The optical drive trays on new Macs are too flimsy.

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
They are way too flimsy. These CD-R/DVD-R combo drives, cost what? $250? Yet they cant make a sturdy CD tray?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    [quote]Originally posted by MajorMatt:

    <strong>They are way too flimsy. These CD-R/DVD-R combo drives, cost what? $250? Yet they cant make a sturdy CD tray?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    They don't seem any flimsier than any other drive trays I've seen. It's not like Apple went ahead and ordered the OEM drive maker to sell them drives with flimsy trays.



    The only difference is the lack of the big plate on the drive tray...because the door already provides enough protection.
  • Reply 2 of 12
    spartspart Posts: 2,060member
    You obviously haven't used older macs...they are almost exactly the same as Eugene said...except they are black which looks cooler.
  • Reply 3 of 12
    majormattmajormatt Posts: 1,077member
    I can feel my dvd tray on my g4/400, it feels sturdier.



    Why cant these companies make it more sturdier then?
  • Reply 3 of 12
    i don't know...i might agree with him if i can see more of the new iMacs coming out...my 15" iMac lcd has a very sturdy pop out tray....but the new 17" iMac lcd at work has a much "looser" tray...not horrid, but not as smooth and stable as my older (by six months) iMac....g
  • Reply 5 of 12
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    It probably varies quite a bit. The two year old DVD-RAM drive in my PowerMac G4 is very sturdy, with only a small amount of vertical movement, and it's quite difficult to twist or flex. But DVD-RAM trays are different from regular CD/DVD trays.



    Oh lord, it's noisy though. I really wish I could afford a newer and better drive (like a combo, I don't need the capabilities of DVD-RAM).
  • Reply 6 of 12
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    And there's also the question of flexibility vs sturdiness. You can have a false sense of sturdiness with harder, but more brittle plastics vs. the flimsier, but less likely to crack flexy plastics.



    I have an old Yamaha SCSI CD-R drive with a very sturdy tray, but it's from a bygone era. All drive makers are finding ways to make their products cheaper...and by using less plastic to make the trays, they save a buck on every drive.



    Either way, a bit of force needs to be applied to break drive trays, thick or thin.
  • Reply 7 of 12
    majormattmajormatt Posts: 1,077member
    [quote]and by using less plastic to make the trays, they save a buck on every drive.<hr></blockquote>



    I severely doubt that, plastic is a cheap material. I would imagine it would take five or ten cents extra of material to make the tray sturdy.
  • Reply 8 of 12
    spartspart Posts: 2,060member
    [quote]Originally posted by Eugene:

    <strong>And there's also the question of flexibility vs sturdiness. You can have a false sense of sturdiness with harder, but more brittle plastics vs. the flimsier, but less likely to crack flexy plastics.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Good point. Usually, the harder, less flexible plastics are more brittle and less resistant to temperature fluctuations.
  • Reply 9 of 12
    majormattmajormatt Posts: 1,077member
    Ok. have your flexible plastics. Just make them twice as thick.
  • Reply 10 of 12
    overhopeoverhope Posts: 1,123member
    Did I miss something, or did CDs just get a great deal heavier? Or are some folks still using them as convenient cup-holders? <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />



    Anyhow, manufacturing is based around big numbers. You save $0.01 on a drive, you might think, so what? However, if you make a million drives, suddenly you've saved $10,000. Same with every manufacturing process going, there are whole departments dedicated to shaving costs off hardware, money saved that shows up on the bottom line.
  • Reply 11 of 12
    spartspart Posts: 2,060member
    [quote]Originally posted by MajorMatt:

    <strong>Ok. have your flexible plastics. Just make them twice as thick.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    And the drive bigger/heavier...



    Just because it flexes, doesn't mean it is less durable than stiff plastic. Flexible plastic is more resistant to impact/shattering, it has give.



    It's like when they put re-bar in concrete parking lots, were the re-bar not there, the concrete wouldn't flex much and just crack and break. With the re-bar in place, it is more flexible and less prone to breaking apart.



    In any event, the more flexible a substance is, the more likely it is to tear than to break/shatter. Making it thicker will make the probability of tearing (very very slim on a plastic drive tray) higher.
  • Reply 12 of 12
    defiantdefiant Posts: 4,876member
    I have to send u all to a new course called "plastics for beginners" because it isn't as easy as y'all just said.
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