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Thin MacBook with Bottom Mounted Optical Drive?

Good idea but a better idea is to put the Drive on the back of the LCD. Then you only have to shut the lid, not shut the lid and turn the notebook upside down.

OK so it makes the lid thicker. I don't care because the bottom part can be thinner and what matters is the total.
 
My MacBook has a CD/DVD drive? Oh it does! I almost forgot.. have had the MacBook for only a few weeks but have not even used the drive yet.. better test it before I am out of the easy to return period. I also have an original G4 Ti book which never saw any CD/DVD drive action except for updating the OS and installing software.. oh and we went on a trip and brought a DVD but never watched it.. so I guess I would be interested in seeing someone experiment with new locations.
 
To be totally honest, I only use the optical drive in my laptop when I'm installing software or ripping cds. That's it.

With that in mind, eliminating the internal optical drive in favor of a slick-and-well-implemented external drive would be right up my alley.
 
So I'm sitting at home where I've got my MacBook Pro connected to an external 2nd screen, external firewire hard drive, 4-port USB hub, ethernet broadband connection and power cord - and I'm going to have to turn the thing over in order to get to the drive in order to install a new version of <insert software package here>? I can't see this ever being feasible in a laptop. I also can't really see what difference it makes with regards to the physical size of the drive dictating the size of the machine - the laptop can't be any deeper than the size of a CD plus however mm extra it needs, so why can't it just be left on the side or at the front of the machine as it is now - will the difference in engineering really be that much?
 
eme jota ce said:
and a homophone
Click to expand...

Now that I check the wikpedia, you're correct and I was mistaken. Homophones are the more general term, for words that sound the same. Homonyms are words that are also spelled the same, like rose (flower) and rose (past tense of "rise").

Hmmm, (insert silly platitude like "ya learn something new every day").
 
zelmo said:
Under the keyboard proper. Of course, I basically only use my CD drive to rip songs or watch a movie, so I'm not likely to use the keyboard while a disk is in there spinning away.
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One concern might be the space the latch system would take up. I suppose you could use some other system to ensure that it stays closed.

I don't see why typing would be a problem though. The scissor keys, I thought, are designed to minimize vibration. As long as there was some shielding, I couldn't imagine a problem.

Since everybody else is fair enough to do so, most of my optical use is watching/burning DVDs, burning CDs, and playing some of my games (well, just one).
 
Well, that would just break right off (according to the picture).

I'm still confounded as to why Apple, currently, insists that I carry around an optical drive which is useless to me. It's big, it draws power, and I just want it out of my machine. So, give me the optial drive-less laptop, ASAP.
 
TyleRomeo said:
I have a much better place for it, slot load into the screen. Just like an imac.
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I would have thought the mac users here would think more highly of Apple than this, of course they are not going to put it under the laptop, that would be stupid, its an example of what Apple can do. Just like with all the patents with the iPhone, it turned out differently. I doubt it is going under the keyboard as well. MBP's and PB's have high quality sturdy keyboard layouts, they are not going backwards on that front.

Just wait and see what happens.

With regard to putting it into the screen on a laptop, that would be a neat idea but you wouldn't need to patent it would you? It seems a little obvious.
 
dazzer21 said:
<snip> I also can't really see what difference it makes with regards to the physical size of the drive dictating the size of the machine - the laptop can't be any deeper than the size of a CD plus however mm extra it needs, so why can't it just be left on the side or at the front of the machine as it is now - will the difference in engineering really be that much?
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My laptop is xxx cm's thick. I forget how many, but it's actually thinner than the CD drive that's in it, and where the CD drive is, there's a bulge because it's that much thicker than the rest of the case.

Think about it like this.. If you have a CD drive designed so that it only has to take up space where the laser is, and just a few mm's where the rest of the CD is, then you're saving a lot of space.

A brand new optical drive design could save a lot of space, and now that Apple has the volume in MacBook sales, they can easily get one special made without that much increase in their costs probably.

Having said that, I'd rather an ultra thin laptop with an external Firewire 800 drive.
 
iSee said:
LOL - This is soooo stupid.:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
I can't wait to get my "flip-book."

Geeze, just take the optical drive out of the ultra portable!

And then make a really nice, thin add-on drive available.
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yeah an external FW drive might be nice...since we don't "use them that much"
 
How about pushing for the adoption of 8cm discs in laptops, and even desktops? With the increasing density of optical media, it's conceivable that in the future those smaller discs could gain some widespread use. I know that while Apple's slot-loading drives, desktop and laptop models alike, don't accept them (yep, they actually "choke" on them and have to be serviced :eek: ), the Nintendo Wii's does... If Apple fitted their whole lineup with drives that could accept both 12cm and 8cm discs, with either CD, DVD and BluRay/HD-DVD density, they could fit some select ultraportable laptops and/or tablets with 8cm-only slot-loading or bottom mounted optical drives... It's not like you'd want to watch full HD-quality video (either off a full-size HD-DVD or BluRay disc) on a tablet or an ultraportable anyway, right?

Why not? Of course, most DVD and CD-ROM drives wouldn't be compatible with this new "standard", but if you think about it, high-density 8cm-media would be just a subset of the BluRay/HD-DVD standard (like the 8cm CD-ROM of today), and thus, 100% compatible with every new computer or device which ships with one of those.

If there's a company that can push for the adoption of new standards, it's Apple. First USB, then the end of floppy drives... And besides, it's not like most PC manufacturers would spend much more on optical drives, as most PCs come with tray-loading models which have no trouble reading 8cm discs. It would only be a matter of waiting a bit for some settlement on the "HD standards war", and convincing software vendors to distribute software on that new media, especially by giving the example. Apple has already shrunk their product packaging, so why not extend that trend to its actual content?

Of course, with the increasing adoption of broadband connections and subsequent on-line media distribution, this may just be an exercise of futility :D ...
 
get rid of the CD/DVD drive all together

get rid of this 20th century technology, already!

put OSX on NAND flash memory as well as other applications purchase via the internet (office, creative suite etc.). I have no use for this thing now in my black MacBook. What use will I have have for it in the future? It should be done away with like the 3.5 inch floppy disk!

If you watch DVD on your laptop, then you definitely needs to get laid!!!:D

Cinch
 
patent

You can patent where things go?

Well, I"d like to patent a hole between two folds of skin. It will be located either at the top of the body or somewhere in the middle. I will call it earnosemouthbellybuttonanus or earnosemouthbellybuttonanusvagina. It can be used to load stuff or excrete stuff and/or maybe both.
 
darkwing said:
Electrons don't move too fast. We did calculations in my 2nd physics class showing how an electron at the socket will take something like 3+ days to reach the lamp through a 6 foot cord. Neat stuff.
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er.. care to share how did you slow electron down?
i dont reckon you think the electrons natually move that slow, do you?

i see the problem with this design.. for instance you are installing a software that require two or more discs (hey, future software could take more than one DVD).. and in the middle of the installation, you have to close the lid (and thus sleep the computer, which in some case interupt the software instalation) turn it over, remove the disk, put in another disc, turn laptop over, wake the computer to find the software installation interupted?

i think this is just one of "those" patents.

jrzshor said:
You can patent where things go?

Well, I"d like to patent a hole between two folds of skin. It will be located either at the top of the body or somewhere in the middle. I will call it earnosemouthbellybuttonanus or earnosemouthbellybuttonanusvagina. It can be used to load stuff or excrete stuff and/or maybe both.
Click to expand...

i laughed in tears.

you can patent anything that's unique, useful, and non-obvious. (and they don't even have to be that useful and non-obvious, but it can't be stuff ppl already patented.)
 
bryanc said:
If anything, this is for use in a Tablet or ultraportable form factor. For any sort of 'laptop' that design makes no sense, but it's a cool idea for a tablet.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Thing is that I dont see this making any sense even in a Tablet. IMO its just weird. As others have pointed out the lid would make a much better place.

Having to close the lid and turn the laptop over just to insert a disc seems like an utterly un-apple-ish way of solving a problem.

I just cant see this happening.
 
the picture is of a powerbook titanium....

if they are indeed planning on using this, they will for sure be implementing it in something way different. tablet is the best guess... ultra thin, easily flipped over to access the ODD.
 
I agree that this will most likely be used in a tablet computer, if it is used at all. Implementing it in the way depicted on a standard laptop seems very disruptive.
 
JFreak said:
I would prefer a laptop without any moving parts whatsoever. Not counting electrons, mind you. Hard drive is already bad enough and optical drives make it even worse. Could they eliminate those two, the future laptops would be insanely great!
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indeed. my dream laptop from apple would be the height/width dimensions of the macbook two-thirds to half the thickness. LED backlit screen and a 32gig non-volatile flash drive and no dvd/cd at all. apart from installation i never use my cd/dvd drive. other than OS installations i don't use the CD/DVD drive on my laptop.

i could never really see apple releasing it, but if they did it could be sold with a "dock" that included a CD/DVD drive, or maybe it's just marketed to existing mac owners who just need an occasional laptop.

as long as i'm dreaming, an integrated iphone dock in front of the keyboard. the iphone when docked would add 4-8GB of memory, act as a replacement for your DVD player on long hauls and work as a larger trackpad.
 
I think Apple is looking to design something similar to this:

Panasonic Toughbook-W5
12.1" 1024x768 XGA anti-glare TFT Active matrix Color LCD
60GB HDD(shock-mounted and removable)
Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) standard
Secure Digital (SD) Card
Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG ntwk. connection 802.11a/b/g
Lithium Ion Battery Pack (10.65V, 5200mAh)
Battery Operation: 8hrs
Wide Area Wireless Solutions : EVDO, HSPDA
3-year limited warranty, parts & labor
1.0/1.8'' x 10.6'' x 8.3''
3.1 lbs

I wonder if Panasonic has a patent on that optical drive placement and design?:cool:
 

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