Apple Macbook Air Superdrive - ZML

Apple Macbook Air Superdrive  

July 15, 2011

By 

Anthony Warburton "Customize it, as stock is ... 
This review is from:
Apple Macbook Air Superdrive
The Good:

• great drive 
• works good 
• very compatible 

The Bad:
without modding it will not work on anything other than macbooks non windows compliant
The Ugly: scratches easily usb cable doesnt come off Over all a good drive if all you have are macbook's. But if you want a more compatible drive go find a generic usb one.

4.0 out of 5 stars Not perfect, costs more than others, but I still like it pretty well, March 29, 2011

By 

Ron Cronovich "Ron" (Kenosha, WI)  (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Apple Macbook Air Superdrive - ZML - MC684ZM/A (Electronics)

At the time I write this, there are two other reviews of the Superdrive and both are negative. I agree with many of their observations, but I respectfully disagree with their overall assessment of the Superdrive.

Let's start with build quality. The Superdrive is encased in the same sturdy aluminum that encases your Macbook Air. (This also makes the Superdrive a perfect match, asthetically, for the Air.) The bottom of the Superdrive is black plastic with a thin ring of rubber to prevent the drive from sliding around your desktop. This plastic doesn't feel cheap or flimsy to me; I can't imagine it ever being damaged unless the Superdrive is subjected to unusual trauma, like dropping on a hard floor from 5' up.

In contrast, most other external DVD burners I've used or researched are completely encased in plastic and feel a bit flimsy. The pop-out disc trays that others have are plastic and a bit wobbly.

The negative reviews correctly point out that the Superdrive's cord is short, not detachable, and not user-replaceable. So, you must take a bit of extra care as not to damage the cord. I don't mind the short length, though. My Air sits on a Rain mStand, roughly 6" off the top of my desk. The cord is long enough to reach the Air's USB port when the Superdrive is sitting on my desk.

The negative reviews correctly point out that the Superdrive doesn't have a dedicated eject button or a light that indicates drive activity. Most other brands have these features.

However, I do not miss these features. I don't often need an external optical drive. Since buying my Air about 6 months ago, I've only needed the drive a few times - to install MS Office and other software, and to write a DVD of a movie I filmed on my iPhone for a party. Because I don't need an optical drive very much, I can easily live without these features. Plus, I like the simplicity of the Superdrive. Plug it in and it just works. Easy and simple.

The negative reviews correctly point out that the Superdrive ONLY works with the Macbook Air, while other external optical drives work with most or all Macbooks and most or all Windows laptops. But how much of a problem is this, really? I would only need to use the Superdrive with another computer if its own built-in optical drive failed. If that happened and I wanted to read a DVD, I'd regret that the Superdrive doesn't work with that computer. But if I wanted to write a DVD, I could just transfer the files from that computer to the Air using a thumb drive or the cloud, and then use the Air and the Superdrive to write the files to a DVD.

The negative reviews correctly point out that the Superdrive is more expensive than other drives. But if you can afford a Macbook Air, you can probably afford to spend an extra $20 or $30 for the optical drive you really want. But it's definitely true that you can find less expensive drives that will work well for you, and Amazon sells some good ones that are affordable.

Overall, I like the Superdrive pretty well, despite its relatively high price and the couple of features it lacks. It does everything I need, it's simple and just works, and it looks very good with my Air.

I do not claim that my opinion is more valid than the negative opinions of other reviewers, and before you spend your hard-earned money I encourage you to consider their reviews carefully. My goal is merely to offer shoppers a different perspective, and to show that not everyone dislikes this drive.