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tjb1

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 26, 2010
1,999
0
Pennsylvania, USA
Ok I have an optibay now, cheap ebay one and im having problems with external superdrive. Going to buy either a MCE or MaxUpgrades kit. I like the MaxUpgrades aluminum superdrive enclosure and the fact its cheaper but alot of people say the MCE is nice too but I cant find a picture of the MCE superdrive enclosure. Does anyone have anything to say about the MCE or MaxUpgrades kits/enclosures?
 
Ok I have an optibay now, cheap ebay one and im having problems with external superdrive. Going to buy either a MCE or MaxUpgrades kit. I like the MaxUpgrades aluminum superdrive enclosure and the fact its cheaper but alot of people say the MCE is nice too but I cant find a picture of the MCE superdrive enclosure. Does anyone have anything to say about the MCE or MaxUpgrades kits/enclosures?

The maxupgrades kit is a full plastic bottom with a little "off center" bezel that can jam the disc occasionally. The plastic bottom snaps into the top. The optibay is solid but doesn't actually screw the HDD into place. It snaps in and rests.

The MCE enclosure is all a weird rubbery/hard/plastic that snaps together like the maxupgrades but it also screws into the optical drive. The maxupgrades enclosure just has the optical drive sitting loose. The MCE honestly reminds me of batmans armor. That's the type of material it is. My fav part is the optical drive is fully secured in it.

The MCE optibay is much bigger than the maxupgrades. It keeps vibration and noise down. It also actually screws into the HDD unlike the maxupgrades.

Those are best descriptions I can come up with. If you need a pic let me know in IRC and I'll post one in Macrumors IRC ;) (shameless plug).
 
This blake?

And where is the plastic bezel on the MaxUpgrades, from the picture they have it looks like its all aluminum with a slot cut in the front.
 
This blake?

And where is the plastic bezel on the MaxUpgrades, from the picture they have it looks like its all aluminum with a slot cut in the front.

Haha yes it's Blake ;)

The bottom is all plastic. The aluminum isnt like MBP aluminum despite it looking that way in the picture. It's pretty rough to the touch. It is an aluminum (low quality aluminum) top though with a hole cut in.
 
Of course you are gonna sell the MCE cause you bought it haha. But I would love to see a picture of the superdrive if that wouldnt be too much. Also seen you are having yours replaced already.
 
Of course you are gonna sell the MCE cause you bought it haha. But I would love to see a picture of the superdrive if that wouldnt be too much. Also seen you are having yours replaced already.

I'm keeping the MCE. Not selling.

The optibay part (most important IMO) is leaps and bounds better from MCE thanaxupgrades.

Yeah my enclosure arrived damaged. But they are next day shipping from Cali to Ohio for free to get me the replacement. Top quality service.

To be fair, maxupgrades responded to my emails in a timely (and off-hours) manner as well. It seemed like a foreign person as they weren't understanding all the questions exactly right. But nonetheless they did has rapid response time.

It's a real toss up. I'll use my optical enclosure about 2x a year so not a big thing. The MCE one is a cool "batman-like" feeling. But it's def plastic with some sort of coating on it. The maxupgrades is 3/4 (lower quality than MBP) aluminum and 1/4 plastic.
 
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