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DVD Drives

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7 Items found
Asus 24x DVD±RW DRW-24D5MT SATA ReWriter - Black (OEM)
CD-069-AS
ASUS DRW-24D5MT is a powerful 24X DVD±R/12X DVD±R(DL)/8X DVD+RW/6X DVD-RW/16X DVD-ROM/12X DVDRAM/ 48X CD-R/32X CD-RW/48X CD-ROM for a seamless function of flexibility, high quality and reliability
£16.99 (incl. VAT)
fiber_manual_record In stock
Asus External Slimline DVD Re-Writer, USB, 8x, Black, Cyberlink Power2Go 7 - White (SDRW-08D2S-U LIT
CD-06A-AS
Asus (SDRW-08D2S-U LITE) External Slimline DVD Re-Writer, USB, 8x, Black, Cyberlink Power2Go 7
£29.99 (incl. VAT)
fiber_manual_record In stock
ASUS ZenDrive U7M External Ultra Slim DVD Writer - Black (SDRW-08U7M-U)
CD-06B-AS
External ultra-slim DVD writer with M-Disc support.
£39.95 (incl. VAT)
fiber_manual_record In stock
ASUS ZenDrive U7M External Ultra Slim DVD Writer - Silver (SDRW-08U7M-U)
CD-06C-AS
External ultra-slim DVD writer with M-Disc support.
£39.95 (incl. VAT)
fiber_manual_record In stock
Asus External Slimline DVD Re-Writer, USB, 8x, Black, Cyberlink Power2Go 7 - Black (SDRW-08D2S-U LIT
CD-068-AS
Asus (SDRW-08D2S-U LITE) External Slimline DVD Re-Writer, USB, 8x, Black, Cyberlink Power2Go 7
£29.99 (incl. VAT)
fiber_manual_record In stock
Asus External USB Blu-Ray Rewriter (SBW-06D2X-U)
CD-061-AS
BDXL format support, Extreme 6X Blu-ray writing speed, Blu-ray 3D support, DVD upscaling to HD 1080p (optional), Dolby EX and DTS-HD (5.1 channels)(optional)
£99.95 (incl. VAT)
fiber_manual_record In stock
Asus 24x DVD±RW DRW-24D5MT SATA ReWriter - Black (Retail)
CD-056-AS
star star star star star
(3)
ASUS DRW-24D5MT is a powerful 24X DVD±R/12X DVD±R(DL)/8X DVD+RW/6X DVD-RW/16X DVD-ROM/12X DVDRAM/ 48X CD-R/32X CD-RW/48X CD-ROM for a seamless function of flexibility, high quality and reliability
£18.95 (incl. VAT)
fiber_manual_record In stock

More About Our Range of DVD Drives

From 5.25” internal optical drives to slimline external DVD drives. Its time to delve into the world of optical storage.

Internal Optical Disk

Internal Optical Drives

Once a standard on nearly every PC across the globe, optical drives are now a rarity on modern PCs. This is mainly due to prevalent on-demand media and manufacturers creating ever-shrinking chassis designs that cannot accommodate a 5.25" drive.

Even Microsoft has started to make the switch by selling its OS (Operating system) windows 10 on a USB drive for the first time.

External Optical Disk

External Optical Drives

If you have recently bought a PC without an optical drive but find yourself needing one, don’t worry! We have you covered… The easiest method to add the capability to your desktop computer is by using an external drive. This upgrade needs zero tech knowhow to install – Simply plug and play!

There are several reasons you might opt for an external including:

  • Lack of drive bays in modern cases
  • Small form factor computers
  • Location: You may want the drive on top of the desk away from the PC
  • Lack of tech knowledge (to install).

Are DVD Drives still relevant?

Yes and no, it depends entirely on your needs. If you have a vast library of DVDs, CDs, and Games, an optical drive will allow you to utilise these without the need to buy a digital copy. Having a DVD/CD Writer will also allow you to save files externally, create a windows recovery disks or even make the occasional DVD family photo slideshow.

With that said, optical media is dying and the switch to streaming and downloading content is heavily underway. No longer is an optical drive a must-have item, but if your desktop chassis can support one - it’s a cheap, worthwhile piece of hardware to have installed.

What are Optical Disks? 

DVD Optical Disk

Optical disks are flat, circular discs that encode binary data in the form of pits on a special surface material that sits atop of a polycarbonate substrate. Think of them as modern vinyl records. In fact, they work in a very similar fashion. Instead of the stylus resonating in reaction to the groves and converting the electrical energy into soundwaves, a laser illuminates the pits which are picked up by a photodiode which converts the reflected light into Binary data that the computer can understand.

What are the main Optical formats?

There are many different 4.7” optical formats that support a variety of speeds and capacities. This can be a little daunting but even the most common drives today are able to read/write a wide array of disks.

CD Optical Disk


CD:
Compact Disks
were co-developed by Philips and Sony in 1982 and developed for audio storage and playback, later being adapted for the storage of data (CD-ROM). With a diameter of 4.7” a CD can hold approximately 80 minutes of uncompressed audio and around 700mb of data.

DVD Optical Disk

DVD: The Digital Versatile Disk was developed by Philips and Sony in 1995 and designed for the storage of data. Finally, the optical medium was large enough to hold high-quality video and audio. DVDs additionally provided superior data lifespan and interactivity which had never been seen before leading to the demise of the VHS (Video Home System) and rise of the DVD.

Blu-Ray Optical Disk

Blu-Ray (BD): Aptly named because of the blue laser diode utilised within the Blu-Ray player/writer, Blu-Ray was designed to supersede DVDs. The Blu-ray format was created by the Blu-Ray Disk Association and supported by Sony who introduced the first prototypes in 2000 and officially released the format in 2006 which started the HD format war. Blu-ray eventually took the throne due to the appearance of the PlayStation 3 which contained the format as standard - essentially putting it into the homes of millions across the world.

Optical Format Subtypes 

The main optical formats are then split further depending on specific qualities giving us many subtypes of disk including:

  • DVD-R
  • DVD+R
  • DVD-R DL
  • DVD+R DL
  • DVD+RW
  • DVD-RW
  • DVD-RAM
  • CD-R
  • CD-RW
  • BD-RE
  • BD-R
  • BD-R XL

While the sheer amount of formats look confusing on the surface, it’s not actually that difficult to understand. You just need to ensure the optical media purchased will be compatible with your drive and any other device you want to use the recorded media with.

What are the differences between the subtypes?

The majority of the confusion occurs when looking at the end ‘tag’ so we have put together this list:

    • +: Originally created by Sony and Philips using land prepits to determine laser location. Arguably the superior technology
    • -: Originally created by Pioneer which measures “wobble frequency” to determine location. This format is generally considered the most compatible.
    • R: The ‘R’ stands for recordable. It simply means you can ‘record’ onto the disk once. The data is safe on these for anywhere between 20-200 years depending on quality and storage.
    • DL: These are Dual Layer disks, each capable of storing just under 4.7GB – 8.5GB on a single DVD. Data on these disks will last just as long as recordable variants.
    • RW: Rewritable disks that can overwrite the data many times. They should not be used for archiving data as they only last about 15 years which is of course more than enough for most people.
    • RAM: Similar to RW but can be rewritten over 100,000 times vs 1000 for RW. The data also degrades much slower lasting up to 30 years. They come in both single and dual-layer formats allowing for up to 9.4GB of data to be stored on a single DVD.
    • RE: Also similar to RW and stands for Recordable Erasable.
    • XL: Thanks to a 3 storage layer the capacity of BD-R XL disks is around 100GB making them the largest mass-produced optical disk currently available. 

Speed

Optical drives are rated using an “X-Factor” which is different depending on the physical media, format and read/write activity.

CD: A CD’s base speed is 1x which is equivalent to 150KB/s. For example, a drive that is described as 52x can do a specific operation such as read or write at 52 x 150KB/s giving us an average speed of 7.8MB/s.

DVD: A DVD’s base speed is many times higher than a CD coming in at around 1.321MB/s for 1x meaning 16x would be roughly 21MB/s which is nearly 3x that of a 52X CD drive.


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