OK, for some unknown reason my MBP (13" 2009) model has started spitting out CDs/DVDs etc without reading them (or rather it seems to attempt to read them and then spits them out). They never show up in Finder and don't seem to get mounted.

Any ideas what might be going on here?

Same happens to me.

Not sure what causes it but I found a dodgy fix that works for me.

I have to place my thumb under the centre of the drive and push it upwards.

Doing that makes it read the drive and then it works with no problems

Not very technical but it works.

Macs they just work...

On a side not, I do hope you find an effective fix.

Heh, yeah. Quality Control has been a bit of an issue this past few years. It was fine when they screwed the things together in the US and Ireland. Now it's outsourced to the Far East and things slip.

I had the same problem. In the end I had to buy a new drive from the states, and got hammered for import duty. Probably because the volumes are so low now that they can spend more time checking the value of parcels.

Well in the end I got a new optical drive fitted in the Apple Store in St. David's. I don't think I'll ever buy a Mac without Applecare, the repair would have cost me £94 outside of warranty!

I am still up in the air about Applecare. Some say it is excellent. I had it for my first powerbook and it paid for itself when I needed a new internal drive. The second time I had one issue, a dodgy Superdrive which I got fixed for less than the Applecare premium. The battery was covered even though I was not covered by Applecare because of the faulty batch of batteries. Next year I will be buying a couple of iMacs and will probably get Applecare, as it seems to be good value for iMacs, Though not so sure about laptops.

£200 for a MBP that cost £899....its a bit steep.

May get it for my iphone though as it's only £60

Yes the laptop AppleCare is overpriced, but if you use the phone in facilities it can be well worth it. When I switched to macs I did not know anyone else who could give me support, so for those three years it was useful. I am now a member of a MAc User Group and so have other options. Though would definitely consider Apple care again.