Hardware 2.0

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

MacBook Air - Will all the cool evaporate when someone asks you to read/rip/burn a disc?

By Adrian Kingsley-Hughes | January 21, 2008, 5:38am PST

Over the weekend I was discussing the pros and cons of the MacBook Air with a bunch of other tech geeks and we came to the conclusion that the lack of an optical drive is a brave move of Apple’s part (a move that other notebook manufacturers are likely to copy over the coming months), but that this could be the feature that’s either the deal-maker or deal-breaker.

Poll

Do you regularly use the optical drive that's in your notebook?

Bottom line, whether the MacBook Air is the notebook for you really comes down to whether you use the optical drive on your current notebook much. If you don’t, then the living without one or buying the MacBook SuperDrive dongle might work out for you just fine, but if you’re a regular user of that CD or DVD drive, then having to carry around an extra bit of kit doesn’t make much sense. Not only are you lugging more kit about with you, a drive on a cable isn’t all that suited to notebook user, especially if you have to use that notebook on your lap or in the car (I know, I’ve lugged external hard drives and ZIP drives around in the past).

I wouldn’t be too worried about not having a built-in optical drive when I was at home or at the office (I already make extensive use of shared CD and DVD drives), but when on the move that changes. I can just see it now. All the cool of the MacBook Air (along with my smugness in owning one) evaporate as soon as someone asked me to read/rip/burn a disc and I’d be forced to pull our an “accessory” and hook it up.

Another concern that I have about the MacBook Air is battery life. Apple quotes it as 5 hours but in my experience Apple is always over-optimistic on such figures and my guess is that it’ll be closer to 4 hours in real life (I’ll let you know when I get my hands on one). I’m also willing to bet that battery life will plummet dramatically once you have added the drive.

Note: In fact, I wonder how many of the MacBook Air “innovations” (such as no optical drive, no Ethernet, and only one USB port) are down to battery life.

I think that it all comes down to what you expect from a notebook that costs upward of $1,800. For me, I feel that my dollars can buy me a lot more hardware if I don’t want the Apple logo on it.

Thoughts?

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Optical Drive, Apple MacBook, Disc, Apple Inc., Notebooks, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

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wait in deed!

jetman36 27th Jan 2008

Next to the Ipod touch, the coming MBP 12" is probably the only Apple product that I would even consider buying. Apple has a habit of charging insanely high prices for its hardware. What would cost me $1300 for a Mac Pro desktop I could get for $400 less with Vista AND XP both installed with BETTER hardware. I think Apple is charging more for there name than anything else and I think that same idealoligy is being use to sell its MBA.

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Looks are everything, even if it is a dongle

D T Schmitz 21st Jan 2008

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mi dongle es su dongle?

lostarchitect 21st Jan 2008

you really are the king of "dongle"!

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I think he has..

msalzberg 21st Jan 2008

a bad case of dongle envy.

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i guess his dongle...

lostarchitect 22nd Jan 2008

...just isn't as nice looking as this one. wink

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Please, Please, remember who the Air is designed for

el1jones 21st Jan 2008

Which true techie would get a MacBook Air as their primary mobile? It's designed for the fashionable, the true mobile, the high level executive, the Paris Hiltons, and college student, but not a techie.
I remember when the iMac first came out, everyone was saying, "What?! No Floppy Drive!". Now Apple is saying the optical drive is optional for most people. I can't remember the last time I put a disk in my laptop drive; and I don't think my mother or father has EVER used one in theirs; much less burn a disc.
I would expect most critics to be pointing out:
-the cpu speed
-the 2 gb Ram
-that they think it should have been thinner

but hey, that's just me.

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I don't think the floppy comparison is a good analogy

ye 21st Jan 2008

The limited capacity of the floppy disk (1.44MB) effectively rendered it useless for a lot of purposes. Further more an alternative to the floppy, at least for reading, was included: The CD-ROM drive. With the MBA the only "built in" offering is the use of a USB thumbdrive. Unfortunately we're not at the point where software/music is commonly being distributed in that format. I think that day will come and we can do away with optical media once and for all (save for high definition). It would have been cool for Apple to ship an OS X installation thumbdrive.

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but what about the wireless network...

el1jones 21st Jan 2008

The only real reason I can think of NEEDING an optical drive now (or any transferable storage) is for installation of an application that is ACTUALLY only on disk.
Fortunately people can download most programs right from the internet, or a shared drive.
For large files, it's much easier for me to move files by the LAN or even mail them to myself. Just sent myself a 50mb file from home to work, no problems (I do understand though that most people can't send/receive files that large). It's easier and cheaper than burning it on a disk.
So I think that people keep thinking of the need for a local transferable hardware storage solution as short-sighted when compared with Apple's.
In years to come younger generations will be saying "CDs? what are those?" They aren't needed for music, application installation, data transfer, etc. . And how many regular users rip DVDs (or even know how).

Now don't get me wrong... any laptop I own WILL have an optical drive included if I have anything to say about it; but I don't see the average user needing it.

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How About Watching DVD's?

serpentmage 21st Jan 2008

Many people watch DVDs.... This is what they use their optical drive for. What bugs me about the iTunes solution is that I have yet another place to get music or movies. I watch DVD's on my home computer, laptop, and home entertainment system. And to transfer each movie requires me to move the DVD.

Wireless sounds nice and I have a 100 MB network, but I rarely move GB's across the network. Takes too long... Each move is about 4GB... No sorry no compression desired...

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The problem with wireless is how does one install from CD/DVD?

ye 21st Jan 2008

A lot of software is still purchased in retail boxes with a CD/DVD. Until that changes
the optical drive is still necessary. Being a user of an R200 I haven't found the need
for an external optical drive to be a big problem. I don't install software often enough
to warrant the device being built in. As for e-mail files there are some problems with
that. Even though I have broadband my upstream is slow (by downstream speeds). To
e-mail myself a 50MB file is going to take a while to transfer to the e-mail system. A
better way is one I've already mentioned: USB thumb drives. A 4GB version can be had
for $20 these days.

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this says it all CD drives are put on computers for a reason apple is going

SO.CAL Guy 21st Jan 2008

this says it all CD drives are put on computers for a reason apple is going back in time no forward.
how about a os reinstall. how many of your friends are going to install the software on their computers. so you can use their ROM drive not me i don't want another apple service running on my pc.
check out the pic for a chuckle
http://regmedia.co.uk/2008/01/19/macbookcommodorecompare.jpg

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In trying to decipher your post...

msalzberg 21st Jan 2008

I got the impression that you reinstall your OS a lot. I also get the feeling you miss
having a floppy drive, since they were put on computers for a reason, as well.

I don't.

I last used the optical in my iBook about 3 months ago.

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Must be a Windows user:-)

Bruizer 21st Jan 2008

Always re-installing you OS;-)

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how else do they keep their compuers running...(windows tech joke)

jjarman 22nd Jan 2008

I heard a windows tech joke that their call center could reduce their job to 2 questions. Have you rebooted? Have you reinstalled?

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Haha, I LOVED that picture!!!

NonZealot 21st Jan 2008

That one made me laugh! happy

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I have to agree there

Paul Fletcher 21st Jan 2008

The Floppy died because it wasn't big enough and there just happened to be another rewriteable device with more capacity available.

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Unreal

frgough 21st Jan 2008

I don't ever recall anyone making a huge issue about lack of
an optical drive in other subnotebooks.

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Probably because other sub-notebooks haven't generated...

ye 21st Jan 2008

...as much press as the MBA. I don't miss the integrated optical disc on my R200 but I
know it was a show stopper for some of my coworkers. The MBA is a niche market and
will do fine within that market.

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That might be because....

Badgered 21st Jan 2008

I don't ever recall anyone making a huge issue about lack of
an optical drive in other subnotebooks.

That might be because if you needed one, you could buy a sub with a CD/DVD installed. Now, if you're a fan of Apple products, your choices for the sub notebook limit that.

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That's what you get when you overhype a product!

NonZealot 21st Jan 2008

I don't recall the CEO of any other subnotebook manufacturer making as much of a spectacle of himself as Jobs did with the Air!

Jobs brought this upon Apple by pretending the Air was something special. Now we find out is just a crippled 4 year old Sony product. The Air, and Job's portrayal of the Air, is just too juicy a target to leave alone. happy

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you also get NonZealot's who follow closer at your heals then the fanboi's

jjarman 22nd Jan 2008

hoping you drop a juicy scrap from your table they can feed off of.

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USB Thumdrive

aulax@... 21st Jan 2008

Look, I am not a big fan of Apple or their products, but in looking at the MacBook Air, I do not see what the big deal is with not having an optical drive. Just use a USB thumbdrive to transfer files, or maybe eamil them, or copy them to a network share. One of the exec's has a Toshiba ultra-thin notebook that does not have an optical, and he has not had any problems getting files to anyone.

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Well a true road warrior would not leave home...

mrOSX 21st Jan 2008

without an optical drive, and if you purchase the Apple USB super drive it is 1.09 pounds (From Apple's website) then there is less than a pound difference in that or a macbook. And with it priced more than %500 of the equivalent macbook, I just do not see it as a big seller.

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Interesting.

msalzberg 21st Jan 2008

I didn't realize that there was an official definition of "road warrior."

Personally, I would think that a road warrior would be defined by what he does,
rather than the equipment he carries.

Someone who carries around a lot of extra, unneeded gear isn't a road warrior. He's
an idiot.

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Depends...

mrOSX 21st Jan 2008

I agree about what a road warrior does, but I for the basis of discussion, someone who travels > 80% of time and needs the a computer to do his job and may not return to the home office before going to his/her next gig.

Some customer sites will not allow you to use thumb drives or external drives, they are worried about stuff being copied, so the only thing you can use to transfer anything is CD/DVD.

Also I have been in hotels that do not have wireless they have Ethernet ports.

I think it would be foolish not to be prepared when on the road,
but thats just the boy scout in me.

PS Your use of the word idiot leaves me to believe you are around 13 years old or very immature ???

Also

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Not 13

msalzberg 21st Jan 2008

I have no problem with being prepared, but do you carry everything in your
briefcase, or do you put some stuff in your suitcase, for those 'just in case' times?

I carry a whole kit when I travel - AC adaptors, cables, even a Waber strip - but
most of that lives in the hotel, until such time as I need it.

It's interesting to me to see how many negative people there are here who take 'no'
for an answer. When you actually start to think about the things you can do,
instead of the things you can't, it opens up a lot of possibilities.

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Stuff I travel with...

mrOSX 21st Jan 2008

IF it is valuable (> $150) I will not check it in with my baggage.
Not that I have ever had anything stolen/missing, however my bags have sometimes come out with straps cut and I have found the TSA search bag leaflet in my bags. As for the stuff that goes on site, it will depend on the customer, if they do not allow certain things, I will leave them in the hotel or the rental car(If I get one). I have worked in very diverse environments.

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But an external optical..

msalzberg 21st Jan 2008

or a USB-ethernet adaptor cost less than your cutoff figure, and are easily replaceable.

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Yes but the external optical...

mrOSX 21st Jan 2008

@ least the one Apple sale adds 1.09 pounds of weight, throw in USB hub and Ethernet adapter and all of a sudden a there is not much of a weight difference between the the MBA and the Mackbook and the Macbook is $500 dollars cheaper (Based on getting the 1099+150 for 2gb of ram) and it has a faster processor.

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@mrOSX,

msalzberg 21st Jan 2008

but you keep the external stuff in your suitcase, not your carryon. You only take it out
when you need it.

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Why???

Bruizer 21st Jan 2008

I almost never (once in 3-4 years) use the optical drive when on the road.

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That would be you....

mrOSX 21st Jan 2008

But in my travels I have used it more often than that.

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Then a computer..

msalzberg 21st Jan 2008

without an optical drive isn't right for you. Why do you feel that it has to be the
same way for everyone?

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Well in my definition of a road warrior...

mrOSX 21st Jan 2008

you need to have an optical drive happy

Also with an 80gb drive I find it very difficult to keep from filling it up.

Also a very important think to think about if you are on the road from place to place is backups, of your current data, so it is either a optical or hard drive, or maybe several USB keys.

You mileage may vary.

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Aha! You've said the magic phrase.

msalzberg 21st Jan 2008

Your mileage may vary. I certainly can't speak for others needs, only my own. I know
that the Air would work well for me, although I have no intention of buying one.

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But what is a "true" road warrior?

Bruizer 21st Jan 2008

I travel about 100+ days/year. I use my laptop heavily when on the road.
Presentations, programming, builds and software loads. CM management. Heavily.

I seldom, if ever, need the optical drive. Actually, I need a floppy 100X more than the
optical. That is somewhat funny.

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Do you backup your work ???

mrOSX 21st Jan 2008

And if so on what ??? Floppies are not very road worthy, USB keys would be better than that.

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Off site replicated storage.

Bruizer 22nd Jan 2008

CM systems have lots of uses.

CD-ROM/DVD-ROM is a BAD BAD way to backup long term.

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RE: MacBook Air - Will all the cool evaporate when someone asks you to read

progon 21st Jan 2008

That is a rational assessment of the latest high priced toy from Apple. The Apple logo now stands for FreeBSD, the core open source OS that made the modern Macs possible. Why pay so much for what is free is my main question?

Microsoft built a decent, powerful networked OS in NT and the NT core is still powering Vista. Apple, in its quest to churn hardware and software sales could not compete with Microsoft and just took one of the lamer Linuxes, FreeBSD, and used it in place of their own, single user and problem plagued 32 bit OS that was ancient and constantly breaking. Windows 98 had the same problems but it, at least, was killed off and Microsoft moved everyone to NT, a full server OS, that had no problems compared to the older, Windows.

So now, Apple is FreeBSD Linux and the open source world can be thanked but Apple has not returned anything to the open source world at all. It has been all take on Apple's part and no return. All the other corps, like Novell and IBM have returned immense value to the Linux world but Apple would rather their users not know these facts and never mentions that it is FreeBSD that powers the modern Macs and it is X-Windows, that powers their front end now.

The operative word is 'Free' since FreeBSD is a Berkly BSD it is quite classic and not a true Linux, which has huge improvements over the ancient thinking in the old proprietary Unix world. But, BSD is university world based and a whole lot looser than the original Unixes were but that also makes it easier to hack into than the modern Linuxes are. There is nothing new and never has been anything new in the modern Mac world or the old Mac world since they moved the older X-Windows ideas into the Mac and that is the source of their alleged creativity but Mac users are generally too sold on the Mac hype to check the facts...

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Not the 1st notebook to have external optical drive

Stuka 21st Jan 2008

Everybody is acting as if this is something new. There have been *LOTS* of sub notebooks over the years with external optical drives. Its NOT the end of the world. Yes I wish it had an ethernet port, and a FW port. But the optical drive is a non-issue as far as the group of people this machine is targeted to are concerned.

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True, but...

Badgered 21st Jan 2008

Everybody is acting as if this is something new. There have been *LOTS* of sub notebooks over the years with external optical drives.

True, but you had plenty of choices.. they all ran Windows. Some had an optical drive, some didn't. If you like and run OS X, how many sub-notebook choices do you have?

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Depends

Stuka 21st Jan 2008

If you are willing to run a hacked x86 version or not :P

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Oh, and as for battery life

Stuka 21st Jan 2008

Every Apple notebook I have owned has come very close to the battery life they spec out. Even my 6 year old iBook still gets 4.5 hours of battery life off the original 6 year old battery. When new it got 5-5.5 pretty regularly. Now this wasnt watching a DVD movie or anything, this was word processing and some web browsing.

What I will be interested in seeing if the battery life difference between the standard HD and the SSD.

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RE: MacBook Air - Will all the cool evaporate when someone asks you to read

asad.quraishi@... 21st Jan 2008

Battery life aside (and it's a big aside) as an IT exec I don't need an optical drive. The price is justified by its ultra-portability - same price range as other machines. And by the way, hardware price is much less then the cost of software you'll add + the total cost of ownership from a service, patch, break-fix perspective. If I do I can spend $100 to get one that stays on my desk but doesn't travel with me. The Ethernet adapter is a bigger miss in my opinion - I know you can get the usb dongle but I'm wondering what performance will be like? IT shops don't yet have wireless everywhere - that's a problem for this product - and IMHO, the only one. I do use the optical drive on my current laptop but that's because I'm also a geek happy

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RE: MacBook Air - Will all the cool evaporate when someone asks you to read

rasheemvaheed@... 21st Jan 2008

Optical Drives are old technology. Many people are
using USB keys, which hold far more info than CDs and
even DVDs and are reusable (at prices like $30 thats a
deal!), unlike Optical Discs.

Apple did the right thing, there is no use for old
technology in a portable set-up. If you want to use a
drive, you can hook up the external, or "borrow" one
wirelessly with the clever MAcbook Air software that
lets you use a neigboring computers drive.

Whoever voted that they use optical drives regularly
must have cleary been thing about their desktop,
because I NEVER used the optical drive on my laptop
unless it was to install software, or back-up files once
in a blue moon.

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Yes but to make it useful....

mrOSX 21st Jan 2008

You have to add

1) External USB Drive 80gb is not enough for the road warrior
2) External Ethernet cable (Some place's only have the RJ45 connector)
3) External CD/DVD (There is no easy way around this).
Granted odd's are you will not need it.
4) External USB HUB.

Add in some of the above and you have the weight of a mackbook,
in a smaller package(No all the junk floating around in the laptop bag).

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Again...

msalzberg 21st Jan 2008

to make it useful to you, maybe, but not to me.

I use an iBook G4. The last time I used the optical was to install Leopard. I have a
30GB hard drive, with 5 Glg available (I'd have more if I took the pictures of my last
trip to Italy off of it), and only use one USB port at a time.

Now, granted I only do things like CAD, diagramming, database, spreadsheets and
text files on it (well, and internet, email, iphoto,garageband, and ichat), but it's
enough for me.

I do quite well without any of the things you listed above. I doubt I'm all that
special; I'm sure others do quite well also.

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Actually, No

drprodny 23rd Jan 2008

My iTunes library alone is larger than 80 GB - and that doesn't count the videos, photos and Office files I take with me when I travel. I also use my SuperDrive a lot, both to play DVDs and to burn disc copies of photos and videos for people.

I agree mainly w/OSX - I used to have a optical-less notebook (an early VAIO), and the lack of a recordable optical drive was more trouble than it was worth. I also think the lack of an Ethernet jack is a REAL issue - though to be fair, I'm a paranoid sort who carries a Wireless-G NAT router in my checked baggage every place I go, so it's less hassle personally than it might otherwise be.

But the true, honest-to-Betsy dealbreaker - is the $1,800 price tag. If it were half the cost, I'd strongly consider it as a "grab'n'go" notebook even with its flaws - but for everything they're asking me to sacrifice, I'd rather pay $499 and get an EEE PC instead.

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Pretty expensive....

Feldwebel Wolfenstool 21st Jan 2008

...for a "do-nothing" machine...

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HAsn't happened in a few years...

Bruizer 21st Jan 2008

The loss of the optical is a minor inconvenience at worst. I use my laptop heavily
when I travel (and that is about 100+ days/year) and I have used the optical drive 1
time in 4 years when on the road. NBFD.

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RE: MacBook Air - Will all the cool evaporate when someone asks you to read/rip/burn a disc?

pazzp@... 21st Jan 2008

One big issue that is glossed over in the post is the fact that you have to install the "Air Software" on the PC/Mac with the CD/DVD drive before an Air user can borrow and use the drive. Giving an AIR user (basically a stranger) access to your PC/MAC to install software, which could be a virus, in order to "borrow" the CD/DVD drive is asking for trouble. Thats a security risk i'm not willing to take.