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Combo, Schmombo – Go External

Some readers weight in with their thoughts on the lack of a DVD/CD-RW “combo” drive in the new 667 and 550 MHz TiBook.


Some readers weight in with their thoughts on the lack of a DVD/CD-RW “combo” drive in the new 667 and 550 MHz TiBook.

Why are people upset that Apple didn’t include a combo drive int the Rev. B TiBook? The iBook combo drive is a whopping 4X CDRW and the Ti2 has an 8X CDRW. The Ti2 even adds $100 just to get the CDRW.

For about US$150-$200 I can buy an external 12X-16X CDRW. The speed alone is needed in rush situations – I hated waiting for the 8X SCSI burner I had to use at work so much, I took the 16x FireWire burner I own up to use when I needed it.

If you carry a medium sized bag, you wont even notice the weight it adds.If it breaks, I don’t lose my PowerBook for a week or more for repairs. I just buy a new drive. The only drawback is that I cannot drive my car and write a CD at the same time. Maybe they thought it was a safety issue; some of the people that own PowerBooks are pretty likely to be using a cell phone while driving.

Get a life! The new PowerBook covered a lot of ground to improve it to this much. So nobody gave Apple a combo drive that could fit into the case; If they made the case thicker to accommodate the combo, then the same people would freak out about the size and not buy it.

Odds are, they wouldn’t buy it anyway. If you need a burner, you will buy it. If your 1999 G3 PowerBook does what you need it to, then stick with it and kwitcherbitchen. It is supposed to be a tool, not a toy. [stephen]

The TiBook CDRW writes 8X CDR media – twice the speed of the iBook COMBO drive. The TiBook CDRW does re-writeable media at 8X – twice the iBook COMBO or CDRW drive performance. Of course my order went in for a maxxed out COMBO drive iBook because I like my PB2400 form factor and I appreciate the brighter iBook screen. CardBus/S-Video/IRDA were what I gave up in exchange. Everybody of course would love a US$200 portable DVD-R/RW Super Drive and skip the "combo" drive entirely, but those drives are about 4x that price in a non-portable size.

The TiBook DVD makes the most sense for people that want a portable DVD player – use the FireWire port for writing DVDs or CDs [John Pope]

I waited for and purchased the TiBook 667/DVD, already owning a Pismo 400/DVD. Combo drive would be nice but you missed an important point:

The next revision of the TiBook is possibly due out early first quarter (maybe January) next year. By then, Apple may indeed have a SuperDrive ready for the TiBook—so why would they waste the time on a soon-to-be obsolete combo drive for now? Meanwhile, we have a TiBook that rivals the best desktop machines. I say "good move, Apple!" [LB]

By Jason O'Grady

Founded the PowerPage in 1995.