Q: No DVD drive in new iMac ???

Just stick around and watch Csound1 -- His posts often degrade to a juvenile shouting match!

pipogoro wrote:

 

Relation to deleted post on the issue of this gadget.

 

http://www.sonnettech.com/product/echo15thunderboltdock.html

 

 

The Sonnet looks great with all those connections.  Am I correct thinking the Blue-Ray option is read only, no write facility?

"Removing the "Line In" audio is a major mistake."

Thanks for mentioning this. I hadn't realised that this had gone too.

El Deanio wrote:

The Sonnet looks great with all those connections.  Am I correct thinking the Blue-Ray option is read only, no write facility?

The provided drive will burn CD's & DVD's but only reads Blu-Ray disks. OWC (among others) sells similar drives & ones that burn all current optical media types, including BR & one that supports the archival DVD format "M-Disk" & the extra high capacity BR formats.

If you are not absolutely wed to the idea of an internal optical drive, there are a lot of choices.

zBernie2 wrote:

 

Just stick around and watch Csound1 -- His posts often degrade to a juvenile shouting match!

Just popped in to add a little grist to zBernie's mill.

As you were,

And a from me Csound.  I've been in trouble too.

R C-R Texas, USA

El Deanio wrote:

The Sonnet looks great with all those connections.  Am I correct thinking the Blue-Ray option is read only, no write facility?

The provided drive will burn CD's & DVD's but only reads Blu-Ray disks. OWC (among others) sells similar drives & ones that burn all current optical media types, including BR & one that supports the archival DVD format "M-Disk" & the extra high capacity BR formats.

If you are not absolutely wed to the idea of an internal optical drive, there are a lot of choices.

Not only the DVD is read only for Bluray option, the other detail that really makes me mad is that they don’t provide it with the thunderbolt cable!!!!!! They charge 50 buck for a 0.5 meter cable!!!!! The best price I found is still 30 buck for half a meter!!!! Anyone know better prices???

I’m still holding for the iMac 27” but  I’m seriously considering going for a mac book pro retina. Any advice on the specs guys???

The OWC stuff looks great and great price indeed!!!! But I’m really interested in the port options from that Sonnet thing plus would really dig for a “thunderbolt” DVD/bluray optical drive.

Thunderbolt cables cost so much in part because they contain active electronics, without which it would not be possible to transmit bidirectional 10 Gb/sec signals over any useful distance. The design also allows for optical cables because the interface is in the cable connectors, not the port.

Of course, part of the reason is also because they are not (yet) mass market items. That may change some if any of these items are a hit outside the pro market later this year.

BTW, there is no real advantage to a stand alone optical drive with a Thunderbolt interface -- their data throughput is such a tiny fraction of the interface's bandwidth that it would be like connecting a night light to a wall plug with heavy gauge welding cable! That's why we are just seeing Thunderbolt interfaces on third party devices that can use all that bandwidth.

That's the thing!!!! On a DVD external device with an in and out Thunderbolt it would be like a drop in the ocean, data wise!!! That’s what I’m talking about!!!

I don't know why external DVD drives come usually with an in option only, rendering your port useless while using the device!!! That’s why I really like the OWC stuff you mentioned before!!!! Because it’s really designed for a desktop that needs an extra DVD and doesn’t block your USB port!!!!

A BluRay writer would have been nice, but  It seems that it's just not worth it any more then ?

I mean, a 3.6Gb mechanical DVD is kind of lacking on space and starting to look a tad neolithic these days.

The DVD-R's media doesn't last that long either.

Todays new iMac will still be in use  10 years from now, when SD cards and Cloud storage will be fantastically cheap and every one will have fibre optic broadband.

Everything will be online or  flash based and DVD's will be pointles, unreliable relics !

In the mean while, if you can afford a new iMac you can afford to buy a second hand Macbook to share  its DVD writer :-)

Ohhhh!!!!! Wish that was true!!!! The thing is simple I'm not only to buy computer!!! I always have to renew a lot of things!!! I've got to think cameras, lenses, lights, sound, flash cards(SD SxS), batteries, etc!!!!! Every penny counts!!!! I have to do a lot of things I don't like for instance DVDs!!!! I've got to give my clients what they want.... Doesn't matter if they are wrong or not... In 2008 I did a project in 1080p and the client wanted a betacam digital copy, tried to tell him there was no need for that but didn't listen...

Regrettably I don't live many years from now I live in today!!!! Today I need a good DVD solution!!!! Thank god rc introduced me to OWC or OCW and to many ideas and resources... They don't hit the spot but they work for now. Now I'm not thinking in an iMac anymore I'm thinking in a Mac book pro retina 13" and make do with my actual HD displays till 4k settle down!!! Buying used means reinvesting faster and maybe not being able to profit... Buying and selling stuff is not my forte either I must say....

Wish that if I did this I would get that result but it's dicy!!!! Been waiting for iMac but seems its not my cup of tea anymore!!!! I've always trusted apple blindly but on this one I have to sneak-peak for a better solution... But always a Mac!!!!!

pipogoro wrote:

I don't know why external DVD drives come usually with an in option only, rendering your port useless while using the device!!! That’s why I really like the OWC stuff you mentioned before!!!! Because it’s really designed for a desktop that needs an extra DVD and doesn’t block your USB port!!!!

I'm assuming by "an in option only" you mean a USB interface instead of one that supports a daisy chaining topology like Firewire or Thunderbolt. USB is a "hub & spoke" topology which just means you need to build it out with hubs. A four port USB 2.0 hub is dirt cheap these days & even powered ones can be found for under $30.

Plug one of those in to one of your iMac's 4 USB ports (stick it to the back of the stand if you like) & you get 3 more ports for USB 2.0 speed devices.

I happen to like Apple's full sized wired keyboard & have several of them around that came with older iMacs. They also have a pair of built-in USB 2.0 ports with high power outputs capable of running most USB powered devices.

You are right saying that DVD's will eventually become antiquated, but that is hardly the case now.  Apple's removal of the DVD drive was premature, which is the opinion of the vast majority of users in this thread, and in other forums I've discussed the matter with. There are still many $billions of

dollars in sales of CD''s, DVD's, and software, all available on optical drives.  How about RedBox?  You can't beat video rentals for $1.  Myself and many others  I've spoken to often use the optical drive burn videos and photos to disk and send them relatives.  Optical drives are also still widely used in the

enterprise, so Apple has effectively shot itself in the foot regarding making headway into the business market.   Nobody cares how thin the iMac is, because you typically only look at it from the front anyway.  And placing the flash card reader on the back was sheer insanity!  Considering the fact that there is no consumer replaceable RAM on the 21.5" model, no conveniently accessible USB ports, conveniently accessible SD card slots, and no optical drive, many consider the new iMac dysfunctional. I would not even considering purchasing one.  It's unfortunate because I'm a big fan of OS X.

Aaaahhh...The thread that keeps on giving...

Just when ya think this thread couldn't continue for much longer...

zBernie2 wrote:

Considering the fact that there is no consumer replaceable RAM on the 21.5" model, no conveniently accessible USB ports, conveniently accessible SD card slots, and no optical drive, many consider the new iMac dysfunctional.

And yet it is selling very well: for instance, it is the 42nd best seller in Amazon.com's top one hundred Computer & Accessories category & no other desktop computer comes close. Plus, the Amazon user reviews are overwhelmingly favorable.

No bad for a "dysfunctional" computer.