Comments on: Do optical disc drives matter anymore?

By: Daniel

Daniel — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 13:46:00 +0000

I still need one, but I don’t necessarily need one built into my laptop. I have an external DVD-RW drive, and it serves me quite well.

By: Name

Name — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 06:28:24 +0000

Netflix streams almost every film available. no need for any optical media or drives anymore. Everything is going to be available via a Internet connection. Once there is Fiber from the curb to the homes it is game over for all optical media to include Bluray, DVD, CD etc.

By: Name

Name — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:28:24 +0000

By: thequinox

thequinox — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 05:30:17 +0000

I think it's fine for ultra portables to loose them. We are used to sacrificing things for portability, and let's face it. Optical drives aren't exactly small. I personally don't use them at all anymore, but that doesn't mean ALL systems should get rid of them. Once Blu-ray is dead and gone in favor of downloadable media or flash based distribution methods, then yes. Kill it.

By: Who needs optical drives anymore? » Blu-ray, HDTV, DVD info at WesleyTech.com

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:22:20 +0000

[...] portable computing website Liliputing asked the question this week “Do optical disc drives matter anymore?” Judging from the comments, even those who said they need a CD/DVD drive prefer not having [...]

By: gclaudia

gclaudia — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:40:49 +0000

I'd say yes. I prefer to buy CDs, rather than downloading music, so I need an optical drive to rip the MP3s. That said, I like the fact that netbooks don't have optical drives; I need an optical drive so rarely that I'd just as soon avoid the weight and bulk.

By: MonkeyKing1969

MonkeyKing1969 — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 21:27:42 +0000

Not about me ready or most ready....

I just bought a Creative Zen 4GB MP3 player. It came with an installation CD, but as near as I can tell you CAN'T get all that software from the Creative.com site itself. So basically if I wanted the PC dashboard items for the MP3 player I'd have to find a USB style CD-ROM to attach.

That is the issue. It not me not being ready, or most things being ready its these idiot companies like Creative who are half in/half out that screw things up. So I think that is the true problem, we have holdouts and unprepared companies that mostly rely on pressed CDs to distribute the firmware, software, and other things to their customers.

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 20:19:16 +0000

Yes, I actually use Alcohol 120% on my netbook but I still needed the CD Drive to make the virtual disks…

By: wanorris

wanorris — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:46:16 +0000

Matthew S covered this pretty well, but I would add the proviso that you can change or add repositories if you feel like you need to. Some third parties allow you to install their software by adding their repository to your configuration, which allows you to get updates automatically.

Then again, if you want complete control, there's always Linux From Scratch and the make command.

By: BoloMKXXVIII

BoloMKXXVIII — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:31:57 +0000

Actually, Microsoft is trialing this method of software delivery right now.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=3528

By: tomleemullins

tomleemullins — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:29:56 +0000

With flash drives and sd cards getting bigger (in memory size, not physical size), one would not need an optical disk/drive. With flash drives coming in different sizes and shapes, flash drives are more fun to carry, are easier to carry and have less chance of breaking

In one country (China I think it was), Disney is releasing movies on SD cards. If one can put a whole movie on a SD Card, why not software or music or whatever would normally fit onto an optical disc?

By: pratfall

pratfall — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 05:15:27 +0000

As long as Netflix has stuff on DVD and not streaming, I'll need a DVD drive on the HTPC. Otherwise, my optical drive is a waste of space- its WAY easier/faster to use a USB drive. I sometimes need to burn a disc to share stuff with people, but most folks I know have their own USB drive I can just stick in my PC to give them stuff.

By: pratfall

pratfall — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 05:13:02 +0000

@ Zuma: The FUCK? Care to expand on that? Which distro? Are you new to planet Earth?

By: ruel24

ruel24 — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 05:12:56 +0000

The problem happens when you try to install an OS or a game. There are workarounds for everything, but it's just plain easier to do with a CD/DVD disk. Running some games requires the CD be present, but again, there are workarounds for some games.

Plain and simple, CD/DVD just makes life easier.

By: tickles

tickles — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 03:57:46 +0000

This same question exists years back when ultraportable laptops (i.e. Toshiba Portege and Thinkpad X-series) first came out. Many people griped about the absence of an internal CD/DVD drive. The truth is that the CD/DVD is an accessory that is used about 10% (or less) of the time, yet it takes up valuable space and adds unnecessary weight. Ask any road warrior, she/he will vote against carrying deadweight. This argument distills down to the point that home-based netbook users should be just fine to invest (one-time) into a USB CD/DVD drive for that less than 10% time they actually need this accessory.