Poll: Do you use optical drives in 2023?

[Shmee]

LOL... i guess when i start making no sense, you can probably change that to how do you know im over 80, oh wait.. what were we talking about?



My favorate usb flash software:
Rufus.
Yumi.
WiNToBootic

And other utilities for if you need FAT file structure for legacy devices.
HPUSBDisk utility from HP.
FAT32Formater

Rufus is good for somethings, and I liked YUMI, but now Ventoy seems to be the superior solution.

As for optical drives, I rarely use them anymore, but I do have a USB DVD RW external drive just in case.

 

[WelshBloke]

Rufus is good for somethings, and I liked YUMI, but now Ventoy seems to be the superior solution.

As for optical drives, I rarely use them anymore, but I do have a USB DVD RW external drive just in case.

Ventoy is great! I have a stick loaded up with a bunch of ISO just sitting in my stuff box! It's very handy for utility ISOs.
With secure boot turned off every thing obvs.

 

[Anasabdullah]

I don't see the point of using the optical drive with the current progress. If I need to exchange data, I use the internet or a flash drive

 

[Shmee]

Ventoy is great! I have a stick loaded up with a bunch of ISO just sitting in my stuff box! It's very handy for utility ISOs.
With secure boot turned off every thing obvs.

Also there is a feature in Ventoy where it can work with secure boot, supposedly. I haven't tested it myself, as I don't use secure boot. I have several external drives with Ventoy on them now. It is very easy to use and other stuff can on the drive as well.

I currently have at least one USB3 thumbdrive, an external Seagate 256GB SATA SSD in a USB 3.1 enclosure, and a Samsung 950 Pro 512GB in a USB 3.1 enclosure, all with Ventoy on them, along with ISOs and other things.

 

[A///]

the last time I used an optical drive was around 15 years ago. they're not useful anymore unless you're a niche archivist or have a bunch of old software not available as download and if not buy yourself a cheap 40 usb drive to play your plastic discs.

 

[Shmee]

Optical drives can still be useful when working on older computers that may have trouble with booting from a USB flash drive. Also, I have come across older computers where the USB wasn't able to be booted from properly, so I had to use a SATA or IDE optical drive instead.

 

[AndrewJacksonZA]

Optical drives can still be useful when working on older computers that may have trouble with booting from a USB flash drive. Also, I have come across older computers where the USB wasn't able to be booted from properly, so I had to use a SATA or IDE optical drive instead.

+1 on this.

I have 2x SATA DVD-RW and 1x USB DVD-RW in my main rig (I'm busy converting my DVD library to AV1) and I have one SATA DVD-RW in each of the other ones tottering around the house.

I also have a significant game collection on disk that I don't particularly feel like buying again on someone' store that one day will close and won't be able to be played because of the store DRM. (GOG #DRMFree FTW!)

 

[lenjack]

Yes. Probably 20 years old. I rarely need it, but I will continue to keep it installed. Of course, you need to be careful if you change your case, as you would need to remember to choose one, with a 5.25 inch external bay.

 

[BFG10K]

they're not useful anymore unless you're a niche archivist or have a bunch of old software not available as download...

Nonsense. A lot of people have boxed PC games, Bluray / DVD movies, or a music CD collection. That's hardly niche.

...and if not buy yourself a cheap 40 usb drive to play your plastic discs.

I have both. Internal SATA 5.25" drives have advantages like a more robust tray mechanism, faster ripping speeds, and the PC case protects the unit itself.

 

[tcsenter]

I currently have at least one USB3 thumbdrive, an external Seagate 256GB SATA SSD in a USB 3.1 enclosure, and a Samsung 950 Pro 512GB in a USB 3.1 enclosure, all with Ventoy on them, along with ISOs and other things.

Is Ventoy like just an image file mounter/loader that runs on what, Windows PE?? Has to be kinda slowish as opposed to writing the image file contents directly to media.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I have both. Internal SATA 5.25" drives have advantages like a more robust tray mechanism, faster ripping speeds, and the PC case protects the unit itself.

You can use something like this, and get the best of both worlds. Only drawback is requiring a wallwort.

https://icybox.de/en/product.php?id=320

 

[A///]

Nonsense. A lot of people have boxed PC games, Bluray / DVD movies, or a music CD collection. That's hardly niche.

Did you not see where I said old software? Your other examples are in fact niche. I can't speak for you but standalone players exist.

I have both. Internal SATA 5.25" drives have advantages like a more robust tray mechanism, faster ripping speeds, and the PC case protects the unit itself.

Buy an enclosure connect it with USB externally or buy an enclosure with an internal connector. I use an OWC USB model. It uses what's otherwise a 5.25 drive in a sturdy metal enclosure. The read write on it mirror any conventional internal drive. Zero problems with the internal LG drive it uses. You can buy their standalone enclosure, too.

 

[A///]

Optical drives can still be useful when working on older computers that may have trouble with booting from a USB flash drive. Also, I have come across older computers where the USB wasn't able to be booted from properly, so I had to use a SATA or IDE optical drive instead.

These are exceedingly rare issues but I hear ya. I use enclosure drives and will leave a data or powder or both cable in the basement of a computer or carry it in my toolkit. I can remove a drive from an enclosure within minutes and run it with the case's side popped open and connected. you can run power to the drive from your brick and run a single sata. I haven't seen an ide drive in a long time. only see ide or pata systems on really old control units when I did some it in my spare time.

 

[A///]

You can use something like this, and get the best of both worlds. Only drawback is requiring a wallwort.

https://icybox.de/en/product.php?id=320

Good ones with enough space allow you to keep the drive in the housing and run cabling from the computer. I have some old floppy enclosures with associated cables and extended for the rare time I may need it. it's only come up once in the last 13 years dealing with an old pentium 3 based control system for a local business. if you are quiet enough the read and write of a floppy is a nice cha cha dance you can shake to a great way to dislocate a hip or pinch a nerve if older.

 

[WelshBloke]

Nonsense. A lot of people have boxed PC games, Bluray / DVD movies, or a music CD collection. That's hardly niche.

Tbh I think all those things are pretty niche now. Streaming is king whether some of us still hold on to physical media or not.

 

[Oyeve]

I have a UHD BR drive in my main PC for the few 4K discs I have. I also have a couple of USB DVD drives primarily to rip music CDs and DVDs which I store on a NAS system. But honestly, I just use my PS5 as my HT as I really thing the whole HTPC is a pain in the ass and the PS5 has all the crap I need to stream. I do, however, still have 100s of blank DVD/CD/CDRW discs from many years ago when newegg has great deals on spindles. All those Taiyo Yuden discs that were the shit back then. Hundreds of em. I wonder if they are still good.

 

[WilliamM2]

Did you not see where I said old software? Your other examples are in fact niche. I can't speak for you but standalone players exist.

I have stand alone players, but I can't rip CD's with them. Not all music is available for streaming, or download. And half the time buying the MP3's that are available cost more than the actual CD anyways, for inferior quality.

 

[biostud]

I have a USB for those few occasions.

 

[A///]

I have stand alone players, but I can't rip CD's with them. Not all music is available for streaming, or download. And half the time buying the MP3's that are available cost more than the actual CD anyways, for inferior quality.

try different services. plenty exist for lossless streaming. you can buy lossless albums and tracks too.

 

[WilliamM2]

try different services. plenty exist for lossless streaming. you can buy lossless albums and tracks too.

I'd rather own my lossless music, not pay for another streaming service. And why buy lossless albums or tracks, when the CD's are cheaper?

 

[sdifox]

I'd rather own my lossless music, not pay for another streaming service. And why buy lossless albums or tracks, when the CD's are cheaper?

Then get a USB DVD drive and rip your own CDs and convert to flag to save some space?

 

[WilliamM2]

Then get a USB DVD drive and rip your own CDs and convert to flag to save some space?

Why? A SATA DVD drive fits fine in my Define R6. And I do rip my own CD's, that was the point of my posts.

 

[sdifox]

I have stand alone players, but I can't rip CD's with them. Not all music is available for streaming, or download. And half the time buying the MP3's that are available cost more than the actual CD anyways, for inferior quality.

Why? A SATA DVD drive fits fine in my Define R6. And I do rip my own CD's, that was the point of my posts.

My mistake, your first post made it sound like you don't have one.

 

[A///]

I'd rather own my lossless music, not pay for another streaming service. And why buy lossless albums or tracks, when the CD's are cheaper?

Fair enough. An extra 4 or 5 dollars here and there may be too much for some to handle over a $14 used disc.

 

[mikeymikec]

Fair enough. An extra 4 or 5 dollars here and there may be too much for some to handle over a $14 used disc.

I just picked a random Taylor Swift album (Midnights) from Amazon UK, it's actually £2 more expensive in mp3 format than on CD brand-new. Same goes for RHCP - By The Way.

Frankly I'd be happy to pay £2 more for a CD to ensure I can choose the format that I rip it to. I've considered going back through my collection and re-ripping for various reasons / quality levels.