External CD/DVD Usable on the iMac mid 2010 ?

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The CD player on my older iMac does not work correctly.
Can I replace it?
Can I use an external CD drive, using the mini plug jack?
Thanks...
 
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Yes the optical drive is replaceable. If you want to look at ifixit.com, iMac Intel Repair - iFixit, you can find the procedure there.

In my opinion it will be less expensive to use an external third party optical drive.
 
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Thanks very much for your reply. Where do I buy the third party optical drive for my iMac?
 
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Amazon, ebay, or if you prefer a local brick and mortar store, Best Buy, and possibly WalMart.v

Just make sure they are compatible with the OS version your iMac is using.
 
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YOU are very helpful, ferrarr, and I greatly appreciate your assistance. I will try to complete the repair. Charles
 
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(was going to suggest Apple USB SuperDrive, but apparently it's not compatible with Macs that have built-in optical drives??? That seems crazy to me.)
 

Slydude

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When looking for optical drives keep the following in mind:

1. Some drives are powered by a usb cable that plugs into two USB ports. If you don't have enough ports to spare that second USB port the drive may or may not work with a USB hob. If the hub has a separate electrical power cord it will probably work with the optical drive.

2. Many of the drives that use two usb connections come with an external power cord for a few dollars more. I usually buy this cord. With it the DVD drive often works with only one USB connection. The external power cord is also helpful if for some reason the USB ports aren't providing enough power.

×
 

chscag

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Reference to what Slydude posted above....

Most portable Macs; MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro do not supply the same amount of current (power) to an external optical drive as does an iMac, Mac Mini, or a Mac Pro. Keeping a dual USB cable handy is a good idea. Of course if you can find a self powered optical drive that's even better.
 

IWT


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was going to suggest Apple USB SuperDrive, but apparently it's not compatible with Macs that have built-in optical drives

That is correct. If your Mac has an internal optical optical drive, then you have to purchase a non-Apple Optical Drive. Amazon is full of them at a fraction of the price of Apple's SuperDrive.

Ian
 
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When looking for optical drives keep the following in mind:

1. Some drives are powered by a usb cable that plugs into two USB ports. If you don't have enough ports to spare that second USB port the drive may or may not work with a USB hob. If the hub has a separate electrical power cord it will probably work with the optical drive.

2. Many of the drives that use two usb connections come with an external power cord for a few dollars more. I usually buy this cord. With it the DVD drive often works with only one USB connection. The external power cord is also helpful if for some reason the USB ports aren't providing enough power.

×

I have one that uses a USB cable with dual-connecctions like that but it works fine in my experience just using one. However, I only use it for reading DVD/Blu-Ray discs. If I was actually burning discs, especially at higher speeds, I think using both would be especially important to maintain those speeds. For writing, I definitely would not use a hub since you'd effectively be only using one port.

Generally speaking, I don't think you can go wrong with either Pioneer or LG models. I've had a slim portable LG model for several years now, first used on a 2010 iMac, now on my 2019 iMac, and it's worked flawlessly all this time.
 

krs


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I have used a pretty inexpensive Asus tray-loading DVD burner for 8 years now on a number of different Macs.
Continues to work perfectly.
Also came with a dual USB cable but I always only needed to use one.
 

Slydude

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@LB You're right. That second cable does help when actually burning discs. IIRC I tried it with my burner using only one USB connection and as you suspected high speed burning fails. It's possible that this fails on some burners and not others.
 

krs


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@LB You're right. That second cable does help when actually burning discs. IIRC I tried it with my burner using only one USB connection and as you suspected high speed burning fails. It's possible that this fails on some burners and not others.

Also depends which type of USB ports the Mac has.
A USB 2.0 port is spec'd to deliver a maximum of 500ma whereas a USB 3.0 port is spec'd to deliver almost twice as much at 900ma.
With even my old 2012 Mini I only need to use one USB port for the external burner since these are USB 3.0 ports.
I assume with an older Mac with only USB 2.0 ports I would need to use two USB ports for the burner.
 

Slydude

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I've tried both USB 2 and 3 ports and the USB 3 ports usually provide enough power. For whatever reason though my 2015 iMac sometimes balks at powering the drive from one USB lead. Perhaps the issue is that this is a Blu-ray burner. It isn't an issue for me since I bought a power cord with it knowing I would need it with the MB Pro.
 

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