One optical drive or two?

[Michael]

Coming down to the final assembly operation on my new computer. I bought a Sony DVD Writer combo drive already. I'm wondering is there's a good reason to have a DVD-ROM drive there as well? I guess it would make CD copying a little easier and maybe save a little wear and tear on the writer, but I can't see how that really would make that big a difference.

Any suggestions?

thanks,

Michael

 

[Bobthelost]

It does save on wear and tear, but i wouldn't bother. It may mean you'll have to swap your DVD RW out in two years rather than three, but in two years you'll be starting to think about HD-DVD and blueray anyway.

Get two if you really want, but it's not all that important.

 

[LED]

I use 3 and for a reason other then what you have stated some writers have different capabilities...but if you were to add I would add another writer as you can also burn more then 1 disc @ a time, unless of course you already have an optical drive .

 

[hclarkjr]

i have 4 hooked up - plextor 716a DVD-RW, benq 1640 DVD-RW, LITEON COMBO DRIVE DVD-ROM\CD-RW and a plextor premium CD-RW

 

[Bobthelost]

*wonders if he'd find the same user names on cdfreaks*

 

[hclarkjr]

guilty as charged here

 

[Bobthelost]

Good site, must spend more time there.

 

[imported_rod]

Originally posted by: Michael
I bought a Sony DVD Writer combo drive already.

Isn't a combo drive is when it can burn CD's but only read DVD's?

Anyway, I have two drives for two reasons:
1) Reduces wear and tear on my burner.
2) Two drives look better than one.

RoD

 

[Blain]

Two DVD burners for me. :thumbsup:

 

[phantom404]

Originally posted by: Blain
Two DVD burners for me. :thumbsup:

Same here. I usually always rip and burn 2 dvds at a time. I used to only burn one until i found out nero could use the same file to burn 2 dvds with at the same time.

 

[Michael]

rod,

It can burn DVDs and CDs. Sony 810A which is essentially the same as the BenQ 1640.

----

I rarely burn CDs now on my existing computer. I'm having a hard time imagining burning 2 DVDs at once. Seems that there's a fair number here that do and suggest more than one optical drive. I know that some older copy protection schemes used to have issues with CD Burners, but I haven't run into that for years.

I'm thinking of a DVD Rom drive. That way I could watch a movie while burnging something. The prices are not that different between a DVD Burner and just a ROM drive, so it may make sense in the end to just get another Burner, but I still am having trouble seeing when I would burn 2 disks at once.

Thanks for the advice so far,

Michael

 

[LED]

Micheal the LG Opticals do DVD RAM or you can do what I did and get the Pioneer DVD-RW DVR110D and there a BIOS flash to make it compatible with burning DVD RAM discs

 

[Tostada]

I don't think there's any reason to get a 2nd drive anymore. When the burner is only $40 to begin with, it doesn't matter how much stress you put on it. If you get two drives, you certainly might as well get two of the same burner so you can burn two things at once, but you've gotta be pretty hardcore for that to be useful. Seeing as modern 16X DVD+RWs can burn a full DVD in 6 min flat, you've gotta be doing some serious mass-producing to want two.

If you do a lot of exact copies of DL discs, I can see wanting two drives, since it takes over 15 min to burn a DL disc, and because with an exact copy you can just set it up to read from one drive and write to the other then leave. I guess that would also be true if you do a lot of duplicating your own single-layer stuff.

 

[Michael]

LED,

When I say DVD-ROM, I mean one with no burning options, just a player. Less expensive than a burner. I guess if I want 2 burners, I should get exactly the same as my first one?

thanks,

Michael

 

[kyparrish]

I have 1 right now, and preferred my rig when I had 2.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: Michael
LED,

When I say DVD-ROM, I mean one with no burning options, just a player. Less expensive than a burner. I guess if I want 2 burners, I should get exactly the same as my first one?

thanks,

Michael

Burners are fifty bucks Canadian for a decent brand up here. It doesn't make financial sense to save $10 by buying a reader.

I have a dual-layer, dual-format DVD burner in each of my main machines.

- M4H

 

[KoolDrew]

If you want to do disc-to-disc copying pick up another DVD-ROM.

 

[Michael]

M4H,

Not sure what the prices in a Third World country have to do with it (just kidding, I'm Canadian too).

I actually already have one burner already (Sony 810A which is the same as the BenQ 1640 just a little more expensive but with a better software bundle). The question is 2 burners or a ROM and a burner.

The burner I bought costed around $50 US (I live in Singapore right now). There are less expensive burners, but the BenQ 1640/Sony 810A seemed to get very good reviews. ROM only is certainly less expensive, but the difference isn't huge. I've never made 2 copies at once before on any of my existing machines, but I have copied from one disk to another before (home movie VCDs). From what I can tell, many copy programs use the HD as a staging ground before copying to a disk.

Michael

 

[DBSX]

The question is 2 burners or a ROM and a burner.

I think the answer is still to get a second burner if you feel the need. Unless money is that tight that the ~$10 or so is a big deal it just isn't worth it IMO to buy a reader. If you do disc-to-disc copies (you can skip the hard drive step in most cases) often times burners make better readers. When I needed a replacement DVD drive, I spent $55 to buy a burner just because. it didn't make sense for me to save a few bucks, plus I figured if one burner went kaput, I'd still have one, no waiting. I have never burned more than one CD/DVD at a time, and rarely do disc-to-disc copies. I don't need two burners, but it didn't make sense for me to buy just a reader. You don't need identical burners, that doesn't matter.

Plus, I agree two looks better than one.

\Dan