Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

imac superdrive reliability

T

tderemigis

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 28, 2006
96
0
i have started to make hard copy backups of my stuff to dvd, and i was just wondering how reliable the superdrives are in this most recent batch of imacs. i havent seen any signs of failure or anything, i just really would hate to wear the thing out.

am i safe to continue burning or should i invest in an external burner?
 
I use an external Sony FireWire burner with mine. The iMac's SuperDrive is a slot-loader and is essentially the same drive you get in a Mac laptop. The external drive is MUCH faster and is less picky with media.

Speaking from experience, I have NEVER had slot-loading SuperDrive that has outlasted a 3-year AppleCare warranty. I haven't had an issue with my pre-aluminum 20" iMac yet, but then again, I don't use the internal drive much at all, unless I'm installing software.
 
i had a slot load dvd i didnt even use that much and it died over the course of a year or so and it was in my imac g3 which wasnt considered a laptop drive
 
i would invest in an external hard drive. It'll save you a lot of time and headaches and hard drives are so cheap now. If you need a wireless router you should look into the time capsule. It's basically a wireless router with a 500 gb hard drive in it. I believe it's 300 dollars and wirelessly and automatically backs up everything on your computer through time machine. I'm not that familiar with how well time machine works but it seems cool. If i had leopard i'd get it...

ANYWAY, if that's too costly you should check out newegg.com or macsales.com Both have very cheap hard drives and if you don't need it to be a portable bus powered drive you can get something for really cheap.

and regarding the superdrives being reliable, Apple has gone pretty far downhill as far as hardware quality goes since the "good ol' days" when every mac had a handle and ipods didn't know how to do anything else but play music and last forever.. :p I have a few friends with new macbooks that have already had problems with their drives (and they are SO loud). And just look at the ipod failure rate today compared to a few years ago. Those 2nd, 3rd, and sometimes 4th gen ipods were so solid. imho apple should stop wasting money on iphone commercials (everyone and their mom knows they are effing sweet) and start buying some quality hard drives etc...

well that's my tangent...
 
yea i bought an external too cause well i didnt want t open up my macbook and then since i got my emac its the educational version and only came with a cd so i have to target when loadin os but can lik burn and play dvds
 
I agree with the others. An external drive is the way to go. Plus you can get better drives with lightScribe included.

I stopped using the Superdrive because unless I loaded the disc perfectly straight, it would scratch it thus corrupting the data on the disc.
 
It also depends greatly upon which brand of SuperDrive you end up getting. I've never had any trouble whatsoever with Pioneer drives, but the LG drives in some of the Macs I've used have had nothing but problems. It's just the luck of the draw as to which brand you end up with, as Apple has been known to use a handful of different manufacturers for the SuperDrives that end up in their systems.
 
hmm, interesting responses. i'd say, if you have apple care, keep using the internal. that way if it is going to die on you, chances are good it will happen within your apple care period so you get a free replacement. if you only use it very rarely, and it were to die eventually, chances are it would be after apple care ran out - then you'd be SOL.
unless you are concerned about write speed - then a faster drive makes sense. i usually only get between 3x and 4x on DVD-R discs. but i'm using cheap media.
 
Every newer-gen Apple laptop I've owned, as well as my 20" iMac C2D 2.16 has been equipped with a similar Matsushita/Panasonic-sourced SuperDrive drive. At least on the laptops, they've been inherently unreliable even with relatively light use. AppleCare has paid for itself in all instances, between parts and labor.

This is a different case with the towers, whose offerings seem to vary from Pioneer, Sony and LG. Pioneer is Apple's best supplier for OEM drives, IMHO.
 
CaptainChunk said:
Yes, that would be a Matshushita. Or sometimes, they're called "Matshita" in firmware. Same thing.
Click to expand...

I think this is my SuperDrive info, from a 24" Al iMac made in late 2007:

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5630A:

Model: OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5630A
Revision: 1AHM
Serial Number:
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal
Low Power Polling: Yes

Morod
 
Morod said:
I think this is my SuperDrive info, from a 24" Al iMac made in late 2007:

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5630A:

Model: OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5630A
Revision: 1AHM
Serial Number:
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal
Low Power Polling: Yes

Morod
Click to expand...

thats the external one i have or like brand
 
This is what came in my 20" iMac (White/Late 2006). I haven't had an ounce of trouble out of it yet.

PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-K06:

Model: PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-K06
Revision: Q609
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal
Low Power Polling: Yes
 
Here is what's in my 20" imac Aluminum bought in Feb. Why is mine only an -R?

ATA Bus:

MATSHITADVD-R UJ-875:

Model: MATSHITADVD-R UJ-875
Revision: DB09
Serial Number: fG42EEA1
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal
Low Power Polling: Yes
 
I have that one too in my iMac.

cfs said:
Here is what's in my 20" imac Aluminum bought in Feb. Why is mine only an -R?

ATA Bus:

MATSHITADVD-R UJ-875:

Model: MATSHITADVD-R UJ-875
Revision: DB09
Serial Number: fG42EEA1
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal
Low Power Polling: Yes
Click to expand...


Go down the list from ATA to disc Burning and click on that. It will show you that it covers ALL formats including +R and +RW.
 
It is way slower than external ones. Plus it is somehow noisy. Might be because it vibrates a whole computer than just small dvd burner.:cool: Externals are cheap and you can get with lightscribe or other functions not available on superdrive.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back