Remote Disc: no movie playback, no HD support, and everything else you need to know
By Ryan Block 
posted January 24th 2008 2:45PM
posted January 24th 2008 2:45PM
- The Remote Disc installer is 42.3MB for Mac, and claims to take almost 86MB of space. (Apple let us know it shouldn't take anywhere near that, and the installer app overestimated the space required.) Also, expect a restart of the host Mac. (Windows, ironically, does not require a restart to begin sharing media.)
- Although you can disable the "ask before allowing others to use my drive" sharing option, if you have not done so users will be prompted to ask permission to use the drive at each connection. (Also, there's no client whitelist or anything like that, it's all or none for asking permission.) If you've already asked permission on that drive and disc and stop using it, you have to ask permission again the next time (unless the host turns off the whole permission asking thing).
- Every time you ask permission as a Remote Disc client, the host gets a popup asking if it's cool to share your drive. You can, of course, accept or decline (but the only way to stop getting prompts is to turn off disc sharing).
- Ejecting the disc on the client side does not eject it on the host side.
- Ejecting it on the host side, however, gives a host-side prompt about the disc being in use. You can override and eject, however.
- To reinstall or boot from CD using Remote Disc, the host must use the installed Remote Install Mac OS X application. It's a fairly simple process, but sharing an install CD over a wireless network is asking for trouble. It took an absurd amount of time (nearly 10 minutes) to boot over 802.11g. You need bandwidth, so be sure to get on 802.11n or, preferably, wired (with the dongle).
- To remote boot from a shared CD, hold the option key while starting up. You'll be presented with a BIOS-level WiFi / network selection that looks surprisingly unpolished for Apple (but works with WPA and advanced WiFi crypto all the same)
- You can browse the file contents of DVD discs, but you cannot actually play that media back over the network. Apple let us know that this only applies to commercial DVD media, and you should be able to play back home-burned iDVD movies via Remote Disc.
- You can't rip DVDs over the network using a tool like Handbrake.
- You can't browse a music CD or listen to tracks. Don't even think about burning a disc remotely.
- Remote Disc appears only to be able to share CD / DVD drives and CD / DVD discs, not high capacity / HD optical drives.
- We tested sharing a regular DVD over an HD DVD drive, no luck. Data CDs on DVD drives worked fine though.
First, I have two machines with Vista. They constantly give me fits.
I bought an iPhone - some would say It's more of a "I've got a lot of money and want something fun/light/way-too-trendy to carry around when I want to browse the internets" - but you know what? It really works. It is a great phone and fantastic device.
Next up is a MacBook Air. My Dell has been spotty at best (it is brand new) and hampers my productivity. I haven't used a DVD in weeks. I can rip DVDs on my PC to an iTunes compatible format (I have 35GB of movies done for my iPHone). Same with CDs. Of course Apple doesn't want me to burn a cd, they want me to plug my iPhone into my car and play music from it. That's not a bad idea, I don't do it, but it'd be ok.
My point is, things are changing. DVDs are going to become less important. You might start getting apps on high capacity memory sticks. Who knows? But this is far from a deal-killer. If I need the SuperDrive, I'll buy it. Why not, apparently i just want to show off anyway.
What about using Leopard/iChat's screen-sharing to rip a disc and then transfer it over? Or ARD?
Also, doesn't Toast already allow you to burn discs from other computers?
I'm an Apple user since 1990 (have used a desktop Windows XP PC at home more than my PowerBook at the time from 2000 - 2005) so I'm clearly Apple biased. But I have to say a laptop without user changeable battery AND without a disc drive is pretty useless to me. Sticking to the topic in this post, the remote disc function seems to be merely a ploy to overcome people's doubts about buying this product. And when they find out how annoying it can be then they will plunk down more money to buy the external MBA drive. (Which will be quite useless when they give up on the MBA due to the much too small hard drive and the lack of an extra battery.) Although people will buy this product because of the convincing aesthetics and the awe inspiring effect on other people, to me this smells a lot like the Apple TV of 2007. Maybe next year Steve will announce that they've listened to people and now believe to've done it right: with a user replaceable battery and a disc drive.
Another thing: Why would anyone want to watch a movie over remote disc?
Scenario 1:
Put DVD in Desktop w/ 24" screen.
Sit on couch next to desktop and watch DVD on 13.3" screen?
Scenario 2: Bring MBA + Dell Inspiron on business trip.
Boot up Dell and insert DVD (once you reach 30k feet)
Put Dell in seat pocket next to skymall catalog
Watch DVD on MBA?
-----
What am I missing here - why in the world would someone want to use an ultra-portable with a small screen to watch something that needs to be loaded into a bigger machine within 50-100 feet?
Isn't the remote disc thing more of a temporary band-aid or extremely situational feature than an external DVD/CD drive?
Not saying Apple is right, or people shouldn't be complaining, but in what real-world situation would someone need to watch a DVD loaded into another computer (assuming the other computer has a bigger screen, better speakers, etc.)
so basically it is totally useless.
Mental note (based on my Experience with Airport Express):
DO NOT POP MICROWAVE POPCORN WHILE WAITING FOR YOUR SYSTEM INSTALL TO FINISH! :)
So lets see...I use my SMB shares to share Windows drives to my Mac and vice versa, and even THAT's more functional than this piece of half-assed crap?
Brilliant.
A lot of HP, sun, and other servers can boot off a CD-ROM on your pc using just a web browser and a small java applet, not a 86 mbyte app. No fuss, no problems. The disc is seen as local for the pc. And works with windows, linux, or whatever you throw at it. And this is whith the server still off, just plugged in. I'll give in on the fact that bios based WiFi is pretty nifty though... but with no wired ethernet, they HAD no choice!
Ugh...deal breaker for me since it's starting to sound too much like a MacSoft product. Canceled my order and will wait for the upgrade to the MBPs.
howzitjoe
www.hawaiianpod.com
Lack of DVD and CD audio support is kinda odd, because it obviously means you don't have very direct access to the drive. However, if DVD and CD audio are the only functionality that is missing, you can just grab VLC. I've been using it lately for streaming DVDs from my laptop to a desktop which lacks a DVD drive. Works perfectly fine over 802.11g.
Wait, you can't do shit and it "works exactly as advertised"?
I'd like to play movies.
I'd like to rip movies especially.
I'd love to burn discs.
Borderline useless.
And how many phones does Nokia have available for sale? You seem to forget that almost every service provides a free Nokia phone with a 2 year service contract.
Something I've not seen mentioned by Apple or anyone else, but what about game playing? Almost every game I have for the mac requires the installation DVD to be in the optical drive in order to launch. I'm not optimistic that there is a workaround for the Air without the USB drive.
Well, without A USB drive.
Well, the hardware in the Air is already so slow you'll never even want to play a game in the first place.
You can use the separate drive that Apple sells to play and rip cd's and dvd's right?
What would be Apple's reason to allow that kind of use through a separate drive BUT NOT through a wireless drive?
How would that make them more money?
Can the tester confirm that, on the MBA, you can share a drive if you login to a computer over the network? Same as on other macs?
No movie playback.
But can you rip music-cd?
If so, it would seem to me this app is just an specific addition to the array of Sharing options in OS X:
To share a drive, without sharing your whole computer (which wasn;t possible before).
And Vista support is a logical added feature.
Plus it will let you boot up from a remote CD.
(Or could you always do that if you login over the network?)
I understand that you CAN play a dvd that you've authored yourself, correct?
Sounds like it's region thing then.
Does anyone know more than I do about the region-obligations that hardware manufacturers need to comply with in order to use dvd-drives?
Does it allow streamed playback over a network?
I doubt it.
I think you need to be able to read a dvd in order to rip it with handbrake (you can't rip dvd's from another region than your drive, at least I never could)
The only thing that doesn't seem logical that I read here, is that you can't rip cd's from a shared drive.
Can the tester confirm this?
But Apple does it the right way. Disc based media will be just history with growing bandwith for downloads (legal or illegal), web services to share data, devices to carry the data, and time capsule/home servers to backup the data. So what you need these plastic discs for?
Windows Home Server is a mess anyway.. Apple should start some competition there too..
Well ironic probably isn't the right word for it. But what I think Ryan is getting at is one of the big bonuses Apple and their fans tout is that their machines rarely need rebooting when installing software, yet this software does need a reboot on their machines yet the supposedly reboot-heavy platform in Windows runs perfectly fine without one.
I think it's remarkable that Apple missed the boat on this one. It makes me think of when Gates said that Microsoft takes chances on bringing products to the market and were not afraid of striking out on some. Apple is starting to do this as well now. Apple TV bombed, hopefully Take 2 will do better. MacBook Air seems to be a swing and a miss unless you like "form" so much you don't mind "function" in my opinion. The fact that Remote Disc makes you restart your Mac but not your Windows PC is just the icing on the cake. I seriously need to see an updated MacBook Pro or iPhone sometime soon to smooth things over.
Wow, the Macbook Air sucks big ones. Apple screwed this one up badly.
To Y and TeamJ,
Engadget did post about Nokia's earnings. They actually posted about it before the Remote CD piece.
Don't hate
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/24/nokia-grabs-40-of-global-handset-market-nets-2-6-billion-in-q/
Ever since Apple moved into entertainment and made ITunes,IPod and IPhone their priority, Apple have been losing direction in their core business, Macintosh. They maybe making more money, but they are slowly losing respect. I can see the dark days of the mid 1990's creeping back, if they carry on like this.
Some women know that to squeeze into that dress, some things have got to go. Like breathing.
But at least the Macbook Air is thin and sexy. Isn't that all that matters, after all?
Some women know that to squeeze into that dress, some things have got to go. Like breathing.
But at least the Macbook Air is thin and sexy. Isn't that all that matters, after all?
Some women know that to squeeze into that dress, some things have got to go. Like breathing.
But at least the Macbook Air is thin and sexy. Isn't that all that matters, after all?
People, people.
Little perspective here.
The Air is not, and never was, meant to be a primary computer. It is a way to take what you need with you away from your desk. The Remote Disk function is geared for LOW LEVEL installs. Any other functionality it has is solely for the "Stupid User" to install stuff. I would agree that there needs to be a "white list", but this lack is probably for the "Stupid User" as a it would mask security holes to be exploited.
Why would you want to watch a movie on your secondary computer anyway? I know, I know, there is a list of reasons, all of which justify either getting the stupid drive, or going with iTunes. Seriously, did you think that Fox's announcement that they are releasing an iTunes copy of movies on the DVD was a coincidence? This is just more of Apple helping to push aspects of the industry forward. If you don't like it, don't get an Air.
No user replaceable battery? A pain I know, but this is just another indication that the Air is more of and iPod than a MacBook. Form over function, have a problem with that, get a MacBook.
Stop btching about how it doesn't work how it should, because it does, it just doesn't do what you want. You have choices, stop being sheep and make them.
"To remote boot from a shared CD, hold the option key while starting up. You'll be presented with a BIOS-level WiFi / network selection that looks surprisingly unpolished for Apple (but works with WPA and advanced WiFi crypto all the same)"
Um, have you tried that with any other Mac? The pics you have look WAY better than my G5, and try it on a BW G3, that is blocky. Remember, that is all stored in the hardware, and meant to run with bare minimum resources available. Be happy it is a GUI at all. Windows boxes can't say that, and that is in software.
Just to state the obvious:
The people who regularly visit engadget and the people who would actually buy a MBA are two completely different sets of people.
Joey
I LOLed, and I am an Apple fanboy (read: I own two Macs).
As for Remote Disc:
- Can't rip DVDs: so what, rip it on the host and copy the files
- Can't listen to music CD: ditto
- Can't burn: copy your files over to the host, burn 'em there. Slightly more work though.
- Can't use HD-DVD drives even with CD/DVD media: this is bad, MBA aspirants who have computers with HD-DVD or BluRay drives should hope that a software update will take care of this.
- Can't watch commercial DVDs: Now that's a real bummer! They should rather fix that ASAP.
It seems Remote Disc is supposed to let you do anything at all with the MacBook air, and not all you want. For serious use, Apple expects you to buy the USB SuperDrive. I'm waiting for the next-gen MacBook Pro instead, it may be comparatively thick and heavy but it has all the high-speed connectors and the high performance that the MacBook air lacks.
Oh well, my comment refers to Jeff's "cancel or allow?" post. I think I clicked the wrong button somewhere.
i'm sure if you head on over to engadget mobile, they'll have more information for you. :)
hello everybody somebady know of where can i download remote disc or DVD or Cd Sharing Setup please THX bye
If you have Toast it has the ability to burn to a remote disc drive and has done for the past few years.. Works fine on the Macbook Air.