Amex Digital gets a little too inspired with new portable Super Multi Drive

Okay, so we definitely appreciate a slim little external DVD burner that cooperates with more than one computer (natively), but no matter how hard we try to peer around the similarities, there's just no denying the likeness here. Amex Digital's Portable Super Multi Drive is, for all intents and purposes, a direct rip of Apple's MacBook Air SuperDrive. The unit gets all the power it needs from a spare USB port, arrives in black or white, burns dual-layer DVD media at 10x (single-layer at 20x) and sports a palatable $89 sticker. Can you imagine what this thing would cost with actual R&D overhead factored in?

[Pochi @ Jul 9th 2008 10:03AM]

Nobody is allowed to make a white slot-loading external anymore. Only Apple, otherwise you're RIPPING THEM OFF! Thieves!

[Lamp @ Jul 9th 2008 10:31AM]

yes, I realize it is cool to hate apple, or anyone who supports apple,
but there is more likeness than the slot loading.

it looks exactly the same.

even a color other than *white* would have made this go over better.
and yes, i know there is a black option.

[ginnal @ Jul 9th 2008 12:33PM]

I swear to God engadget keeps proving it's allowing retards to write their stories.

[perfectionist @ Jul 9th 2008 1:04PM]

Whether you're attempting to support Engadget's comments, criticize them, or make a bad joke, take note that the MBA SuperDrive is silver anodized aluminum, not glossy white plastic.

[Rick wilson @ Jul 9th 2008 1:46PM]

They can make whatever color they want (although white never looks good on a non-apple product). Thing is, THEIR DESCRIPTION SPEC IS WRONG! There is no such thing as a 20X slimline drive, and when you look at their own media spec for DVD-R they only mention 8x write speed.

All optical drives require >800mAH therefore this drive breaks USB spec (which limits 500mAH).

The only way to do this without breaking spec and possibly shutting down your PC when you plug it in is this way (Li-Ion Battery integrated in for supplemental power) http://www.slidirect.com/product40-129.html

[YpoCaramel @ Jul 9th 2008 3:34PM]

I'd agree. I don't think a slot loading superdrive took a lot of R&D either, in any case.

[steve @ Jul 9th 2008 10:13AM]

so apple is having a patent on round edged bricks?

[Mr. B @ Jul 9th 2008 10:15AM]

I guess the rip off sucks, but if Apple did their drive with a proper IDE controller this product wouldn't have a reason to exist.

[giyad @ Jul 9th 2008 10:18AM]

If they can make the same thing for cheaper, im for it...

[Drew @ Jul 9th 2008 10:19AM]

Why is Engadget so obsessed with who rips off who?

Give it a rest please...

[patsy @ Jul 9th 2008 10:28AM]

No, just with who rips off Apple. Steve got himself a fine set of Guidos here, for free. They won't break your legs, but they sure will yelp like a mad gang of Chihuahuas at anything that looks remotely like an Apple product.

[cuban, the paris hilton of tech @ Jul 9th 2008 10:23AM]

wtf is this website about? applefanatism? u guys really dont want users to splash slotloading minimalistic electronics pictures into comments do you?
get real, go to africa help people, go to north korea and drink muddy water from the slums with the orphans.
stupid site with big money

[Lamp @ Jul 9th 2008 10:33AM]

yea!
why are you even on this site?
sell your computers and donate to orphans!

[thatrotierkid @ Jul 9th 2008 12:28PM]

"the paris hilton of tech"

...do i really need to elaborate further on the irony of your statement?

[OfflinePK @ Jul 9th 2008 10:23AM]

If for some reason I got a ultra-slim portable laptop without a disc drive that I could potentially snap in half...

I would totally buy this.

[Zak @ Jul 9th 2008 1:00PM]

If you can snap a laptop made of aluminum in half, I'd like to see it. In fact why don't you film it and put it on YouTube, I'm sure a lot of people would enjoy seeing you try to snap an aluminum laptop in half. Sometimes I have to wonder if people like you were born this stupid or whether you had to work at it.

[Laughing Man @ Jul 9th 2008 10:24AM]

Yes, it is stealing. Because Apple has never stolen an idea, concept, or design from ANYONE.....especially Linux or Unix. Apple is an untainted saint and you should not forget it.

[OfflinePK @ Jul 9th 2008 10:27AM]

Haha love the sarcasm couldn't have said it any better myself

+rank

[Samo @ Jul 9th 2008 10:46AM]

or, indeed Sony (Apple admitted it 'borrowed' the keyboard from big S, amongst other things).

btw, love the GITS:SAC reference!

[.jedi @ Jul 9th 2008 11:15AM]

Your ignorance is astounding. Apple's "Stealing" from Linux / Unix
Oh, you mean GNU? Like the stuff that says: "Use me, redistribute me, re-write me, do what you will with me!" As long as they provide the source? (Which they do)

Oh, and all that stuff that Apple contributes to the open source community?

I don't understand how you can think Apple is "stealing" from "Linux or Unix", when they are complying 100% with the Open Source community standards, and being a good active participant.

Yeah, try again when you have any idea what you're talking about.

[jorvay @ Jul 9th 2008 11:30AM]

Don't forget Creative Labs.

[OfflinePK @ Jul 9th 2008 11:30AM]

Awwwww someone sounds a little butt hurt...

and not from sitting on his iDildo

[jason @ Jul 9th 2008 11:50AM]

*cough* Xerox *cough* big big big one right there.


but for the GNU argument, you have it completely wrong.

The entire spirit of GNU is that it should be free, that is why it was started in the first place, to protect free software.

Now granted someone can take things from a GNU licensed software and redistribute it at a cost; however, it just goes against the entire flow and spirit of GNU.

it is like taking all the change out of the give a penny take a penny WITHOUT ever giving back.

If apple gave back, it would be ok by me. and they should have their OS open sourced too. At least if that is not open sourced

do not charge for freaking updates! that is crazy! sure it takes man power and time to make the updates, but damn, nearly every company gives free updates to software.

that would be like Sony charging me to update my PS3.

[jason @ Jul 9th 2008 12:04PM]

i would like to add that i do believe they have the right to charge for BIG greatly significant updates every 2-3 years. just not for performance enhancements. 10.6 should be free, they really havent added any new features.

[misch @ Jul 9th 2008 10:27AM]

nearly every external DVD drive of that size will look like a "jewel case" CD box. No surprise here.

[bootareen @ Jul 11th 2008 1:13AM]

have you seen all the variations in external hard drives?

[Jimmy @ Jul 9th 2008 10:29AM]

it says available on july 8th.. WHERE? i've just cancelled an order for a LaCie Portable DVD-RW and waiting to get this instead..

[trumpton @ Jul 9th 2008 10:31AM]

FFS Engadget. Give it a rest. Your Apple fanboydom has gone well beyond embarrassing now.

[bob @ Jul 9th 2008 10:45AM]

personally i think the companies with NO design team should be embarrassed, they will stop reporting on it when other tech companies stop ripping off apples designs, which doesn't look like any time soon, if your going to be annoyed with anyone it should be with these companies that instead of being original or innovative just copy.

[neihprome @ Jul 9th 2008 10:44AM]

The funny thing is Apple's drive is just a rip off of all the other external solutions that many ultraportable laptops have been offered with over the years. they just changed it to a slot load (ugh) and made it white and rounded the edges.

That's advancement!

[bootareen @ Jul 10th 2008 3:35PM]

@neihprome:

no one said apple invented the external slot loading drive. the funny thing is how this small little company blatantly ripped off the design from apple and no one can see it. you're minimising the crime here and setting up a strawman by saying, "oh, no one can make a slot loading drive with a low profile, sharp corners, and rounded edges now!"

[neihprome @ Jul 9th 2008 10:43AM]

I'm sure there's a LOT of R&D involved in putting a slot load drive in to a white box with a USB cable.

[TRAFFICBLOWS @ Jul 9th 2008 1:13PM]

Too bad they couldn't include an eSATA port next to that USB... I'd be all over this!

[aard @ Jul 9th 2008 10:49AM]

Well, compared to the fruity version, this one has an eject button. So, yeah, it's better than the "original" :D

[Adam @ Jul 9th 2008 10:57AM]

Well, it is significantly faster than anything apple is selling. I still dont get why they ship their stuff with 8x drives!

[MrvnMouse @ Jul 9th 2008 11:31AM]

Wow, that is sexy.

I cannot wait for the new mac mini to come out though first.

[Chris @ Jul 9th 2008 11:32AM]

This will be awesome for when I get my MSI Wind. Big emphasis on WHEN, but I know within3 months I'll get a netbook, and will want a drive for movies and copying files to go. And its only 90 bucks, perfect.

[Jason Burns @ Jul 9th 2008 11:32AM]

Where! Where! Me want one to go with the MSI Wind!

[disciple83 @ Jul 9th 2008 11:33AM]

Seriously, if you ask me, apple's superdrive looks a lot like my Iomega USB floppy drive. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=699098&CatId=287

Give it a rest, Apple isn't the only one with the notion that if you pull all the labels off an object, make it small and compact and a solitary neutral color, it will sell...That's called minimalism, and it is part of an entire contemporary movement in design. Get the hell over yourselves for thinking Apple is the end-all of anything. They're just a duechebag company that sells style for a premium, just like prada or coach, which are still just bags that hold your nasty habits, with a fancy label.

[disciple83 @ Jul 9th 2008 11:34AM]

Seriously, if you ask me, apple's superdrive looks a lot like my Iomega USB floppy drive. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=699098&CatId=287

Give it a rest, Apple isn't the only one with the notion that if you pull all the labels off an object, make it small and compact and a solitary neutral color, it will sell...That's called minimalism, and it is part of an entire contemporary movement in design. Get the hell over yourselves for thinking Apple is the end-all of anything. They're just a duechebag company that sells style for a premium, just like prada or coach, which are still just bags that hold your nasty habits, with a fancy label.

[disciple83 @ Jul 9th 2008 11:34AM]

double post, crap... sorry

[Jeff Lewis @ Jul 9th 2008 11:36AM]

You mean the horrendous R&D cost of looking through a handful of OEM DVD drive makers for a slim, slot loading DVD drive and using a CAD app to design a two part shell for a case that fits it?

Yeah... that would bankrupt most companies.

I've designed and specced electronic devices - it's really just not the huge issue most Mac fans seem to think it is.

[bootareen @ Jul 10th 2008 3:36PM]

and yet no one thought of doing that until apple. yeah, say how uncool it is to compare everything to apple products, but has everyone at engadget gone blind? the fact is that it looks exactly the same as the air's superdrive. design your own 2 piece cases in CAD if it's so easy for pete's sake.

[Das Boot @ Jul 9th 2008 11:53AM]

My papa always used to say "if it looks like clone and acts like a clone, it probably is a clone" and I guess it holds true to this. I'd by this simply because its cheaper and if you think hard enough and believe hard enough, you can convince yourself this is the apple's superdrive.

[epobirs @ Jul 9th 2008 11:55AM]

Jeff nailed. Apple did nothing but package an off the shelf item. The same factory producing Apple's drive is likely making minor variants for numerous other companies.

It's the same for most consumer network equipment. Companies like Linksys and Netgear do very little real R&D. They primarily take an OEM offering and customize it.

[Andrew @ Jul 9th 2008 12:08PM]

Except the Apple product does NOT work with any other PC or Mac except for the MacBook Air... It is clearly NOT a standard product.

However the the reason it does not work with other PCs is simply that Apple chose to give it a "special" controller.

[mikeg @ Jul 9th 2008 12:03PM]

@.jedi @ Jul 9th 2008 11:15AM


you do of course realize that Apple isn't taking GNU licensed products and redistributing them don't you?

Because then of course they would have to make the source code available for free as well, and this isnt happening.

Instead they took BSD licensed code (entirely different lisc) and closed sourced it.
This was the whole reason for using Darwin as a base.
It wasn't GNU
it was BSD.

[AnONeamus @ Jul 9th 2008 12:04PM]

Perhaps they were trying to match it to Macs? Macs like the Mini (and of course the Air) need something like this. Probably easier to sell to those markets if your product follows the same aesthetics. How is this a rip-off of an Apple design, when a external drive case that looks almost exactly like a Mac Mini isn't? It's an *alternative* to an official product, that's better (eject button, works on non-Air computers). That's good, remember...

[hardrockcamaro @ Jul 9th 2008 12:32PM]

It *is* a rip off of the Apple product.

Slimline drive mechanisms have been available for a long time, way before Apple came up with their slim external drive. Within a few months of Apple making such a product out of the long standing slim mechanisms, this comes along looking identical to the casual eye. Coincidence? Yeah right...

Apple make translucent blue computers, PC makers start making translucent blue computers. Apple make white glossy laptops, PC makers start making white glossy laptops.

While Apple certainly aren't innocent on the copying front (Xerox being a great example) since 1997 there has been way more copying of Apple, then the other way around.

[rlynd3 @ Jul 9th 2008 12:35PM]

@ Daren

Shut-up! and go write for cultofmac. This is an absolutely terrible post. Instead of focusing on the products actual strengths and weaknesses you hammer it for being a white square. Please pour just a little ounce of journalism into your work next time.