Can you ever go back!? :)

[trjp]

My DVD/RW drive died today - will no longer read or write DVDs, only CDs (and even then it's moody)

Given the cheapness of the things I'm not tempted to spend much time checking it - it's clearly knackered - but before I order a new one I have to choose

Forward, Backward, Replace

Forward would be a BD Reader/DVD Writer (I have no use for a BD Writer - but then I think I have no use for the BD Reader either!!)

Backward would be using the NEC 16x Writer I have in a drawer - only it's IDE!! - I mean that's a step back into the stone-age - finding a space in the case for that FAT cable would be a nightmare :)

Replace is just - well - a £15 replacement

WWRPSD?

[Protoman]

Honestly I wouldn't bother replacing it at all; do you really store that much stuff on disks? Even OS's don't come on disks anymore.

[Harlander]

Are you sure about that one, Proto?

I went for a BD read/writer - because, my thoughts were, chances are, eventually I'll need to put 25GB on a disc. Of course, I haven't yet..

[Velko]

I don't think optical drives are a necessity anymore. I haven't used mine in about two years.

[QuantaCat]

Are you sure about that one, Proto?

I went for a BD read/writer - because, my thoughts were, chances are, eventually I'll need to put 25GB on a disc. Of course, I haven't yet..

I backup on multiple hard drives. its cheaper and if you do it right, it holds long enough.

Also, I continually work with terabytes of important data to be stored, so its not really like I could rely on BDs.

[Jesus_Phish]

I use my dvd rw drive on very rare occasions, mostly if my mam or dad want's me to make a copy of a cd for their car radios so they can keep one cd in the house and another in the car, or if I want to install a game I still have on disc and haven't re-bought yet.

I'm at the stage now where my internet connection is good enough to download and install most new games faster than the install disc and dvd drive can do it.

I bought a very cheap one for my newest build just "in case" for about a tenner. I wouldn't spend more than that.

[sirgoit]

If you rarely use it just buy a cheapy usb DVD burner, saves space in the case and you can plug it into whatever device is needing. I have mine in a cupboard and have used it approx twice in as many years.

Optical is dead.

[bad guy]

Use your old NEC drive.

[Feldspar]

Buy a cheap one, I think I payed 12 squid for mine a couple of years ago, it gets occasional use with old game disks or playing DVD films and rare use for ripping music CDs (remember those?). It doesn't take up space otherwise used in my case and doesn't interfere with airflow. If I didn't have it I'm sure I'd need to use it, so its a backup legacy device.

[Harlander]

I still want to know what format Protoman gets his OSs on.

Do they come on thumbdrives or something?

[Boris]

Yeah, you can install OSes off thumbdrives.

[Sakkura]

I still want to know what format Protoman gets his OSs on.

Do they come on thumbdrives or something?

Even Windows can be (legally) downloaded and installed via USB (as long as you have an activation key). It's a much bigger "thing" in the Linux community though, because the users are more tech-savvy on average.

@Topic: To me it's mainly a question of whether you watch movies on your computer. The ones you have on DVD/Bluray (if any).

[squirrel]

Do computer BD drives and discs really justify their prices? The only use for such drive conceivable to me would be HD movies. The largest screen ideal for me is a 24" 16x9, which is the one I am currently using. Larger than that and you probably wont feel comfortable. The size is too small to put BD movies to their good value.

Unless you want to write movie discs to be read on BD players displaying on your TV.

I bet you can buy a durable external (USB) DVD writer with ease, probably won't cost you more than USD30 for brands like Buffalo.

[trjp]

For the record, I've bought TWO whole games which came on a disk in the last 12 months - both came with Steam codes so the discs are still in the boxes but I did use them to test the drive :)

I do write the odd DVD backup - I used to do lots of them but with my data on three different 'cloud' systems I tend not to now - I have about 40 blanks left (probably worth about half the cost of a new drive) which tips me towards using them up tho!

I could just use the old desktop - or attach this IDE unit to my external USB interface doodah - but there's a hole in my PC and it's letting-in dust :)

Oh - it's cheaper and easier to keep bootable MEMTEST, Seatools, Easeus Disk Copy, Macrium Recovery discs etc. than it is to keep whole USB drives with those things on them - so I do need to 'fill the hole' in my PC's front panel I reckon :)

I can't be the only person who finds USB drives have a tendency to lose themselves rather too easily? :)

[vinraith]

Honestly I wouldn't bother replacing it at all; do you really store that much stuff on disks? Even OS's don't come on disks anymore.

People that think like this completely baffle me. There's no better permanent storage medium than optical, beside which I have a ton of legacy software and games in that medium that would simply become inaccessible without an optical drive. Some of my favorite games of all time quite simply aren't available in a purely digital format.

So anyway, I'd say get a BD writer on the grounds that being able to store 25 GB of data on a disc is an intrinsically handy thing, and will continue to be up until someone can make a genuinely long-term stable SSD.

[mashakos]

Honestly I wouldn't bother replacing it at all; do you really store that much stuff on disks? Even OS's don't come on disks anymore.

If you've just started out buying games in the past 5 years then it makes sense not to get an optical drive, since most of your collection would most likely be from Steam.

For those of us with crates of CDs and DVDs going back to the 90's, it's absolutely ridiculous not to get at least a DVD drive. Might as well move to an iPad in that case!

[Internet]

People that think like this completely baffle me. There's no better permanent storage medium than optical, beside which I have a ton of legacy software and games in that medium that would simply become inaccessible without an optical drive. Some of my favorite games of all time quite simply aren't available in a purely digital format.

So anyway, I'd say get a BD writer on the grounds that being able to store 25 GB of data on a disc is an intrinsically handy thing, and will continue to be up until someone can make a genuinely long-term stable SSD.

The idea that optical is the best storage is a bold argument to make. Optical is scratch prone and easily effected by environmental conditions. I'd say that a fire-resistant external HD is much better way to save data. When I have some money I plan to get one of these and slowly rip my collection onto it.

[Nalano]

Everybody knows that the best way to store digital information is to print the code out, bind it in leather, and put it in a dark, climate-controlled environment for future generations to boggle over.

[trjp]

Is 25Gb the BD limit?

It's ironic - it seems removeable/replaceable storage is always JUST behind your needs (my core system backup is 27Gb atm) - I can remember when it was about 6Gb (4.7Gb on a DVD) and even when I have 900-1Gb meaning CDs were useless ;)

p.s. aren't BD blanks about £5 each (as opposed to 4.7Gb DVDs being pennies)???

Hell I bought some DL DVDs so I could cram OSX onto a machine for testing and they pricey enough at almost 80p ea!

[mashakos]

Is 25Gb the BD limit?

DLBD's can take up 50GB, but better go for lunch or get a good book to read if you ever want to actually write that much on a disk.