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Save weight by removing optical drive from MB?

RedTomato

RedTomato

macrumors 601
Original poster
Mar 4, 2005
4,161
445
.. London ..
Hiya,

Has anyone removed the optical drive from their MB to save weight?

There's some cheap combo models in the refurb store, and I'm thinking of buying one, and removing the optical combo drive to make it lighter and easier to carry around.

I can sell the thin combo on ebay or keep it to make it easier to resell the MB. I already have an external DVD burner I can use at home / take with me in the rare event I need one.

Anyone tried this out?
 
For my PB15 which sits on the table most of the time, no.

For something which will get carried around all day, yes. I don't have a car - I walk, cycle, bus and tube everywere.
 
the battery probably weights more to be honest. but every little bit would help wouldn't it?

you'd have to find a cover for the slot at least so that you don't get anyting in the case.

and it might feel a bit unbalanced as a result too.
 
While I can't speak for the current drives, I did replace a G3 iBook drive. It was extremely light, especially compared to everything else in the laptop. I really don't think that it would be worth the effort.
 
I'm curious on this, is the OP a cyclist by any chance? If he is then no number of grams removed is too little.

Kind of an interesting proposal though, if you do remove the drive if you wouldn't mind putting the weight up here it'd be interesting to see what the weight saving is.
 
Wouldn't it change the balance too much? For example, try to handle a laptop without its battery installed, and you'll instantly feel that everything is not okay. You yourself will though adjust to everything, but every other person handling your laptop will feel awkward.

If a laptop is perfectly balanced, it should not feel heavy at all.
 
Get a 12" Powerbook G4. They weigh a half a pound less and are cuter. And those optical drives don't weigh that much, I have handled a lot of them.
 
California said:
Get a 12" Powerbook G4. They weigh a half a pound less and are cuter. And those optical drives don't weigh that much, I have handled a lot of them.
Click to expand...

in terms of cuteness, how *much* cuter are we talking about when compared to the 12" iBook. becasue i <3 this badboy so much.
 
I have actually though about doing this an inserting one or two additional hard drives. Any suggestions for doing this? Does the MB have the opportunity of extra sata connectors?
 
Really, this sounds ridiculous to me.

First of all (I might be wrong but) you'd probably void your warranty by removing it.

Secondly you'd really make very little weight saving.

I've got a really old Vaio notebook with an external plug-in optical drive. I've just weighed that - it's 500g - and that includes the outer plastic enclosure, cable and PCMCIA connector card.

So you'd probably save around 250g or so in weight. Is that worth it?!!
 
Thanks for all your replies.

Yes I'm a cyclist, but I'm not really a hardcore one (tho I keep and run two bikes - a folding brompton and had my ridgeback MTB stolen recently. Will take delivery of a nice road alu schwinn singlespeed with flat bars soon.) I do walk and carry laptops a lot, and I regularly walk / cycle to various work locations.

My brother had a 12'' PB till he dropped it a couple of months ago. It's a lovely machine, and if someone offered me an older 12'' with good battery in the UK at the right price, I'd snap it up :) But at the moment, I need an Intel mac so that I can start dual-booting for work reasons.

Insert extra HD? : I've taken a few laptops apart, but never a macbook. I think the optical drive has a specialist mini-PATA connection. You *might* be able to hook that up to a 2.5'' HD, if you built a little carriage for it. Have a look at some macbook disassembly photos on the web. It's not something I'm interested in trying right now - an external firewire 2.5'' drive is fine for me.

Balance? : I don't think removing the optical drive would affect the balance much, as it's pretty light anyway. And no I won't be passing it to other people for them to drop :)

Dustproofing: I'll just tape over the inside of the slot inside the case.

If I do do this, and it won't be till after WWDC, I'll weight it and let you all know the difference.
 
I've been thinking of doing the same to my MBP, but I agree with those who say the weight saving will be minimal. I think just removing the optical drive alone isn't worth it. Heck, even using the MBP without a battery in there doesn't make it much lighter.

2.5kg doesn't sound like much, but it definitely does add up if you've been lugging it around with you all day long. I can't wait for the MBP ultraportables!
 
wyatt23 said:
in terms of cuteness, how *much* cuter are we talking about when compared to the 12" iBook. becasue i <3 this badboy so much.
Click to expand...

Oh, I love that 12" iBook 1.33 a lot as well. Especially as it takes more ram and better airport than my 12" PB. ALMOST considered getting one lately. BUT they are slightly larger and slightly heavier than the 12" PB, which is the smallest form factor laptop Apple has ever made. I really do like the iBooks tho -- you should throw a 100gb 7200 rpm hd and a superdrive in yours, btw.
 
My last pc laptop (HP nx8220) actually came with a tray to go in the combo drive slot if I removed it. So, to some it must be worth the weight savings.

I personally never took it out, but I'm not one to complain about weight...I have a 17" MBP now :) I figure the extra weight that I have to drag around is made up by the convenience of having the extra screen / features etc; Up to a point...
 
This just came out:

http://www.mcetech.com/optibay/

Hard drive replacement for your optical drive. Up to 160GB extra from them, and 1/4 pound off the weight.

Seems expensive - $200 to $400. No option to just buy the bare tray.

Worth it for people who earn a living from FC apps on laptops.

Fits PB, MB, and MBP. (why not iBooks?)
 
Did you do it?

So, RedTomato,

Did you ever try taking the OD out? I'm curious to know how it is before I do the same.
 
I think you would save more weight by taking a poo before you left the house. Why remove a couple of grams from your MB... You'll find yourself wondering why you did so when you are off someplace and need to use the drive.
 
Haha, that is the most rediculous thing I've heard in a long time.
I'd give you a MB in a bag with a CD drive, and I'd give you one without a CD drive, and give you £100 if you could tell the difference.
 
I guarantee at one point you'll be on the road with your laptop and you'll end up with a CD/DVD to put into your laptop for whatever reason.

And you'll be like, "Dang, wish I had never removed it..."
 
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