[Lateralus]

I pop the disc in, the drive whines and kicks it out. Tried repeatedly with reboots and under Windows.

But, I need an optical drive. So does anybody know of a solid cheapie that's OS X compatible?

Grazi.

[Athens]

Try both a CD and a DVD, could just be one laser busted.

That said I went with out a optical for a long time. Any USB external is OS X compatible. Just some dont do boots. Generally those slim ones that power off the USB dont boot. The full size externals like a LG do and are faster then even the built in one you had. I picked up a lightscribe LG last year because i wanted to make some nice photo DVDs for a friend. Still hardly use it but when I re ripped all my CDs, man was worth it with the speed it has.

[P]

Originally Posted by Athens 

. Any USB external is OS X compatible. Just some dont do boots.

This. If you need one that will boot and is also stylish, get the one that Apple sells for the MBA.