DVD drives: who needs 'em!

[Sólstafir]

Alright, my new build is nearly done - there's only one part missing. The optical drive - I won't annoy you by asking for buyer's advice, I'm not that lazy. What I will ask, is whether you even need one in 2016?

Thinking back, I haven't used a disc in nearly a year. Given my internet connection is extremely reliable and my lack of disc-based PC games, should I even bother getting one?

[_I_]

burning/ripping movies, games and audio cds

for anything you need a cd/dvd for you can use a usb stick

[𝕙.𝕓𝕒𝕣𝕜𝕒𝕤]

If you want to make an installation disk from an .iso a burner comes handy.
As I built my last computer I forgot about downloading the network driver before installing
the new OS and I sat there without internet connection. But I could pop in the driver disk
in my DVD drive and install the driver from there.
If you want a low cost and relatively secure back up of important files an optical drive is a
very cost efficient method as your internet may act up and you can't access your cloud
storage.
Although optical drives are not essential any more I would include one in any build because
who cares and they go for 15 € for a DVD burner and 50 € for a Blue ray.

[Sólstafir]

Sound advice. $10 player/burner added, just in case.

[The Rock God]

Every computer I've had since the early 90s has an optical drive. The last 6 years have been Blu-ray.

- Rip CDs to media player.
- Install OS. (My Win10 was on disc.) Also boot CD/DVD for certain programs.
- Watch movies. I have an extensive DVD/BR collection.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Just get 1x USB DVDRW; there done... now u have a drive for all your home systems.
BR isn't worth doing on PC.

[[☥] - CJ -]

Originally posted by Bad-Motha:

Just get 1x USB DVDRW; there done... now u have a drive for all your home systems.
BR isn't worth doing on PC.

This

Also keeps the inside of the case more tidy without an internal drive
Optical drives are becoming a thing of the past.

[EolSunder]

i always have a dvd drive on my computer, they are cheap, and you can watch old movies, you can install old games you still might have that are on disk, etc. Why even think it, they don't coast much.

[[☥] - CJ -]

USB Drives do all that without the hassle of having to put it in the case.

[Azza ☠]

My coffee holder is broken, keeps spilling my drink by auto-returning back in.

[Lil C]-[ew C]-[ew is ☂д☂]

Originally posted by Vethod:

i use my dvd drive to burn PS1 games on a disk lol.

I use mine to read any retail game I still have......they live among us,under our buried stuff.

[RRW359]

I guess it isn't, but there are many advantages:

-If you have older games, you'll need one to play them (legally)
-Games may be cheaper at Goodwill/Amazon than online
-DVD and CD playback with the right software
-Legally play 5'th gen. Console games through emulators
-Some driver software is more easily installed from a disk if it comes with it
-Non-erasable and cheap backups
-I believe you can install one online or via flash drive, but I have always installed my OS from a DVD, whether it's Windows or Linux (yes, that means I actually PAID for Linux). I assume it's harder than from a pre-made DVD

[kitsumo1]

If you're not sure if you'll need one in the future, then you probably won't. I went through the same thing when I got rid of my 3.5 floppy drive. Back then, USB and CD boot support wasn't universally supported on motherboards or thumb drives, so having to boot from floppy to load CD drivers was a possibility. I'm sure it's something you could use, but whether you'll NEED it is up to you. I have one but that's because I'm a dinosaur and I have games from the mid '90s.

[upcoast]

I still have a lot of dvd games+ripping+burning, ya I still need it and use it.