Suggestions and ?;s about optical drives...

[frldyz]

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

 

[johnb35]

Answers to your questions.

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Internal
4. They are basically all the same, just different names.
5. Yes, however, the slower you burn the better the chance that it burnt correctly.

Yeah, I don't understand why some people don't buy a dvd burner. A lot of software is still using cd/dvd media for install.

 

[Cisco001]

Some ppl think they don't need it.
however, for $20/ £15 and i would rather have one.

BTW, you probably need Blu-ray combo than Blu-ray burner.
i don't think many people need burning blu-ray disc

 

[Geoff]

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...

It's true, physical media is much less common now than it was in the past. Most games and applications are downloaded, with optical media generally being the common method of installing an operating system, or legacy software. Blu-Ray is the latest in optical media, it has much larger storage capacities than CDs and DVDs. For large amounts of storage however, it is much cheaper to buy an external hard drive. You can buy a 5TB external drive for $130. You can use them to play Blu-Ray movies, however you need software to do so. When you buy OEM drives they do not come with software, so I'd buy a retail drive or make sure you have a player already to play them.

'1: Can a Blu Ray drive also be used as a basic optical drive?

Yes

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?

Yes. A Blu-Ray drive is only a reader of Blu-Ray media, you would want a Blu-Ray burner to copy files to Blu-Ray media.

3: Is external or internal the better choice? Or does it not matter?

Personal preference, both work fine.

4: Any rec. brands/models? I've read a lot of positive thinks about LG Blu Ray burners w/BDXL. Same with Pionner/Panasonic.

LG is fine, any name brand like Asus, Pioneer, Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba, LITE-ON, etc. will be fine.

5: When choosing a Blu Ray drive I assume I want to look @ speeds of writing/burning?

It's not that important for the occasional use, I would go with the cheapest model with good reviews.

Some ppl think they don't need it.
however, for $20/ £15 and i would rather have one.

BTW, you probably need Blu-ray combo than Blu-ray burner.
i don't think many people need burning blu-ray disc

I'm in the same boat, I really only use mine when I reinstall my OS, but it's nice to have one.

 

[TrainTrackHack]

If you're going to be installing stuff off optical discs, obviously you'll have to get one. I never bothered with my desktop, though; I've got an external drive that I've shared between all my machines that don't have a disc sucker, and even that's sitting on the table collecting dust right now (I've only used it a few times).

 

[Geoff]

If you're going to be installing stuff off optical discs, obviously you'll have to get one. I never bothered with my desktop, though; I've got an external drive that I've shared between all my machines that don't have a disc sucker, and even that's sitting on the table collecting dust right now (I've only used it a few times).

I don't plan to use one with my next desktop. I'm looking to save power on my next build, my electric bill is getting pricey.

 

[johnb35]

I don't plan to use one with my next desktop. I'm looking to save power on my next build, my electric bill is getting pricey.

OMG!!! You really think an optical drive uses that much power to increase your electric bill? Come on Geoff get real.

 

[StrangleHold]

I would think a external drive would pull more power then a DVD/Blu-Ray drive.

 

[TrainTrackHack]

I would think a external drive would pull more power then a DVD/Blu-Ray drive.

Why? They should be the same thing, my external drive at least is just a laptop DVD drive in an enclosure.

But yea, an optical drive draws almost no power unless it's actually spinning the disc and reading something off of / writing to it.

 

[Geoff]

OMG!!! You really think an optical drive uses that much power to increase your electric bill? Come on Geoff get real.

Really dude? Talk about overkill. My plan is to get rid of the optical drive, only use one hard drive, take the video card and CPU into consideration, remove LEDs, etc. Of course an optical drive alone hardly uses much power.