There's always the option of using an external optical drive. With the TB display you could simply plug it into one of the USB ports and have it docked on your

There's always the option of using an external optical drive. With the TB display you could simply plug it into one of the USB ports and have it docked on your desk ready to go. The slim/portable optical drives out there are no huge burden to stash away in your backpack. I think we're past the point where it makes much sense to build the optical drive into a device. To me it feels like carrying around my toaster all day because I might want to have some toast later. (I make toast more often than I use my optical drive actually)