After paying for a new MacBook Air, I still have to purchase an external DVD Player? That sucks!, After paying for a new MacBook Air, I still have to purchase an external DVD Player? That sucks!

The MacBook Air does not have a CD drive simply because they want to market it is "thinner, lighter, faster." Adding a CD drive, assuming there's even room for it, would add a lot of thickness. If you wanted a CD drive, you could have gone with the MacBook Pro, or you can stick with the Air and get a MacBook Air SuperDrive.

You're only partially wrong.

Yes, it's true, the MacBook air does not have an optical drive, it has never had one, since the very first model was released.

That being said, this is about as far from 'going backwards' as you can go. Cloud storage and distribution is what Apple is shooting for, hence the creation of an AppStore and the implementation of iTunes in the cloud and recently iTunes match. The good news is if you still want to use those optical discs you can buy a SuperDrive or use Remote Disc.

Several forum veterans have ended up with MBA currently aftwr years of using MBP. They find the light wieght of a something that is still a computer more useful than even a 13 in system that has an optical drive.

Different tools are designed for different users' needs.

Yup, even some of us non-veterans have done that! I changed my 13" pro for an 11" Air and could not be more happy. The optical drive was, for me, utterly unnecessary even before I started really using cloud based storage services.

ddmozart wrote:

Does this mean after the price of this Mac Air I still would have to purchase an external DVD/CD player to load software or play DVD's and CD's ???

Actually, if you don't buy a MBA, you won't have to buy a DVD/CD play. And even if you do, there are ways go get around the lack of a internal DVD/CD drive.

That said, for the very few times I do need an optical drive, I use my no-namer USB DVD drive that I bought on eBay for around $25. Or you can go with the Apple $79 DVD external drive.

Yeah! worse still is doesn't even have a floppy drive built in, what were Apple thinking!😝

Floppy drive? 😁 Who has floppy drives in this day and age. Does anyone sell software on that format? I don't think so. At least any software sold today.

I've had my MBA for nearly 6 months now and don't miss having a built-in DVD drive in the least. First of all, with only a 128GB drive, I'm not "porking" it up with a lot of junk.

The form factor of the MBA is beautiful and wouldn't be possible with a internal DVD drive. I wouldn't want one anyway. The only time I've use an external DVD USB drive was to install a few programs that I have on DVDs.

The MBA is about a very light weight computer for use mainly outside of the home. And this is where it excels. If you really want a DVD, get the Apple unit for $79 or a no-namer on ebay for around $25. Then use it and park it. You won't need it very often if ever after the first use or so.

Duhh! It was a joke.

Duhhh! Sorry, you got me there. I mistook you for part of the "intitlement" crowd guys that hang here. I don't have one floppy in the house.

I have one. Where should I ship it? 😀

It says specifically on the site, "Does not include optical CD drive." You could've read that before you bought it....

Broswe or watch the refubished list for a while. All "Apple certified" and less expensive than new. My MBP early 2011 is a refurbished unit and I just aded AppleCare.

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac

If I may suggest one thing... do what steve359 said, a refurbished unit is often cheaper than a new one and for all warranty purposes is considered a new computer. You don't know what you're getting with second hand stuff. Unless the price difference is really that big, it might not be worth it.

bahaha!