External DVDs

NE5 · 2 Weeks Ago

I'm just having a clear out of old wires, cables etc, all sort of things.

I've got a couple of internal DVD drives, and an old floppy in the drawer, along with the wires etc, and assorted components. I'm highly unlikely to want them again.

If I get a new desktop, for windows 12 for instance, to replace my current windows 10 which has a working DVD in it,
would an new external DVD be the same as, if i wanted one and bought one (which is no problem)

I want to throw out as much as is possible and not need any of it in a year or two !!

Version number 22H2

K7MEM · 2 Weeks Ago

I use an external, USB connected LG Ultra Slim Portable DVD writer. You can get them for under $30 on Amazon or over the counter in Walmart. I find it is much more flexible, than a built in drive. I can switch it between my W10 desktop, W11 laptop, and my TV. My W10 desktop does have a built in CD/DVD player/writer, but I almost never use it. For my purposes, I would rather have a smaller desktop than the wasted space of a internal CD/DVD.

Berton · 2 Weeks Ago

Same here, have LG and Lite-On External USB drives for use on Notebooks and Desktops without the internal ODD.

NE5 · 2 Weeks Ago

I just want to throw as much out as possible. Its only very rarely i use the DVD, only for transferring to usb stick but I've been transferring music etc and once its all done, I'm not sure i would use it.

I haven't missed my old floppy disc a drive from my ex desktop at all.

Berton · 2 Weeks Ago

I still have a Win10 Desktop with a 3.5" floppy drive that works but it mostly to fill the hole in the front of the case. And I still have the floppies for MS-DOS 6.2 and Win 3.11 along with a Toshiba Satellite running them.

JLArranz · 1 Week Ago

I don't agree with having to use your tools at least once per week, or otherwise throw them away. I like to have resources. For instance I've bought an external USB floppy drive, although it isn't my most reliable one. There aren't machines making floppy drives or media for the masses anymore...

Floppy/not floppy depends on the motherboard. Some relatively modern ones (compared to floppies, not to 2024) priviledge BIOS flashing through floppies, and it's also a lot less messy than USB stuff for other ops like loading disk drivers (RAID, AHCI etc). The typical floppy media does only have one possible format to start with, and if the media or the drive is failing you get instant direct messages about it in the monitor. It's also ideal to do basic hw proofs. The problem in 2024 (for motherboards for which floppies are adequate) is that media doesn't conserve data too well, they don't conserve theirselves too well, and drives are usually old and unreliable. In the floppies age, you could get new media and drives easily, but not anymore.

Optical drives are extremely different, much more modern and current. The computer cases business has taken a wrong way, but a mid tower is the ideal size of a desktop computer. It allows 12 cm fans and it isn't too big or bulky unless you have specific room constraints, and thermally it's optimal (actually, the bigger the better, although you won't miss more room in most builds). Once you have one and the typical full ATX motherboard and PSU mounted inside, you'll notice that there's a lot of free room in the upper frontal part. This is the ideal place for internal optical drives, and for packing the not used PSU cabling (if the PSU is in the upper part, this configuration is worse for the PSU but in practice I haven't had PSU problems). This is not a good place for the hard drives, that live better in the frontal lower part where temps are lower and airflow is better.

(I once found an exception to the latter: my 2009 or so HDD was getting temps in the 60ºC range for the hot vcard and its very poor cooling solution that was leaving the heat around. I had to put an aftermarket cooler. Anyway such change was nearly mandatory in that age, as typical stock vcard fans were too noisy. After that my typical HDD temps went down to the 40ºC zone. Excepting an HDD dropped to the floor by accident, I have never lost any and I consider them as resilient as processors.)

cereberus · 1 Week Ago

OP I agree with you - I found old dvd drives are pretty useless if unused for long periods. The space saved by getting rid of clutter is far more important in my modest sized flat. it is not worth worrying about cost of a new dvd drive as they are cheap.
Basically some people are sciuridae and some are not.

MisterEd · 1 Week Ago

I built my main desktop 7 years ago. It has an internal Blue-ray/DVD burner. Even though I rarely use it I am glad I bought. That is probably the last internal optical drive I will buy.

Last year I bought a ASUS ZenDrive External 8X DVD/Burner. So far it has worked pretty good. It comes with separate USB-A and USB-C cables so I can use it with any all of my computers. Note the only downside of an external optical drive is that it read/writes DVDs slower than internal drives. That is OK if that is acceptable.

A friend bought a cheap external DVD/Burner on Amazon. After burning 5 coasters he gave up and returned it for a refund. He now has a external DVD/Burner like mine.

Before I bought the external DVD drive there was a few times I needed to read either a CD or DVD with my laptops. I managed to do that by putting the CD or DVD in my desktop. After I shared the optical drive over my network I was able to access it from my laptops.

I still have two old desktops with Windows XP. Fortunately, their floppy drives are still working because they need them. I have replaced their optical drives over the years. The ones they have now will be their last because internal IDE DVD drives are becoming very hard to get. Even if found are not cheap. They originally used IDE hard drives. I tried replacement ones but they failed within a day. I gave buying replacement IDE hard drives and am now using SATA drives.

BTW, last year I also bought an external floppy drive. I mainly use them on my newer computers. It even works with my Windows 11 laptop.

Genas1 · 5 Days Ago

NE5 said:

I'm just having a clear out of old wires, cables etc, all sort of things.

I've got a couple of internal DVD drives, and an old floppy in the drawer, along with the wires etc, and assorted components. I'm highly unlikely to want them again.

If I get a new desktop, for windows 12 for instance, to replace my current windows 10 which has a working DVD in it,
would an new external DVD be the same as, if i wanted one and bought one (which is no problem)

I want to throw out as much as is possible and not need any of it in a year or two !!

Version number 22H2

If you're planning to replace your current desktop with a new one and you're considering getting rid of your internal DVD drives and floppy drive, opting for an external DVD drive with your new desktop should work just fine.

External DVD drives are designed to connect to your computer via USB, so as long as your new desktop has USB ports (which is almost certain), you'll be able to use an external DVD drive with it.

Just make sure to check the system requirements of any external DVD drive you're considering to ensure compatibility with your new desktop's operating system (like Windows 12) and any specific features you might need. With Windows 12 being a hypothetical future release, it's always a good idea to stay updated on compatibility requirements when it becomes available.