We have been using MacBook Airs, which do not have built-in optical drives, since last summer and the majority of our instructors like them.

A little background:
16 13” MBAs, early 2014
8 13” MBPs, mid 2012
4 Apple SuperDrives

We check out laptops to instructors for use in class, which means the computers are most often used for powerpoint presentations and showing clips from YouTube and other websites.  All of our classrooms have built-in DVD players, nonetheless we keep a few available for check-out just in case.  There are some instructors who prefer to show DVDs from the laptop because the software gives them greater control over playback than the DVD players.

Our instructors seem to prefer the MBAs because they are so much lighter and boot up so much more quickly than the old MBPs we were using.  The handful of external drives that we purchased have been sufficient for the odd occasion when an instructor needs/wants one.  We did also retained a few of the older model MBPs, which a few of our instructors prefer.

Unless your situation is very different from ours, you should not need one external drive per laptop.  Taking into account the additional usage by the Language Center staff, our ratio is closer to 5:1 and has worked well for us, but your milage may vary.

Sincerely,
Rod Edwards

Multimedia Specialist & Projects Manager
University of Chicago Language Center
5811 S Ellis Avenue
Cobb Hall, Suite 211
Chicago, IL 60637
(773) 702-9772


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