POLL: Do you have a DVD-ROM in your computer?

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acemcmac

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
13,712
1
0
Two, I have a Samsung 52x24x52 with 16x Combo and a Pioneer16x40 slot, the pair of which I love more than I have ever loved a woman... :beer:
 

yukichigai

Diamond Member
Apr 23, 2003
6,404
0
76
Optorite DVD+/-RW. So like that thing, especially the HD-burn capability. Makes backing up my movies a snap.
 

Ikonomi

Diamond Member
Dec 19, 2003
6,056
1
0
Originally posted by: Svnla
DVD ROM and CDRW, separate drives.

Same. I don't have use for a DVD burner yet.

Of course, I don't have use for my DVD ROM drive, either, now that I can't play ANY movies that have... guh... what's the name of the technology? The thing that scrambles the signal if it's sent through S-Video, to stop people copying DVDs to VHS tapes. Well, whatever it's called, after some update (maybe Windows XP SP1, maybe a video driver update, I dunno), it prevents me from playing most quality DVDs on my computer, because of the TV out on my graphics card. It's annoying as hell.
 

murphy55d

Lifer
Dec 26, 2000
11,542
5
81
macrovision. and that's easily removed, especially if you have a decent amount of storage space on your system. just rip all your dvds to your hard drive(this will remove the copy protection), and play them back that way, thru your tv-out. :)
 

Ikonomi

Diamond Member
Dec 19, 2003
6,056
1
0
Originally posted by: murphy55d
macrovision. and that's easily removed, especially if you have a decent amount of storage space on your system. just rip all your dvds to your hard drive(this will remove the copy protection), and play them back that way, thru your tv-out. :)

Macrovision, thank you. :) And thank you for the workaround, too. The thing is, though, it gives me error boxes when I try to play DVDs on my monitor -- I don't even have a TV in here to use the video-out with. There's no S-Video cable connected to my card. I can use DVD Region Free to kill Macrovision, but that shouldn't be necessary, and the new trial sucks anyway.

Anyway... It's a matter for the tech support forum, I guess. I don't mean to derail Jeff's thread or nothin'.
 

Nohr

Diamond Member
Jan 6, 2001
7,302
32
101
www.flickr.com
Yup, I've had one since 8/04/01 when got a Toshiba 16x drive. It was free thanks to a class action lawsuit against Toshiba. Something about some fault in their drive controllers which could possibly cause data corruption, if I recall. Got a $100 Toshiba gift card out of it, and the DVD-ROM was the only Toshiba product I could find that I even remotely wanted. :p
 

Freejack2

Diamond Member
Dec 31, 2000
7,751
8
91
The problem is many computers still only have a cd-rom drive. Even today Dell still offers a cd-rom drive. All the computers that my company installs only have cd-rom drives. I suspect that will start to change though. On Newegg a 52x cd-rom is $17.99 shipped. A Dvd-rom is $29.99 shipped. The gap now is $12, I imagine it'll only get closer.
 

DurocShark

Lifer
Apr 18, 2001
15,708
5
56
Out of 4 computers in my house, 3 have DVD drives of some kind (ROM or burner). The 4th has NO optical drive.
 

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
0
No; there is little need for one. Back when I cared about computer hardware I bought a DVD rom (Jan of 99). I used it for a year or two. Correction: I had it installed for a year or two. Since then DVD continues to be very infrequently used for software distributions, and I watch movies on my TV, so I've had no desire to insert the thing back in my current computer build.
 

Turkey22

Senior member
Nov 28, 2001
840
0
0
I only got ine 3-4 months ago. The only reason I did then is my cd-rom died so I figured I might as well replace it with a dvd combo. Until more software is on dvd only people wont upgrade.