WOF: How often do you use your computer's optical drive?

[FinalXeno]

I guess Optical Drives will be there for quite some time in the future, I do agree they are having a less role each passing day, and I mainly use my console Optical Drives (E.g. PS3) to watch blu-ray or play games.
I'm ready to drop the Optical Drive for my laptop/Desktop provided that there are easily purchasable/low costs/high efficiency External Optical Drives to be connected to these Machines. (& They are already there but a bit on the high costs)

 

[gobbybobby]

Not very often, the Only recent PC game I got on disk was Battlefield Bad company 2 and after that was installed don't need disk in drive to play. The games I DO OWN and have the disk for I usully no CD crack anyway and don't use my CD drive at all.

I break optical media very often I hate buying stuff on disk.

 

[LightHeart]

I still use it once in awhile for: old games that need to be in the drive, share stuff with some people who don't have other methods, linux live cd, burn iso image.

 

[Guest]

I only use it for Operating System setup. No need for the rest.
In the modern world, yes usb-boot option helps but when it comes to the old computers some do not support usb-boot option. At this point it still is a must.

 

[Ssendi]

once in while wen am writing a DVD or CD

 

[freythman]

Rarely, except for installing older games

 

[Guest]

Backing up to a HD is not really backing up. All HDs will eventually fail and the MTBF for a HD is much shorter than the longevity of a DVD. So, I backup all important files to optical disc. I also have a DVD based recorder connected to my cable TV, so I record shows to watch on my computer. DVDs are also a cheap way to exchange files like pictures and other media.

So, the short answer is I use my optical drive at least once a day.

 

[0192837465]

rarely

 

[Cota]

1- When i install games.
2- When play games that still need the DVD.
3- When i need to install some software.

Other than that it goes to the external drive or my vault of information.

 

[Guest]

I don't mean to brag because I'm sure plenty of people have had the same feeling, but I remember predicting the end of optical drives years ago.

I remember Packard Bell (remember that name) selling wheezing 486s with dual CD-Roms (not burners at the time). Why? Why not? Glue two thing together that have never been glued together and some ***** will think it's cool.

Remember those "multi-laser" optical drives that promised "100x" transfer speeds and above? Those things fell flat on their faces. Their failure rate was hilarious. I remember seeing "Powered by Zen" stamped on the front of some of those drives. I used to joke to the people seeling those things, "Powered by Zen, built by monkeys!"

Optical discs are prone to scratching, getting lost, broken. The lenses in optical drives fail from the tiniest bit of dust accumulation and the transfer speeds are horrendous (not to mention having to wait for the disc to spin up). I was calling for optical drives to die an early death in the early 90s. I can't stand them.

 

[Guest]

I still use my CD drives constantly. I think that they will die out with in the next few years.

 

[Guest]

Constantly. I have an LG Blue ray writer. I regularly back up inportant files or media onto optical discs (mostly single layer DVD+R and BD-R). I only use external drives as a quicker way to access that media, and as a redundant backup. I've had too many external drives fail in the last 5 years to trust them long term, whereas I have had optical media (properly stored) readable and error free for 10 years +.

I really wish the price of blue ray discs (especially dual layer - COME ON!) would come down, especially as the amount of HD footage and photo RAWs I have pile up. To me external hard drives, while cheap, are only a temporary storage medium (1 year max).

Also, while I like download services for games, I also like having a physical disc, as I don't like having to wait 4 hours or more for a large game to download. If I do download a game, I usually burn the installer (plus patches and mods) to disc.

As for laptops, I don't think they are necessary. It's just extra ounces and power consumption. If I did have one, it would probably only be for blue ray, but since it's difficult to get a screen that's full HD on a reasonably sized laptop, I'm probably better off with a scaled down rip.

TLDR - External Hard Discs and Flash are great for short term back up, but optical discs are better for archiving. Lappys don't really benefit from having optical drives anymore.

 

[T77]

I just use it for installing games and of course windows