dvd writer question

[jbmagic]

is it good to use a dvd writer as a dvd rom reader too?

or better to get a sperate dvd rom player to play dvd and cd?

[sterlingice]

You really don't need a second optical drive unless you're in the business of quickly burning one DVD to another. Heck, even if you did a lot of copying of DVDs (I mean data, not making illegal movie copies) for backup purposes, as long as you have 5 gigs of open space sitting around on your hard drive, you're still fine. It just takes twice as long as you have to copy down to your HD and then copy back up to a fresh DVD.

SI

[Airhog]

I wouldn't think so jb. I used my sony cd burner for both, and it lasted like 6 years. the motor that opens the door started to give out, it still read most cd's fine...

[jbmagic]

You really don't need a second optical drive unless you're in the business of quickly burning one DVD to another. Heck, even if you did a lot of copying of DVDs (I mean data, not making illegal movie copies) for backup purposes, as long as you have 5 gigs of open space sitting around on your hard drive, you're still fine. It just takes twice as long as you have to copy down to your HD and then copy back up to a fresh DVD.

SI


thanks

wasnt sure if using the dvd writer as a dvd rom too will put wear and tear on it.

i guess i just get a dvd writer to handle everything.

i hear the Benq 1640 dvd writer are excellent and only like $42 bucks at newegg

[sterlingice]

Considering optical drives take a while to wear out unless you start using them as cupholders or something, it's not a big deal. Heck, by the time you'll need to replace this one, you'll probably be looking at Blu-Ray or HD-DVD recorders/players. Unless, of course, there's some sort of manufacturer's defect, in which case, you'd have to replace it anyways, even if you had two.

SI

[WrongWay]

Sorry, I am the complete opposite.

I burn all my "mailing club" DVDs to my HD as soon I receive them in the mail. I also convert them to Super Video CD format so I can keep them on my external drive forever. This conversion takes about 4 hours and it constantly access my DVD player. I purchased a top of the Line DVDRW that I don't want anywhere near this process when I can have a $25.00 run of the mill DVD-Rom do it. Besides, have a 2nd
DVD player makes it real nice when I want to just copy a DVD.

I guess it all depends on how much you spent on your DVD writer. I only use my writer to burn, everything else, games, movies, regular cds, gets thrown into my cheap as DVD reader.