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Suggestions & ?'s about optical drives

F

frldyz

Member
I have about half the components for my 1st build.
A lot of people are telling me optical drives are becoming less and less necessary.
That kind of confuses me because how else would I install CD software that I buy and play games? I understand a lot can be purchased/downloaded online.

So after looking @ optical drives I see there are now Blu Ray" and "Blu Ray burners". I assume these are also optical drives? Are these drives that will also play Blu Ray DVDs? I also saw something about using a "Blu Ray" disc to use to copy/store files? And I read something about BDXL that can store upwards of 128gb per disc? They are not cheap. And it might be cheaper to purchase just an Ext. HD, but I also like the thought of knowing everything is backed up on discs...
'1: Can a Blu Ray drive also be used as a basic optical drive?
2: Does a Blu Rau burners drive differ from a Blu Ray drive by lets you burn/copy files from your PC onto a disc?
3: Is external or internal the better choice? Or does it not matter?
4: Any rec. brands/models? I've read a lot of positive thinks about LG Blu Ray burners w/BDXL. Same with Pionner/Panasonic.
5: When choosing a Blu Ray drive I assume I want to look @ speeds of writing/burning?


Thanks everyone for helping answer all these ?'s for me over the last week. I have learned a lot from all of you.

Cheers
-Michael MN
 
1) Yes
2) A BD burner burns BD discs, a BD player does not.. but may allow regular CD/DVD burning, etc.
3) Doesn't matter... whatever fits. Personally, all my machines have internal OD drives because I use them for media discs, but I could see where a small form machine wouldn't have room for one and it would be better to use an external.
4) Find one on sale.
5) Yes, but all the budget ones are about the same vs the higher dollar ones designed for heavy writing.

I wouldn't waste my time on BD backups, get a good portable hard drive and use that.
 
Charlie98 said:
1) Yes
2) A BD burner burns BD discs, a BD player does not.. but may allow regular CD/DVD burning, etc.
3) Doesn't matter... whatever fits. Personally, all my machines have internal OD drives because I use them for media discs, but I could see where a small form machine wouldn't have room for one and it would be better to use an external.
4) Find one on sale.
5) Yes, but all the budget ones are about the same vs the higher dollar ones designed for heavy writing.

I wouldn't waste my time on BD backups, get a good portable hard drive and use that.
Click to expand...

I agree. The only time BD backups make sense is if the OS is the only thing needed and nothing else gets installed other than drivers.
A good example would be a presentation pc system used to play FLASH on a large screen welcoming people at the front door at a large company lobby.
 
For me, I still have a DVD burner on my desktop. I was actually installing an old game on CD last night. I have other devices for watching blu-ray.

There is some attraction to a disc that will hold lots of data and can be stored. I decided to use a hard drive. It just sits in the secure location (aka not running) so I feel it is just a safe as the disc, and can be easily re-used when updating the backup. And the backups are a lot faster.
 
I think an external HDD just makes more sense... not only is it portable, it's at least as reliable as any burned disk, and you can use it to transfer files and other duties not as convenient with OD media.

I'm not as sold on OD disk data reliability, either.
 
I cant think of a software I have installed from optical disc in the past 5 years. Heck you can do OS from USB stick. Unless you are ripping redbox or an old CD collection an optical drive has just about zero use these days.
 
Using 2 LG Blu-Ray burners for awhile now. The 12X has over 1000 burns on it with 1 firmware update. 14X has 300+ burns on it and many more reads. They are fast, reliable & accurate. The burned discs play on hundreds of various devices without issue. My first Pioneer failed in less than 2 yrs. I recommend the LG if you're getting one. Less than $60..
As far as reliability, I have 4 yr old discs that are as good now as when they were burned. I've experienced no data loss or degradation.. Either it's a successful burn or not, and you know immediately.. I enjoy optical discs.. They're everywhere at my house..
 
Last edited:
Burpo said:
Using 2 LG Blu-Ray burners for awhile now. The 12X has over 1000 burns on it with 1 firmware update. 14X has 300+ burns on it and many more reads. They are fast, reliable & accurate. The burned discs play on hundreds of various devices without issue. My first Pioneer failed in less than 2 yrs. I recommend the LG if you're getting one. Less than $60..
As far as reliability, I have 4 yr old discs that are as good now as when they were burned. I've experienced no data loss or degradation.. Either it's a successful burn or not, and you know immediately.. I enjoy optical discs.. They're everywhere at my house..
Click to expand...

+1 on the LG - it is a good drive. It doesn't hurt that it has M-Disc compatibility, either, as the M-disc lifespan is practically forever.
 
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