Question on external optical drive/superdrive

[JamSandwich]

Hey folks,

Just curious if there are any capabilities you miss out on with a Mini/external superdrive, and if there are any downfalls to a Mac-compatible external DVD writer.

I remember reading something in the past about not being able to burn/rip certain forms of media, but I really have no idea how credible that information was. But with a refresh apparently coming, I'll ultimately have a big choice as to whether I upgrade to a new setup using a Mini or another iMac.

Was hoping I could just search for this, but with searching currently disabled, I thought I'd pose it in the simplest terms I could.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

External ODDs are quite okay, they do not need to be Mac OS X compatible. I once purchased an LG ODD (DVD writer) in 2007 and used it with my 2004 iBook and Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger quite okay. I ripped several video DVDs, audio CDs and burned several data DVDs (over a hundred or so) without problems, except with incompatible DVD media (incompatible with the drive, not with the OS).
The only limitation I know is with region codes for DVDs, but that is the same with internal ODDs.
And for search you can always use MRoogle.

 

[henchman]

I just bought a SuperDrive external on eBay for $50

 

[Team Timm]

SuperDrive is amazing. Cost a bit more than other competitors but if your desk is all apple, why not make it complete with a SuperDrive.

But yes, other drives should work with no problem with no missing features except not looking as sleek.

 

[theRAMman]

what i dont get is why superdrives are so expensive. You could pick up an USB driver for as little as £20

 

[Poki]

what i dont get is why superdrives are so expensive.

Because they can.

 

[Team Timm]

what i dont get is why superdrives are so expensive. You could pick up an USB driver for as little as £20

Because it's Apple and it matches... Duhhh.

 

[paulrbeers]

I remember reading something in the past about not being able to burn/rip certain forms of media, but I really have no idea how credible that information was. But with a refresh apparently coming, I'll ultimately have a big choice as to whether I upgrade to a new setup using a Mini or another iMac.

Was hoping I could just search for this, but with searching currently disabled, I thought I'd pose it in the simplest terms I could.

I use an external Blu-Ray Player/DVD Burner for my Optical drive. The only thing I lost using it, is that iDVD won't play DVD's from it. However, VLC seems to fix that just fine for the few I needed it for. I couldn't justify buying a Superdrive when for a few bucks more I could get a white Blu-Ray Reader.... I have both a "slim" one for my Macbook Air and a normal Desktop Blu-Ray Reader/DVD Burner for my Mac Mini....

 

[Mojo1]

The guts of the purty Apple Super Drive is the same poorly-constructed DVD drive that the company has been using for years. If any hardware component is going to break with regular use it will be the so-called Super Drive...

Save some money and buy another external drive. There are some highly rated DVD drives available from Amazon for $40-$50.

 

[flopticalcube]

Plextor, Plextor, Plextor or maybe LG. Apple uses cheaper Optiarc (Sony, now out of business) or Matsu****a (Panasonic) drives. High on DRM, low on quality.