Any need for two drives?

[Hardball]

I currently have a Toshiba DVD Rom and an old Sony 10x cd burner. I just picked up a Plextor PX-716A DVD/CD burner. Is there any reason to keep it a two drive setup (Plextor and Toshiba DVD rom) or can I just run the Plextor alone and let it do everything?

 

[shortylickens]

As slow as your old burner is, get rid of it.

I have a TDK burner that runs at 52x32x52. My DVD burner wont do CD's nearly that fast. So its worth keeping around for a little while.

 

[Hardball]

The old burner is getting tossed. Do I need to keep the DVD ROM or can that go to?

 

[SeTeS]

If you plan to do any dvd copying, then keeping the dvdrom can be a good thing.

For example, with a single drive setup, you'll have to put the source disc in the burner, hang around while it rips the dvd, then put a blank dvd in for it to burn to. W/ a dual setup, put the source in the dvdrom and the blank in the burner and walk away.

Other than that, and the occasional cd copying, a single drive would be fine.

 

[airfoil]

I would keep the DVD ROM as the primary reader and use the DVD burner to write.

 

[Navid]

I have a single DVD writer that reads and writes CDs too (NEC 3500).
I don't burn too much. I only use it for backups.
By having only one drive, there is more room in the case for cleaning up the wiring to improve cooling. The additional drive would add some heat too.
Only keep the other drive if you plan to do lots of disk-to-disk copying.

 

[Hurricane Andrew]

I have a DVD/RW (Plextor 712A) and a CD/RW (Lite-On LTR52246S) on my main rig, and a Lite-On LTR40125S CD/RW along with a Toshiba DVD-ROM SD1202 on my kids rig. I really like the Toshiba, it reads very well (albeit slowly) and has really been a workhorse for me, since I've had it since '98. I like to have two optical drives to "share the load". If you have a free IDE connection, and room in the case, I'd keep it. You can always remove it later.