing cost like $16, but it's still very annoying. I wrote to sabrent, and they haven't written back. I guess at least this thread will serve as a warning to avoid sabrent enclosures.

I may just get one of those generic USB to SATA adapters and try connecting the superdrive to that.
Click to expand...

Ayagroup said they would test and send me a new one so that's very kind of them. I hope it really works. I didn't think about trying a different sata connector since I have another for my external hdd's. I'll try that to get the disc out. I'll need a working one soon to install SC2 though lol =D
 
Hey folks, just wanted to let everyone know I got my SSD and external CD drive all set up. The external enclosure is from a seller called jpquality1, and it works with only 1 USB cable (although it comes with two)! It also comes with a face plate, but I think it's only for drives that have a tray, as I don't see any way to install it.

The Optibay is from powerbluetech. Took a long time to get here, but it works great. I needed to pull off the black faceplate, but it's easy to pull off.

Let me know if you have any questions! I *LOVE* this SSD!!! :D
 
LoneWolf121188 said:
Hey folks, just wanted to let everyone know I got my SSD and external CD drive all set up. The external enclosure is from a seller called jpquality1, and it works with only 1 USB cable (although it comes with two)! It also comes with a face plate, but I think it's only for drives that have a tray, as I don't see any way to install it.

The Optibay is from powerbluetech. Took a long time to get here, but it works great. I needed to pull off the black faceplate, but it's easy to pull off.

Let me know if you have any questions! I *LOVE* this SSD!!! :D
Click to expand...

Do you have link for the external enclosure?

I do have exact same setting with my 2010MBP, unfortunately I am having problems with booting up the Windows7 DVD from external CD drive. It just won't work. :(

I am wondering how you guys managed to install win7? if you haven't tried yet, could you please try to boot windows 7 or vista dvd from external cd drive?

Thanks a lot!
 
lol what I did was installed windows 7 on a PC laptop. I stuck the HDD into the sata hdd slot, booted Win7 setup dvd and let it go through most of the install. on 2nd reboot I just powered off, stuck it in mac, "cmd boot" and picked windows partition and it loaded and completed installation on the MBP. all is good now. Just had to make sure not to format the wrong partition under windows setup, since I had a Mac partition too.

originally what I did though was while I had the super drive in, I partitioned and installed windows7 on the hdd before removing it to place into caddy. But I didn't like my win7 install and wanted to install different version, hence what I did above.
 
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