Superdrives standard at MWNY?

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
I'd like all the towers to have a Superdrive standard by MWNY. What do you think about this? Is it possible?



I don't like how Apple cripples the low end tower w/o superdrive, L3 cache, and a crappy video card.



They know nobody will buy that, so the first machine that is a real option is the $2299 933MHz model, and when the Dual 1-GHz is only $700 more, why wouldn't you get that one? All of a sudden you've gone from $1599 to $2999.



Anyway, what do you think?



-'pert
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 23
    I don't think not putting a Superdrive in the low-end Powermac "cripples" it, but I think a Superdrive in the Powerbook would make a bold statement and once again draw deserving attention to one of the most beautiful machines ever created by man. Commercial: director completes the last shot of his movie, steps on a plane, and, all at 10,000 feet with a Powerbook, he finishes the final edits and burns it all to DVD. He steps off the plane & hands DVD case with his left hand to the studio president while shaking the man's hand with his right. On the side of the DVD are the words "For your consideration"; the commercial ends with a big old white Apple symbol against a black background.



    Superdrives at Macworld New York! Say it with me!



    -- PEte
  • Reply 2 of 23
    junkyard dawgjunkyard dawg Posts: 2,801member
    For those of us who have no need for a Superdrive, the inclusion of one on a tower only adds cost to an overpriced machine.



    I'd like to see a stripped down Powermac, no HDs, no RAM, no optical drives of any sort. Sort of a mobo in a case. Buy it cheap and build it up yourself.
  • Reply 3 of 23
    rupertrupert Posts: 69member
    I agree with Junkyard Dawg that if you don't want one you shouldn't have to have one (added cost) etc. However, I think it should be available on the towers for $1599. I know the iMac is $1899 w/superdrive, but that also includes the LCD which is also expensive. Also that is a high end machine (for an iMac) and the $1599 tower is a low end machine (for a tower).



    So...



    $1299

    1 GHz

    No superdrive



    $1599

    1 GHz

    superdrive



    $2199

    1.2 GHz

    superdrive



    $2999

    dual 1.4 GHz

    superdrive



    How about that?



    -'pert
  • Reply 4 of 23
    snofsnof Posts: 98member
    I also like the option not to hve a superdrive, I don't need to burn DVDs and would rather save a couple hundred bucks. Same with RAM, I would rather buy a computer without RAM, and buy what I need elsewhere to avoid Apple's ridiculous prices.



    I say a maximum of options is a great thing for a Pro computer. But they should continue including the stuff for the iMac, eMac, etc.
  • Reply 5 of 23
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    They have to have some default configs without the DVD-RW drive. Most people don't want them; don't make them buy one.
  • Reply 6 of 23
    rupertrupert Posts: 69member
    The idea should be to reduce the cost of the Superdrive to the point where the savings by not including one would be negligible.
  • Reply 7 of 23
    kukukuku Posts: 254member
    While I think that apple should go back to the old built to order options that allowed for such things, it was obviouslly taken away/resticted to squeeze some more money out of a slumping market, especially in the component sector.





    Stripping down a Mac is exactly the faults of the PC, while some might not mind that, it also makes life worse off others uninentionally.



    Apple tests their machines rigorously. If one were to open the options for more grey components, surely technical support will increase both on the software side and hardware. I have seen what cheap ram can do to a computer.





    ~Kuku
  • Reply 8 of 23
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    That will not happen for some time. Apple probably spends almost $200 on each DVD-RW it puts in a desktop. It probably spends around $50 for a 24x CD-RW.
  • Reply 9 of 23
    firelarkfirelark Posts: 57member
    [quote] For those of us who have no need for a Superdrive, the inclusion of one on a tower only adds cost to an overpriced machine.



    I'd like to see a stripped down Powermac, no HDs, no RAM, no optical drives of any sort. Sort of a mobo in a case. Buy it cheap and build it up yourself. <hr></blockquote>



    You can always customize your mac in apple store. Eventhough apple puts a superdrive in their standard Fast, Faster, Fastest and Ultimate machines you will still be able to remove it from your order.



    Superdrive for everyone.
  • Reply 10 of 23
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Many people do their computer shopping in these things called retail stores where it is convenient to just select a prebuilt machine and wheel it away that same day. Many people are afraid to buy things online. These are the same people that would probably select CD-RW drives or DVD/CD-RW drives over DVD-RW drives, which are still bleeding edge.



    [ 07-01-2002: Message edited by: Eugene ]</p>
  • Reply 11 of 23
    rodukroduk Posts: 706member
    [quote]Originally posted by Junkyard Dawg:

    [QB]For those of us who have no need for a Superdrive, the inclusion of one on a tower only adds cost to an overpriced machine.

    QB]<hr></blockquote>



    Not only does it add cost, it also means CD-Rs can only be burn't at relatively slow speeds. I have no need to burn DVDs, but I regularly burn CD-Rs. With the CD-RW in the 800MHz Power Mac I can do this at x 24. With a SuperDrive, it would be much slower (x 8?).
  • Reply 12 of 23
    codewarriorcodewarrior Posts: 196member
    I agree with the "No SuperDrive" at the low end as long as it is an option on the Apple Store. A lot of people don't want to burn DVDs (yet). Having it as an option is the way to go. I wonder it BTO will ever make it to CompUSA?
  • Reply 13 of 23
    zosozoso Posts: 177member
    I understand that many feel no need for the SuperDrive: "I don't burn DVDs" et cetera... But, does this include data DVDs? Since I don't own a digital video camera, and I don't plan to buy one until prices drop to a much more reasonable level, I wouldn't burn video DVDs either, but I'd love to have a SuperDrive to put the contents of 7 or 8 data CDs into just one DVD. It'd probably cost me more, given the still sort-of-high prices of DVD media, but it'd clean things up a lot on my desk...



    What do you guys think?



    ZoSo



    [ 07-01-2002: Message edited by: ZoSo ]</p>
  • Reply 14 of 23
    tigerwoods99tigerwoods99 Posts: 2,633member
    Apple should let you mix and match your system more accordingly. Let's say that I want to have the fastest computer or dual processors for my apps to take advantage of, however I don't need the capability of burning DVDs. That's just wasted cost, especially considering the fact that Apple chooses to have only 1 5.25" drive bay on their towers. Now, why can't I have a DVD and high speed CD-RW drive instead?
  • Reply 15 of 23
    firelarkfirelark Posts: 57member
    [quote] Apple should let you mix and match your system more accordingly. Let's say that I want to have the fastest computer or dual processors for my apps to take advantage of, however I don't need the capability of burning DVDs. That's just wasted cost, especially considering the fact that Apple chooses to have only 1 5.25" drive bay on their towers. Now, why can't I have a DVD and high speed CD-RW drive instead? <hr></blockquote>



    You CAN. In applestore choose the ultimate PowerMac and then subtract the DVD burner and put a CDRW instead.
  • Reply 16 of 23
    tigerwoods99tigerwoods99 Posts: 2,633member
    I can't go to a computer store and get a dual GHz with a CD-RW drive.
  • Reply 17 of 23
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    [quote]Originally posted by ZoSo:

    I'd love to have a SuperDrive to put the contents of 7 or 8 data CDs into just one DVD.<hr></blockquote>



    You need a DVD-RAM drive. I've been computer shopping and I'm interested in the older PowerMac G4s with DVD-RAM. You can read CDs and DVDs, and you can write DVD-RAMs at 5x. DVD-RAM is data only and it can't be played in a DVD player like a movie. It can only be read like a CD in any computer DVD drive.



    The only thing is that if you wanted to burn CDs, you'd have to get an external CD-RW drive I think. Anyone know how fast the read speeds are on those DVD-RAMs?
  • Reply 18 of 23
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    I think maybe Apple could use the superdrive as a bone to throw to the Powermac line to give it more punch for the price.



    Powermac Line should look like.



    $1599

    1 Ghz

    Superdrive



    $1999

    1.2 Ghz

    Superdrive



    $2499

    1.4 Ghz

    Superdrive
  • Reply 19 of 23
    zosozoso Posts: 177member
    [quote]Originally posted by Luca Rescigno:

    <strong>You need a DVD-RAM drive.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Why? A friend of mine backs up his data on 4.7 GB DVD discs, on a 867 QS... Maybe I'm missing your point, I'd like to understand better...



    ZoSo
  • Reply 20 of 23
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Luca Rescigno is mistaken. DVD-R/RW function just like their CD-R/RW counterparts. You can write data once to a DVD-R (or multisession if the software supports it) or erase DVD-RWs to rewrite to them. They don't provide the random access of DVD-RAM and DVD+RW, but you can still write data to them.
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