CD-R or RW & DVD combo drives ....

[Savatage]

How long have these types of drives been around ? Built a system for a coworker and he wants one of these combos. What are the good ones or where might find more info on these ?

Thanks.

 

[Savatage]

top....

 

[Mday]

they have been on the market for a few months.

i highly recommend against such a unit as the only ROM drive on the PC.

normal usage of a CD-ROM drive does sequentially decrease the life of the drive. so expect to buy a new one every few years depending on use (can be as much as one drive every year).

now imagine the wear on a DVD drive or a CDRW drive which cost several times a CD-ROM drive itself. and the combo drive which costs even more than an equivalent DVD and CDRW drive (that's 2 drives).

it is great for system integrators who want to save some hassle and charge their customers even more or your casual user... but for people like me, and other power users, these drives are a waste of time. and remember, faster DVD-ROM and CDRW drives come out every so often, so imagine the replacement factor which power users undergo.

 

[Scifione]

Ditto, Mday!
I have very little use for one of these drives.

I have yet to see a CD-ROM drive wareout in a year, but that does not mean it does not happen with extreme use or with crappy drives.

I see one more point in these drives, upgrading a minitower. If someone has a minitower with 2*5.25 bay and 1*3.5 inch bay ext., You may find a need for such a drive.

 

[Mday]

well, of course. system integrators would love giving out micro or minitowers. it cuts costs and is less of a bulky item to handle. it is another reason why system integrators would love these drives.

of course one would need a reader for copying CDs "legally."

 

[Savatage]

This was my feeling to on these types of drives. I told him I'd look into it for him but( had told him before ) to go with each drive on it's own. Thanks for the info.