[gostan]

I am thinking of upgrading my ibook 800 to the new 12' Powerbook. I cannot decide whether to stay with combo drive or go for the superdrive. I do not presently have dvr burning capabilities but it would be nice to have. I understand that I will have a slower cd burner if I choose the superdrive. If I would not notice slower cd burning speed, the extra $200 investment seems worth it to me. Any real life thoughts on this subject?

[braindoc]

To me the superdrive option would be the only reason to get the new 12" PB over the iBook.

[aliasfox]

The burner in the combo drive is 24x, I believe. The superdrive has a burner speed of 8x- the real world difference won't be as dramatic, but where you can burn a full length CD in the Combo in about 4 mins, the 8x burner will take 8-10 mins- it will be very noticeable.
Oh, and it's more than $200 difference. It's far easier to avoid paying sales tax on a stock PB12" that's mail-ordered through an out of state reseller. Apple, because it has offices in every state, makes you pay sales tax. Based on NJ tax, the tax on a superdrive PB12" is $120, so the overall increase in cost is $320, or likely more (unless you live in Delaware or Oregon).
I think you can almost buy an external DVD-RW for that money, or even a Sony DVD+R/RW-R/-RW unit.