CD Transfer iMac 27" Retina Display

OK noob question from an old timer who doesnt understand technology!

I have my all singing and all dancing new iMac. Few teething problems but thats to be expected, I am no computer whizz.

So... I have over 500 CD's from 1983 onwards, and due to my old computer's hard drive going bye bye... I want to put my old back catalog onto my new iMac.

Ummm... one slight problem... no disc drive.

Discuss!

Ummm... one slight problem... no disc drive.

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Ever hear of an external CD\DVD drive? Nowadays, they're inexpensive and will work OK with your new Mac. Or if you're a purist, go to the Apple on line store, or an Apple Store and buy the Apple external drive.

And I gather the old Mac is not working so you can't use it for any CD/DVD sharing???

Any suggestions for a good CD/DVD external drive if I may join in here, as a client is in the same boat, but he's smart and not going to spend the big bucks on the Apple drive, especially considering it's not even compatible with their old iMac, a feature Apple fails to mention properly at their site.

And are USB 2.0 CD/DVD drives good enough, that most seem to be when I checked recently??? But maybe the Canadian stores are just a bit behind and not many USB 3.0 devices listed.

And are USB 2.0 CD/DVD drives good enough, that most seem to be when I checked recently??? But maybe the Canadian stores are just a bit behind and not many USB 3.0 devices listed.

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They'll work OK. I've got two external drives that I use with my late 2013 27" iMac: Samsung and an LG, both are USB 2.0. And yeah, the Apple external drive will only work with those model Macs without an internal optical drive. IMO, the Apple drive is overpriced and doesn't work any better than the two I have.

The Apple SuperDrive is USB 2.0 and $79.00 (U.S.).

As far as whether USB 2.0 is enough. From what I've read it really doesn't matter.

There is no difference in speed between 3.0 and 2.0 because a CD can be written at max 16x which is 2 megabytes a second or a DVD can be written at max 8x which is 11 megabytes a second. USB 2.0 runs at a peak speed of 60 megabytes a second which is more than enough to handle the write and read speed of a CD/DVD.

Bottom line: USB 2.0. Disk reading/writing does not occur at speeds fast enough to necessitate the jump from 2.0 to 3.0.

Thanks for the info and I should have figured out and done the math on the CD/DVD write speeds, and USB 2.0 can certainly manage them.

Next question: Does OS X have native built-in CD/DVD burning software that works with any of the generic USB external writers?

So let me get this straight then, I have purchased a £2000 computer with no way to upload/install CD's or DVD's?

Really?

Considering i work for Ford and we use AutoCad on 2013 iMacs (and are looking to upgrade), i guess we won't be buying the new iMacs then, as Autocad has 8 installation disks.

Crazy. Stupid. Sorry.

The whole point of an iMac is that it is totally self contained. No wires, no boxes... just a keyboard, mouse and screen.

Why corrupt the visual package and superb design with external anything?

Angry and frustrated. But ok. Thanks for your replies people.

Steve3664 said:

The whole point of an iMac is that it is totally self contained. No wires, no boxes... just a keyboard, mouse and screen.

Why corrupt the visual package and superb design with external anything?

Angry and frustrated. But ok. Thanks for your replies people.

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You'll have to ask Jony Ive, the English Apple designer for his reasoning for his THIN is IN thing that leaves no room for an optical drive, or Apple's decision to call optical drives dead, or even Ethernet ports on the latest MB Pros!! Stupid IMHO!!

And you can always send your feedback to Apple, but don't expect them to change.

But hey, and just a thought, even the cheapest USB External CD/DVD drive is often better than what Apple used to supply with up to the 2011 iMacs.

Next question: Does OS X have native built-in CD/DVD burning software that works with any of the generic USB external writers?

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Sure, Disk Utility. And there's always the free "Burn" which works great even with Yosemite.

So let me get this straight then, I have purchased a £2000 computer with no way to upload/install CD's or DVD's?

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You purchased that new iMac sight unseen? ;D

Steve3664 said:

So let me get this straight then, I have purchased a £2000 computer with no way to upload/install CD's or DVD's?

Really?

Considering i work for Ford and we use AutoCad on 2013 iMacs (and are looking to upgrade), i guess we won't be buying the new iMacs then, as Autocad has 8 installation disks.

Crazy. Stupid. Sorry.

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Well, to be honest, I thought the idea of eliminating the CD/DVD drive from iMac was a mistake as well. But, if you're spending £2000 on a new iMac, then another £65.00 for an Apple USB SuperDrive can't be that big of a problem. And then you can install Autocad without a hitch.

chscag said:

Sure, Disk Utility. And there's always the free "Burn" which works great even with Yosemite.

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I guess I was really asking if third party USB burners were "Apple supported", or if one needed extra software or a hack as some of us had to do some years ago with some internal optical drives.

Amazing someone buys an iMac that has not had an optical drive since what, late 2012, and didn't know?

Apart from the incredibly rare case of someone needing to RE-ADD their already-ripped back catalog of CDs because they failed to properly back up the old set, there's really not much need for a CD/DVD drive these days. So -- really quite unsurprisingly -- Apple decided that such drives just added bulk, weight, expense and a point of high failure rate to the machines and got rid of them, figuring that the very few people who might ever need it could spend $40 on an external one.

In other news, when did they remove the hand crank and running boards from my car?! THIS IS AN OUTRAGE.

Steve3664 said:

OK noob question from an old timer who doesnt understand technology!

I have my all singing and all dancing new iMac. Few teething problems but thats to be expected, I am no computer whizz.

So... I have over 500 CD's from 1983 onwards, and due to my old computer's hard drive going bye bye... I want to put my old back catalog onto my new iMac.

Ummm... one slight problem... no disc drive.

Discuss!

Click to expand...

A little late to the discussion - there has not been an optical drive in a iMac for 3 years now.
We heard all the moaning, crying and gnashing of teeth about it back then.

Steve3664 said:

So let me get this straight then, I have purchased a £2000 computer with no way to upload/install CD's or DVD's?

Really?

Click to expand...

The answer is not, there is "no way". The answer is you buy an external CD/DVD drive.

Considering i work for Ford and we use AutoCad on 2013 iMacs (and are looking to upgrade), i guess we won't be buying the new iMacs then, as Autocad has 8 installation disks.

Crazy. Stupid. Sorry.

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2013 iMacs don't have CD/DVD drives in them either.
Neither do the late 2012 model iMacs.
The last iMac to come equipped with an optical drive were the 2011 models.

If you have Autocad on a 2013 model iMac, then someone in the IT department there at Ford has been smart enough to already buy an external CD/DVD drive or they just downloaded the file direct from Autocad and put it on a USB stick to install on all the machines requiring it or just have an image file with the OS and all apps required they use to install onto every new computer that comes in.

My wife has never inserted a CD/DVD into one of her Macs (switched in mid '07) and likely never did for 2-3 years prior to that on her Windows machines. I just asked her and acted all upset about not having a drive and having to go buy an external drive just to load music from a CD and she just shrugged and gave me that "yeah, so what, sounds like a personal problem" face.

We just have to face up to evolving times, those of us that require access to an optical drive (myself included) are in the minority.

And the point that, I think, chas was making is that if you have imported music, CAD, photos, whatever, from a CD/DVD, then make sure you use Time Machine, cloning software etc to backup the system and—spanking new iMac restored as was. Nothing lost. No need to re-load anything.

Ian

Are there any external CD/DVD drives to stay away from or are they about equal?

Steve3664 said:

So let me get this straight then, I have purchased a £2000 computer with no way to upload/install CD's or DVD's?

Really?

Considering i work for Ford and we use AutoCad on 2013 iMacs (and are looking to upgrade), i guess we won't be buying the new iMacs then, as Autocad has 8 installation disks.

Crazy. Stupid. Sorry.

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Well, it looks like you may have some other expensive problems with the iMac upgrade and AutoCad, but the good news is you won't need an optical drive as the AutoCad seems to be available via download these days.

"AutoCAD for Mac 2015 is compatible with Mac OSX Yosemite (10.10). AutoCAD for Mac versions 2014 and earlier currently are not compatible with Mac OSX Yosemite (10.10). These versions may launch, but will not operate properly and damage to your project data could occur.
We strongly encourage you to carefully check operating system compatibility with your version of AutoCAD for Mac before upgrading your Mac to OSX 10.10 (Yosemite). …"
Mac OSX 10.10 (Yosemite) compatibility with AutoCAD for Mac and AutoCAD LT for Mac | AutoCAD for Mac | Autodesk Knowledge Network

Might want to check all the other unsuspecting details at their site…???

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