Earlier this week I noticed that one of the SuperDrives in my Mac Pro was acting funky. It saw any burned DVD as blank. I have *two SuperDrives in the computer so using the second drive confirmed the issues with the first. A call to Apple was in order. Normally, that's not painful but as with any customer service you've got to navigate their phone menu and then hold until a rep is available. Want to avoid all that?
Apple now has a web page called,
Apple Expert. Any time, 24/7, you can log in with your Apple ID, and choose a convenient time
for them to call you. I requested 9:15am and an Applecare rep called me the next morning at 9:15am exactly. The Apple customer service experience was always very good but this kicks it up a few more notches.
The next day I had a new SuperDrive under a warranty exchange and I'll ship the defective one back to them in the same box.
*In case you are wondering, why have two SuperDrives in a Mac Pro? Two speeds up burning & verifying time. I often have to get multiple DVD's out the door, into FedEx, and make backups. You can run two SuperDrives at once (just duplicate
Toast.) Having the two drives in the computer also saves desktop space, frees up power outlets, and doesn't tax the Firewire/USB bus at all.
