Poll: Could you live without an optical drive?

[talmy]

I've been seeing DVDs fail after about 5 years, so they aren't perfect either. And the low capacity and slow speed led me to using external hard drives once my archive DVD stack got to over 50 disks. Then you have to multiply that by two for redundancy. So I now back up to multiple sets of external hard drives.

 

[miata]

The thickest component in the MBPs are the HDDs and the SuperDrive. If you look at the pics of the MBP 13 you will see that there is no room on the motherboard for 3 large chips. Making the MBP thicker will not help -- unless you make it really thick, so that the motherboard and SuperDrive can overlap.

Maybe they replace the HDD with a MBA style SSD. That might provide enough space. But which would you rather lose the upgradable HDD or the SuperDrive?

 

[mrsir2009]

What do people use a DVD drive on their laptop for everyday anyway?

 

[Schtumple]

What do people use a DVD drive on their laptop for everyday anyway?

In one place I did work experience, they had a MBP for editing, (for convenience) and burnt off copies of each final cut, several disks a day, but, they noted the drive failed so often, they had several backup USB drives.

 

[flynz4]

About 2 years ago I decided that I will never buy another laptop with an optical drive. I made the same decision about a laptop with a floppy drive over 10 years earlier. Both decisions were driven by reduction of bulk and weight.

About 6 months ago, I de-commissioned my MBP... finally discarding the last of any optical drives in any laptops that I owned.

I still want one computer with an optical drive... ideally a desktop. In my case, it is a 27" iMac. If I didn't have a desktop... then I would want an external drive for my laptop. My primary current use is to digitize any optical media that I receive. I pretty much only download software anymore. I suspect that in a couple of years... I will not want any optical media at all.

/Jim

 

[Richard1028]

Poll is worded wrong...

Instead of Dropping the drive completely, it should have read:

"Replace the internal drive with an external one"...

...which is what Apple will do just like the Air.

That being clarified, who really needs mobile drive (built-in) capability? I'd rather Apple use the freed up space for more practical things like even longer battery life.

Frankly, I'm surprised there is so much resistance to the notion of adopting an external USB powered drive as I assume most 13" and 15" MBP users got their machines more for portability. (Which begs increased battery longevity). Burn and RIP your DVD's at home.

 

[flynz4]

I've been seeing DVDs fail after about 5 years, so they aren't perfect either. And the low capacity and slow speed led me to using external hard drives once my archive DVD stack got to over 50 disks. Then you have to multiply that by two for redundancy. So I now back up to multiple sets of external hard drives.

Backing up to DVDs is probably the worse possible choice (after not backing up at all).

External hard drives are OK for local backups... and better if they are network attached. Still, I would not rely on local backups as being primary. They are too easily stolen along with the computer... or destroyed in the same natural disaster.

I would strongly recommend internet based backup as being primary. It is much more secure, and reliable... and the only viable option for offsite disaster recovery.

/Jim

 

[mike5411]

I can't live without an optical drive. However, I can live without an internal optical drive, especially if it means a better computer.

 

[Yebubbleman]

We want to have better CPU and GPU - they are 100x more important that superdrive which we use only for OS reinstallation.
Since Mac OS X Lion, we will not use DVDs for reinstallation.
That means that superdrive is just EATING the space, without any benefit.

PolycarbonatePie-junkies can buy an external drive - it's really cheap (29$)

You're delusional if you think that Lion's Mac App Store will make it so that EVERY SINGLE APP is more sensibly installed that way much unlike games like BioShock and StarCraft II and Pro apps like Final Cut Studio and the Adobe Creative Suite which would take all day to just download, let alone install.

You're also delusional if you really think that by removing the optical drive, Apple will provide you with that better CPU and GPU. Ain't gonna happen and you're nuts if you think it will.

 

[Yebubbleman]

I can't live without an optical drive. However, I can live without an internal optical drive, especially if it means a better computer.

Which it won't.

 

[Yebubbleman]

1. They are not going to put a dedicated GPU in the 13" MacBook Pro in lieu of an optical drive. If they remove the optical drive, they'll boast increased thinness. Increased cooling ain't gonna happen either. You don't need to remove the optical drive to have both SSD and a Hard Drive both present (see the MacBook Air's blade SSD implementation) Also, side-note: if you want a dedicated GPU, just get a 15" MacBook Pro; those who need that kind of GPU probably also need that kind of screen real-estate, and I'm sure Apple has all of the marketing data to support that.

2. Even if they removed the optical drive in any of the three MacBook Pro lines, they STILL wouldn't be able to fit today's current quad-core laptop CPUs without making the damn thing thicker. Such probably won't be true of next generation's quad-core laptop CPUs, but by then, they won't need to ditch the optical drive to do it.

3. Just because you don't use the optical drive doesn't mean that there aren't a metric butt-load of people who do. I do, and I'd be screwed without one, both in personal use and in professional use No, I don't want the external super-drive as that is completely and utterly inconvenient. If we can't have our Superdrives, than you shouldn't have your SD cards and FireWire 800 ports, at which point we might as well be using a MacBook Air anyway.

4. Superdrives don't make the laptop THAT much thicker, heavier or unwieldy to carry, and if they do for you, you should just get a MacBook Air.

5. I take apart these machines as a side-job when I'm not doing post-production work. I know how these machines work and I depend on them. Hell, I'll bet I've seen most of these MacBook Pros naked more times over than most of you ever will. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about.

 

[shyam09]

You're delusional if you think that Lion's Mac App Store will make it so that EVERY SINGLE APP is more sensibly installed that way much unlike games like BioShock and StarCraft II and Pro apps like Final Cut Studio and the Adobe Creative Suite which would take all day to just download, let alone install.

You're also delusional if you really think that by removing the optical drive, Apple will provide you with that better CPU and GPU. Ain't gonna happen and you're nuts if you think it will.

i know this is stupid but im not 100% sure.. what is light peak. like i know its the new "transfer tech" instead of USB's and all.. but this wouldnt apply to file transfer in the machine itself, or would it?

if it does than im sure FCP would be able to be downloaded in a matter of minutes- hours.. but once again sry for my ignorance..

 

[QuarterSwede]

Which it won't.

The space the optical drive leaves will be used for the battery as Apple has already shown in the current MacBook Air. Heck, they've even stated that is the future of their laptops. How is double the battery life NOT better?

You have to realize you're in the minority of users now. My guess is that the 17" will maintain an optical drive until it's completely obsolete.

 

[Yebubbleman]

The space the optical drive leaves will be used for the battery as Apple has already shown in the current MacBook Air. Heck, they've even stated that is the future of their laptops. How is double the battery life NOT better?

The battery is 10 hours long as it stands now. Any longer is undeniably cool, but not at all necessary as most people have no problem storing a power adapter in the same location as their toothbrush or any other item specific to where one is crashing that night. Also, the battery life in the 13" MacBook Pro (ten hours rated) is three hours longer than that of the 13" MacBook Air (seven hours rated) and five hours longer than that of the 11" MacBook Air (five hours rated). Clearly the optical drive is preventing us from having awesome battery life.

You have to realize you're in the minority of users now. My guess is that the 17" will maintain an optical drive until it's completely obsolete.

You have to realize that this poll means nothing. It is only a sampling of the few MacRumors readers who were even aware of this forum post, and I wouldn't even be aware of it were it not for a similar argument happening on another comments page. The OP was in response to the idea that one could make a MacBook Air their primary computer in light of last month's announcement. The vast majority of Mac users aren't even speaking here; you mostly have the sect of Mac users that wish they could have a MacBook Air with slightly more storage, slightly better graphics, and Ethernet and FireWire ports and frankly, after dealing with several Mac users day in and day out, I can assure you that most of them would miss an optical drive over all of those features, and we're not even talking about people who need their machines for "Pro" purposes.

As for your prediction about the 17" MacBook Pro being the last Apple portable to ditch the optical drive, that sounds sensible, though I don't predict that day will come for quite a long time. Software is still sold on CDs, and DVDs, movies are still mostly sold on DVD, and the most popular method of utilizing both is an optical drive that is conveniently internal. Sorry to those insistent on the optical drive leaving the scene anytime soon. Good news though! Apple makes a laptop that fits YOUR needs! It's called the MacBook Air!

 

[QuarterSwede]

The battery is 10 hours long as it stands now. Any longer is undeniably cool, but not at all necessary as most people have no problem storing a power adapter in the same location as their toothbrush or any other item specific to where one is crashing that night. Also, the battery life in the 13" MacBook Pro (ten hours rated) is three hours longer than that of the 13" MacBook Air (seven hours rated) and five hours longer than that of the 11" MacBook Air (five hours rated). Clearly the optical drive is preventing us from having awesome battery life.

Good point.

You have to realize that this poll means nothing. It is only a sampling of the few MacRumors readers who were even aware of this forum post, and I wouldn't even be aware of it were it not for a similar argument happening on another comments page. The OP was in response to the idea that one could make a MacBook Air their primary computer in light of last month's announcement. The vast majority of Mac users aren't even speaking here; you mostly have the sect of Mac users that wish they could have a MacBook Air with slightly more storage, slightly better graphics, and Ethernet and FireWire ports and frankly, after dealing with several Mac users day in and day out, I can assure you that most of them would miss an optical drive over all of those features, and we're not even talking about people who need their machines for "Pro" purposes.

I wasn't referring to the poll. Most people I know haven't used their optical drive in long enough that they can't remember and they are not techies. Heck, even my mother never uses the optical drive.

As for your prediction about the 17" MacBook Pro being the last Apple portable to ditch the optical drive, that sounds sensible, though I don't predict that day will come for quite a long time. Software is still sold on CDs, and DVDs, movies are still mostly sold on DVD, and the most popular method of utilizing both is an optical drive that is conveniently internal.

When Apple stopped putting floppy drives in their computers people thought they were nuts but it forced everyone to move on. Apple will do the same again with the optical drive and they've basically stated so. I believe it's going to happen sooner than you think.

 

[Yebubbleman]

When Apple stopped putting floppy drives in their computers people thought they were nuts but it forced everyone to move on. Apple will do the same again with the optical drive and they've basically stated so. I believe it's going to happen sooner than you think.

Floppies made sense to discard because optical drives were waiting in the wings. We have nothing anywhere near as viable to replace them with...yet. Most software beyond the simple Office/iWork assortment still comes on DVDs that are still hellish to download (even iLife would take hours to download), Mac App Store or not. Remote disc is slow and still requires someone else's optical drive, and the external SuperDrive is inconvenient to carry. I can leave my charger at home with a 10-hour battery life. I shouldn't have to take along my optical drive if I want to watch a movie or burn something for someone.

Plus maybe she and I are in the minority, but my girlfriend, also not a techie, and I both use our laptops as portable DVD players. I'm not going to hop on the digital bandwaggon as iTunes movies simply take up too much hard drive space (and cost way too much for what little they offer over DVDs) and I have a large movie collection as is. Am I in the minority there, possibly. Though I also burn DVDs, install software, play games, and all that. I use my computer to do a lot of things. Could I see the optical drive leaving on the white MacBook? Absolutely. I predict that as soon as the 11" MacBook Air drops to the 700-800 price point, the 13" MacBook Air will have also dropped to the $999 price point, and Apple's engineers will have, by then, figured out how to engineer the Ethernet port (or some similar proprietary thing with an included adapter for it) onto it, and then all that is missing from it that was on the white MacBook is the optical. They did it with FireWire, I don't see why they couldn't do it with the white MacBook. At that point the white MacBook will be discontinued, the 13" MacBook Air will take its place as the "MacBook" and the prophecy of "The Future of MacBooks" will have been fulfilled. As for the Pros, we still have a long while with the optical drive, the SD card slot, the FireWire 800 Port and everything else that makes a full-featured Mac exactly that.

 

[Yebubbleman]

I wasn't referring to the poll. Most people I know haven't used their optical drive in long enough that they can't remember and they are not techies. Heck, even my mother never uses the optical drive.

I don't even use it every day, but I DO use it. Some days more than others. I feel the same way about the FireWire port, and it is for that reason why I'll never be a "MacBook" customer ever again and will only buy "MacBook Pro" if I'm buying a Mac laptop. I don't use it often, but when I do, I'm glad it's there. The optical drive, I use more than the FireWire port or the SD card slot. Granted, not every day, or even every other day, or even once every half a week or even every week. But I do use it. We do use it, and when you want it, it's nice to have it there.

 

[miata]

I don't even use it every day, but I DO use it. Some days more than others. I feel the same way about the FireWire port, and it is for that reason why I'll never be a "MacBook" customer ever again and will only buy "MacBook Pro" if I'm buying a Mac laptop. I don't use it often, but when I do, I'm glad it's there. The optical drive, I use more than the FireWire port or the SD card slot. Granted, not every day, or even every other day, or even once every half a week or even every week. But I do use it. We do use it, and when you want it, it's nice to have it there.

There is a big difference between a firewire port and an internal SuperDrive. If you don't have an internal SuperDrive you can connect one via the USB or Firewire port. If you don't have a firewire port you are SOL for connecting to external storage. Besides, how much space does the firewire port take up?

 

[ZenErik]

I wouldn't mind dropping the optical drive for another hard drive. Well, in my case, SSD. Two SandForce SSD in a RAID 0 config, please.

 

[Yebubbleman]

There is a big difference between a firewire port and an internal SuperDrive. If you don't have an internal SuperDrive you can connect one via the USB or Firewire port. If you don't have a firewire port you are SOL for connecting to external storage. Besides, how much space does the firewire port take up?

More people use the optical drive than use the FireWire port. The existence of the Unibody MacBook is a testament to this (otherwise it'd have the FireWire port and not the Optical drive if one of those had to be removed at all). Also, you are not SOL in connecting to external storage sans a FireWire port; most people use USB. The only things you are truly SOL on sans a FireWire port are DV editing with higher end cameras and FireWire Target Disc mode. The space argument is nil if you make the damn thing unnoticeably thicker (which they can do just as well as designing it sans the optical drive) or wait for everything else to miniaturize (it's already happening with SSDs and the MacBook Air's blade SSDs are proof), which it inevitably will.

 

[ZenErik]

For me, as someone who records music, I would not use an Apple laptop with no firewire.

 

[miata]

More people use the optical drive than use the FireWire port. The existence of the Unibody MacBook is a testament to this (otherwise it'd have the FireWire port and not the Optical drive if one of those had to be removed at all). Also, you are not SOL in connecting to external storage sans a FireWire port; most people use USB. The only things you are truly SOL on sans a FireWire port are DV editing with higher end cameras and FireWire Target Disc mode. The space argument is nil if you make the damn thing unnoticeable thicker or wait for everything else to miniaturize (it's already happening with SSDs and the MacBook Air's blade SSDs are proof), which it inevitably will.

You're saying that USB is a good substitute for Firewire 800 when connecting to external storage? I wasn't even talking about target disk mode or firewire videocams. I was just talking about the inadequacy of USB.

IMHO, the biggest deficiency of the current MBAs is that they have very limited storage capacity and no Firewire port for reasonable external storage access.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

DVD's are useful for installing software, and watching movies. I also use mine to burn DVD's, CD's, and ripping movies. If it had a blu-ray drive, I'd use it to rip and play blu-rays as well.

Really, if Apple removes the CD drive, I might as well as as not use Apple products anymore, as I already have a MBA type of machine that I got for < $500.

 

[talmy]

Backing up to DVDs is probably the worse possible choice (after not backing up at all).

External hard drives are OK for local backups... and better if they are network attached. Still, I would not rely on local backups as being primary. They are too easily stolen along with the computer... or destroyed in the same natural disaster.

I would strongly recommend internet based backup as being primary. It is much more secure, and reliable... and the only viable option for offsite disaster recovery.

/Jim

I'm well aware of the pitfalls of onsite-only backups. I actually keep two sets of external backups and archival hard drives off-site. I did the same with the DVDs. Backing up the about 2.5 TB of data I've got on my server over the Internet is not practical, but it's probably sensible for 90% of homes and perhaps small businesses as well.

 

[tigress666]

More people use the optical drive than use the FireWire port. The existence of the Unibody MacBook is a testament to this (otherwise it'd have the FireWire port and not the Optical drive if one of those had to be removed at all). Also, you are not SOL in connecting to external storage sans a FireWire port; most people use USB. The only things you are truly SOL on sans a FireWire port are DV editing with higher end cameras and FireWire Target Disc mode. The space argument is nil if you make the damn thing unnoticeably thicker (which they can do just as well as designing it sans the optical drive) or wait for everything else to miniaturize (it's already happening with SSDs and the MacBook Air's blade SSDs are proof), which it inevitably will.

I'd almost agree here that the firewire is probably used less than the DVD drive by most casual users cause I wouldn't care if my computer didn't have a firewire port *IF* they included a third USB port (I'm a pretty casual user). But I do use the third port more than I use my DVD drive (and I am in the minority that I like having the DVD drive). It doesn't really matter if it is firewire or USB for me cause my backup hard drive can connect to either. But since I use my MBP as a desktop as well it allows me to plug in my keyboard, iphone, and my backup hard drive all at once. No having to disconnect the hard drive or iphone in order to use the other (and since I have time machine working on the backup hard drive it's nice it can be constantly connected when my computer is being used as a desktop).