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Whither the Portable Optical Drive?

Posted by timothy on from the do-you-stream-or-spin dept.

"The MacBook Air and the Ultrabook come without a piece of hardware that's been a mainstay in laptops for a long time — the optical drive," says a piece at CNET. "Maybe because they really aren't that necessary anymore." I would have thought otherwise a few years ago, but traveling in the meantime with a small netbook was certainly handy. Since that machine died, I think I've used the optical drive in its low-end laptop successor a grand total of once, which was to test its wireless compatibility with a Live CD Linux distro.

4 of 440 comments (clear)

  1. Well.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    How do you get software on a laptop without an optical drive?
    Most of that stuff is still sold on cd/dvd...

    You filthy pirates are downloading it right... We need more laws!

  2. Hello, 2007. by Mostly+Harmless · · Score: 4, Funny

    Netbooks and ultraportables don't have optical drives? What's next, cellphones without mechanical number pads? How do people come up with this stuff?

    --
    "`Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.'" -Douglas Adams, THHGTTG
  3. Re:Battery bay more use by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 4, Funny

    . . . along with
    * an external hard drive
    * empower + ac adapter, with anything-to-anything plug adapter
    * 5 port netgear switch
    * a few cables
    * gaffer tape
    * leatherman
    * cable ties

    Hell, with all that stuff, MacGyver could build an atomic powered laser . . .

    And after a particularly problematic experience in Gaza, I've added a tiny USB keyboard to the list.

    Hmmm . . . I must have missed that episode . . .

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  4. Re:If the PC is new enough by ksd1337 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Then all you need to do is burn a bootloader like PLoP to a CD and use it to boot the USB drive.