external optical hard drive question

[macnoob1823]

So I'm new to the whole Mac thing, and was wondering...will any USB-connected external optical drive work with my new Macbook Air?

I have my eyes on this vertical Asus: http://www.amazon.com/Blu-Ray-Combo-External-Optical-SBC-06D1S-U/dp/B003A7X7WI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298852911&sr=8-1

Thanks in advance!

 

[184550]

So I'm new to the whole Mac thing, and was wondering...will any USB-connected external optical drive work with my new Macbook Air?

I have my eyes on this vertical Asus: http://www.amazon.com/Blu-Ray-Combo-External-Optical-SBC-06D1S-U/dp/B003A7X7WI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298852911&sr=8-1

Thanks in advance!

IIRC, didn't the first MBAs use some 'special' low powered external disc drive? I would assume Apple has carried this over to the new MBAs.

 

[ozred]

Yes. It's just a matter of personal preference.

I bought a fully loaded MBA recently & also got Apples matching external drive. Fairly priced & convenient to include in the same order were my reasons.

Cheers

 

[abuleban]

Probably

but I bought the apple one just to be sure. That said, I don't use it too much, but good to have around just in case

 

[macnoob1823]

Thanks guys. Just realized that my title and link were a bit off...tired today, sorry!

Anyway, the optical drive I am hoping to buy is:

http://www.amazon.com/Asus-External...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1298853677&sr=1-1

Will this work with my 13 inch late 2010 MBA?

Many thanks!

 

[ZipZap]

Does not list Mac as a support OS.

Try this one...though I believe any of the externals that might work with Mac laptops will require 2 usb ports:

Samsung USB 2.0 8x DVD Writer: SE-S084C or D

Best price I found was $48 Shipped.

 

[Psilocybin]

I cam burn and read from a samsung drive with only using one of the two USB ports

 

[hfg]

IIRC, didn't the first MBAs use some 'special' low powered external disc drive? I would assume Apple has carried this over to the new MBAs.

Actually, the Apple external optical drive was higher power, as most all of them are when burning a disk (they usually have dual USB connectors so they can get double the power when needed). Since the Air only had a single USB port available, they equipped it with higher power than normal so that it could burn disks with only one port using the Apple drive. They continued that design with subsequent Air models.

This also prevents use of the Apple external optical drive on other macs which don't have the high-powered port. Only the Air and Mac Mini have these higher powered ports.

-howard

 

[macnoob1823]

Thank you for the replies. I was actually looking at that Samsung one, and like it.

My only gripe is that it's not vertical. The reason I liked the Asus one so much was that it wouldn't take up as much space on my desk.

Any ideas for vertical optical drives?

Thanks!
Brian