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Mallrat · Sep 10, 2003, 04:13 PM

I'm in an odd place. I live with my girlfriend, it's her place. Anyway, I have a really small desk (we live in NYC) and there isnt' much room. She loves the desk.

Point is I dont' have much room for a desktop, and the eMac seems a little too big.

the iMac looks like it would fit... and I guess I could acutally get a desktop if I got a non-apple monitor.

anyway, my best bet would be a powerbook due to my lack of space. I'm one of the few not looking for a portable ocmputer, but one that takes up the least amount of room.

I have an ibook now and it's great. But i want more speed, more screen size and able to use final cut pro 4.

But my main concern is I really want a superdrive. I want to be able to use iDVD.

But I would rather have a powerbook 15 than an imac.

so make me feel better. Tell me I wont miss anything not having a superdrive. That i could buy an external DVD and buy some other program to make DVD's.

And the reason I dont' just buy a powerbook with a superdrive is because I'm looking to spend under 2000 and the 1ghz with superdrive is just too much for me at his point in my life.

So i like the iMac price, but waht i really want is a powerbook with a superdrive. And no I don't want the 12inch due to screen size (ok mostly heat issue)

Mithras · 05:46 PM

If you look carefully you can get a (used) 15" with superdrive for exactly $2000.

You can definitely get a (used or refurb) 12" with superdrive for well under $2000.

ae86_16v · Sep 10, 2003, 07:42 PM

Originally posted by Mithras:
If you look carefully you can get a (used) 15" with superdrive for exactly $2000.

You can definitely get a (used or refurb) 12" with superdrive for well under $2000.

Yeah used 15" would be around $2000. Used 867/Combo would be around $1700 or so.

A used 12" with a superdrive would be around $1400.

Goodluck.

Sorry, but I have to say, a Superdrive is a very niffty feature.

Mallrat · Sep 10, 2003, 09:37 PM

Originally posted by ae86_16v:
Yeah used 15" would be around $2000. Used 867/Combo would be around $1700 or so.

A used 12" with a superdrive would be around $1400.

Goodluck.

Sorry, but I have to say, a Superdrive is a very niffty feature.

the superdrive sounds great in theory.. but at 1X how does it work?

Won't it be really slow in 2 years?

I called tekserve and they said to add a superdrive late cost 399... that sounds like a lot since apple charges only 200.

Mallrat · Sep 10, 2003, 09:42 PM

Originally posted by ae86_16v:
Yeah used 15" would be around $2000. Used 867/Combo would be around $1700 or so.

A used 12" with a superdrive would be around $1400.

Goodluck.

Sorry, but I have to say, a Superdrive is a very niffty feature.

the superdrive sounds great in theory.. but at 1X how does it work?

Won't it be really slow in 2 years?

I called tekserve and they said to add a superdrive late cost 399... that sounds like a lot since apple charges only 200.

ae86_16v · Sep 11, 2003, 01:36 AM

Originally posted by Mallrat:
the superdrive sounds great in theory.. but at 1X how does it work?

Won't it be really slow in 2 years?

I called tekserve and they said to add a superdrive late cost 399... that sounds like a lot since apple charges only 200.

It takes about 50mins to burn one DVD 4.7Gb. Which isn't too bad if you really think about the massive amount of data.

You could also do the firmware update to 2x.

What's the speed on the tekserve ones?

Bottomline it is good to have if you could afford it. . . if not, you won't die without it though.

Mithras · Sep 11, 2003, 06:00 AM

This is what I would do:

1. Buy a used 12" with Superdrive.

2. Do the firmware update for 2x DVD burning.

3. Buy a decent 17" LCD, and a USB keyboard and mouse.

That would run ~ $2000 total.

You'll have a small computer you can tuck in the corner, with a Superdrive, a big screen, and ultraportable when you want it to be.

BrunoBruin · Sep 11, 2003, 07:18 AM

Bah. Get the new 17-inch iMac. It takes up no more room than a PowerBook if you had an external keyboard and mouse, it burns DVDs at 4x, and the 17-inch screen will give you plenty of real estate. They are fast and quiet, perfect for a small space.

I don't think anyone else has mentioned this, but you cannot use iDVD with an external burner.

Mallrat · Sep 11, 2003, 05:07 PM

Originally posted by BrunoBruin:
Bah. Get the new 17-inch iMac. It takes up no more room than a PowerBook if you had an external keyboard and mouse, it burns DVDs at 4x, and the 17-inch screen will give you plenty of real estate. They are fast and quiet, perfect for a small space.

I don't think anyone else has mentioned this, but you cannot use iDVD with an external burner.

I'm one of the few that thinks the 17 inch resolution is too small for my eyes... and when I might it a bigger resolution it gets fuzzy... and I found in another post this is normal...

but doesnt' mean I like it!

anyway, I went to tekserve and they sell a 1x superdrive for a powerbook for 399... something asked before.. seems very expensive to me.

BkueKanoodle · Sep 11, 2003, 09:48 PM

Originally posted by Mallrat:
I'm one of the few that thinks the 17 inch resolution is too small for my eyes... and when I might it a bigger resolution it gets fuzzy... and I found in another post this is normal...

but doesnt' mean I like it!

anyway, I went to tekserve and they sell a 1x superdrive for a powerbook for 399... something asked before.. seems very expensive to me.

If that price includes labor, its about right. Sure Apple will put one in for 200 but they do it right on the assembly line, there is no extrra time involved between building one with a combo or a sd.

Apple or the manufacturer probably won't sell these to tekserve for less then 200, plus costs for tekserves labor and they do have do make a profit.

ae86_16v · Sep 11, 2003, 10:04 PM

Originally posted by Mallrat:
I'm one of the few that thinks the 17 inch resolution is too small for my eyes... and when I might it a bigger resolution it gets fuzzy... and I found in another post this is normal...

Ummm. . . text and everything else should be relatively the same. I had a 12", 15", and a 17" Powerbook. I didn't notice text or anything else being smaller. The only effect that I notice was you get more real estate. I think it has something to do with the fact that it is around 100 dpi.

But check it out anyways.

Mallrat · Sep 12, 2003, 04:29 PM

Ok, I think I got it. I'll buy the 867 as is.... and since I can't used IDVD without a superdrive,

I can get DVD Studio Pro 2 and an external DVD-R. So taht way I have a better program and a faster drive.

that sounds good right? more expensive, sure. But I can buy the computer now.. then save up for the Dvd Authoring for down the line.

Unless of course they release iDVD 4 on tuesday and that works with external burners!

CheesePuff · Sep 12, 2003, 04:37 PM

I have a 1 GHz PowerBook G4 with a ComboDrive for sale. Thread with pics:

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=175935

I am willing to work with you on the price, etc.

Mallrat · Sep 13, 2003, 12:50 AM

Originally posted by Mallrat:
Ok, I think I got it. I'll buy the 867 as is.... and since I can't used IDVD without a superdrive,

I can get DVD Studio Pro 2 and an external DVD-R. So taht way I have a better program and a faster drive.

that sounds good right? more expensive, sure. But I can buy the computer now.. then save up for the Dvd Authoring for down the line.

Unless of course they release iDVD 4 on tuesday and that works with external burners!

anyone have info on this. No thank you, but i'm going to buy a new laptop at this time.

aapljack · Sep 13, 2003, 01:41 AM

If I were you, I would just add that Superdrive in the mix with the 867. If you are already spending $2000, what is another $200. It could save you $700 down the road (DVD Studio Pro + DVD-R). And you will have everything you need NOW!
Just eat ramen noodles for a few weeks and you can make up that $200 in no time.

AirforceRed · Sep 13, 2003, 07:46 AM

I can't comment on US prices for things, but consider buying a uj815 drive and doing an upgrade yourself if you want to save money. You can then also flog your old Combo drive for c.$160 so the SuperDrive will only actually cost you $140.

The new SuperDrive will work with all iLife apps (inc iDVD) and will burn DVD-Rs at 2x. Although not tried out yet, it looks as if you may be able to read/write DVD-RAM disks too, which you'll not be able to do with any SuperDrive PowerBook built by Apple (different models of the uj815).

Instructions on self-upgrade here.

One place (I'm sure there are others) to buy the uj815 here.