external CD drive for iMac 2020

[Nancy Withrow]

I have new iMac 20" 2020 Retina, Catalina 10.15.7 and wanting an inexpensive external CD DVD drive. I'm looking at Amazon's Amicool External drive ($24.99 minus 20% coupon) and some reviewers say that some new iMacs require come sort of Media Software be downloaded in order to use any external CD drive. I looked at my system software and I don't see such an app. Does anyone know if I would have to download any software in order to use an ext. CD drive - and if so - where do I download from? I don't plan on any heavy use of the CD drive - just want to have one available. I"m sorry if I posted this on wrong forum. I searched using "external CD drive for iMac" and nothing resulted from my search.

UPDATE: Well, after reading more about external CD players, I'm reading more info that NO software or driver is needed to use most of the external drives I see on Amazon - it's just that the drive does not show up on newer iMacs (without an internal CD/DVD Drive) until a disc is inserted. I really want an external drive to mostly be able to install software onto my iMac 27". So if anyone has any additional info or advice about the Amicool external drive, you can disregard my posting.

 

[harryb2448]

That is the way it works Nancy, nothing on the finder until a disc is inserted, and has been for many, many years. Today most software comes via downloads. I use a cheap Samsung with two USB connectors to be powered from the ports and not mains.

 

[RadDave]

That is the way it works Nancy, nothing on the finder until a disc is inserted, and has been for many, many years. Today most software comes via downloads. I use a cheap Samsung with two USB connectors to be powered from the ports and not mains.

@ Nancy - as usual, Harry is spot on - I have an Apple SuperDrive purchased in 2013 and still use on my laptops and iMac; pretty much 'plug and play', BUT for the external drive to show up in Finder, an optical disc needs to be inserted - no big issue (if you remember). Also agree that using a physical CD to install software is pretty much dead - in fact, I cannot remember the last time I installed software from a CD? Most installations, upgrades, updates, etc. are DLs from the cloud. When do I use my CD/DVD drive - well mainly to rip music from my CDs and to burn MP3 (or other) DLs to a disc to have a hard copy. Dave

 

[Nancy Withrow]

That is the way it works Nancy, nothing on the finder until a disc is inserted, and has been for many, many years. Today most software comes via downloads. I use a cheap Samsung with two USB connectors to be powered from the ports and not mains.

@ Nancy - as usual, Harry is spot on - I have an Apple SuperDrive purchased in 2013 and still use on my laptops and iMac; pretty much 'plug and play', BUT for the external drive to show up in Finder, an optical disc needs to be inserted - no big issue (if you remember). Also agree that using a physical CD to install software is pretty much dead - in fact, I cannot remember the last time I installed software from a CD? Most installations, upgrades, updates, etc. are DLs from the cloud. When do I use my CD/DVD drive - well mainly to rip music from my CDs and to burn MP3 (or other) DLs to a disc to have a hard copy. Dave

Thanks for the info. I, too, thought software installs mostly all came as downloads. However, I'm considering buying Adobe Photoshop Illistrator for Catalina as I've used it for years on my older iMac OS El Capitan. It's just $99 for either a download OR on a CD. I just feel safer relying on a "physical" thing (CD) than a download for some reason. I'm assuming that for upgrades and updates, I'll be able to download them even if I've done the original app installation from a CD. If I'm wrong about that - someone let me know, please. Also, I'd like a CD/DVD player to be able to play my old Elvis CDs (yes, I know that dates me, lol) while I'm working on computer.

 

[chscag]

Nancy:

I actually prefer downloads to the CDs. But if you like, you can store your favorite downloads on a CD or DVD that you make. What I do is store my downloaded programs on a separate external hard drive that I keep for that purpose. Nowadays, a 1 TB external hard drive is very affordable and that will hold a lot of downloaded programs.

 

[techiesteve]

That is the way it works Nancy, nothing on the finder until a disc is inserted, and has been for many, many years. Today most software comes via downloads. I use a cheap Samsung with two USB connectors to be powered from the ports and not mains.

Harry is correct, and I too use a similar cheap Samsung optical drive bought some time ago, and also an eBay USB slim OD enclosure with an OD previously removed from a 15" MBP when it was replaced by a HD/SSD carrier. I prefer downloads, my external OD's rarely get any use now, but they are kept just in case they might be needed.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

... I'm considering buying Adobe Photoshop Illistrator for Catalina as I've used it for years on my older iMac OS El Capitan. It's just $99 for either a download OR on a CD.

Adobe no longer sells Photoshop or Illustrator for a flat fee. They now only sell them via subscription for $31.50/month or $240/year for each product.

Save 40% and get 20+ apps including Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, and Acrobat Pro. (Substance 3D apps are not included.) Ends Mar 3. First year only.

Discover Adobe Creative Cloud membership plans and monthly prices for our full suite of applications including Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Illustrator, and more.

www.adobe.com

Many users are very unhappy about this, and have moved to these very similar, excellent products that you can still purchase for a very reasonable flat fee:

Affitity Photo (currently on sale for $25 which is half off)

Best Photo Editing Software | Affinity Photo

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affinity.serif.com

Affinity Designer (currently on sale for $25 which is half off)

Graphic Design & Illustration Software | Affinity Designer

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There are free downloadable demos available of each Affinity product.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

I bought this External drive late 2020 to use with my various Macs that no longer after an optical drive and it's been working fine.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GR1DWLX/?tag=macforums0e4-20

No software required, just insert disc and wait for it to show up in Finder. I have not tried burning anything since I gave up on that a long time ago.