Compare the Best Optical Disc DrivesFebruary 2019

Optical disk drives cover a wide range of internal and external devices meant to both read and write a variety of removable media. This means they can be used to both read data from discs (i.e - playing a movie DVD or Blu Ray) and also writing or ‘burning’ data (i.e - creating a music CD from individual mp3s, or permanently writing files to a disk for distribution).

While most computers used to house CD and DVD drives as standard, drastically smaller devices and a move towards cloud-based streaming mean that disc drives are being used less and less. Indeed many modern laptops and desktops no longer contain a disc drive at all.

This means that even though it is legacy tech, it’s still worth keeping a drive handy for those times you want to read the data from an old DVD, burn a disc for a friend, or watch a movie when you don’t have access to Netflix. This guide will explain the major points of consideration when choosing an optical disk drive.

Mounting & Portability

The first important consideration is what type of drive you want to get. While all our drives read and write disks, there are 2 main types - internal and external. It’s important to note that generally speaking internal drives can’t be used outside of computers, and external drives have to be powered via USB, and can’t be mounted inside a desktop or laptop.

Internal drives: These are meant to be placed into the computer body itself and wired directly into the system for power and data. They are used mostly for either replacements, or if you are building your own computer from scratch. Because these drives have to fit into a specific bay, it’s important to make sure you get one that is the right measurements and compatible with your computer. This also includes the correct mounting for the machine you’re wanting to install the drive into.

External drives: These drives are meant to be plugged into a computer (usually via USB) to serve as a temporary drive when one is needed. These drives tend to be more expensive than internal drives, but can be used with any computer. They are especially useful for laptops, since the current trend in ultra-thin laptops mean that most modern models don’t have a drive built in. Because external drives are removable, they can be easily stowed away until needed, making them helpful if you only need to read a CD/DVD occasionally. They are also very portable, making them good for watching movies or accessing data on journeys where you may not have access to a stable net connection.

Media Support

There are 3 main types of optical media supported by the disc drives on our site - CD, DVD and Blu Ray:

CD: Traditionally used for music, and while rather a legacy format, there are so many CDs in circulation that you are bound to need to access one at some point. All disc drives will read and write CDs, but the downside is they hold the least information of the 3 types.

DVD: DVDs are generally used for movies, since they are higher density, so can hold far more data than CDs. DVDs are still widely used for movies and video games, and can also hold a large amount of information, making them useful for backing up lots of files. Nearly all of our drives support both CD and DVD read writing.

Blu-Ray: The newest and highest density of optical media on the market, Blu-Ray discs can hold an enormous amount of data in a single disc. They are primarily used for very high-quality movies. However because they are a new format, Blu-Ray writers are far more expensive than CD or DVD-compatible models. Moreover, not all drives support Blu-Ray reading or writing, meaning that you may find other users are not able to read the data on the disc.

Read/Write Speedas

Finally, read & write speeds measure how quickly data can be written from & to the disc. This is measures in bytes per second - the higher the speed, the faster large files (such as movies) will be burnt to the disc, or read from the drive. The read-write speeds are also affected by the USB version supported - USB 3.0 supported drives allow far higher transfer rates than USB 2 drives, so it is worth seeking out the newest drive you can for the fastest data transfer speeds.

Dvd Writer Prices

The price range of cd rewriters is from $19 to $128 and in total we found prices for 22 cd rewriters. A new cd rewriter costs on average $59 and 80% of cd rewriters are priced between $21 and $100. The cheapest cd writer that we found is the Lite-On iHAS124 at only $20, and the most expensive is the HP 652241-B21 at $128.

Dvd Burner Brands - Price Range

The average price of Intel cd (re)writers is $41 which is the highest average price of all cd writer brands. Intel cd (re)writers range in price from $41 to $41.

Transcend dvd writers range in price from $41 to $41, and the second highest average cd (re)writer price out of all brands is Transcend dvd writers with an average price of $41.

The average price of Verbatim dvd writers is $40 which is the third highest average price of all dvd rewriter brands. Verbatim dvd writers range in price from $0 to $100.

Dvd (Re)Writer Brands - Average Ratings

We have checked 18 expert reviews and 3,209 user reviews for dvd writers and used these reviews to calculate the average rating for each brand of dvd writer.

Biggest Cd Rewriter Retailers

We found 9 current offers for dvd (re)writers from Adorama making it the biggest cd rewriter retailer. That is significantly bigger than the second biggest retailer, Overstock for whom we found 6 current offers for dvd (re)writers. The third biggest retailer is Pricefalls with 6 current cd rewriter offers.

When Are Most New Cd (Re)Writers Released?

April to June is the most common period for new cd writers to be released in. If you want the latest cd (re)writer technology you may want to think about waiting until April 2019. It's also worth keeping in mind that the price of the current dvd (re)writers tend to drop off when the next models are released. The biggest month last year for new cd rewriter releases was June, with eight new dvd writers released that month. In April 2017, seven new dvd writers were released making it the biggest month that year for new optical disc drive releases. In 2016 most new dvd (re)writers were released in May, with eight new dvd (re)writers released that month.

How Fast Do Cd Writer Prices Drop After Release?

New cd (re)writers drop in price by an average of 6% in the first 6 months after they wer first released. On a typical new dvd rewriter costing $9, by waiting 6 months before buying you could save on average $1.

Disc Loading Types

The disc loading type refers to the mechanism by which the optical disc is loaded into the drive. Normally this is by placing the disc in a tray or by inserting it into a slot.

The most popular disc loading type amongst new cd rewriters is tray. We found 106 cd rewriters that are optical disc drives that have a tray loading. The second most popular disc loading type amongst new dvd (re)writers is slot. We found 29 dvd (re)writers that are dvd burners that have a slot loading.

Type

Type denotes whether the disc drive is meant to be placed internally into a computer, or used externally via USB.

Amongst new cd writers, the most popular type is internal. We found 78 cd writers that are internal dvd (re)writers. We found 50 cd rewriters that are external cd rewriters, making this the second most common type amongst new cd rewriters.

Optical Drive Types

The drive type denotes what type of disc (CD, DVD,etc) the drive is capable of reading.

Amongst new cd (re)writers, the most common optical drive type is DVD. We found 110 cd (re)writers that are cd burners that have a DVD Optical drive type. We found 25 cd rewriters that are cd (re)writers that have a Blu-Ray Optical drive type, making Blu-Ray the second most common optical drive type amongst new cd rewriters.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Optical Disc Drives?

The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying cd rewriters. For each retailer it shows the total number of cd rewriters where they currently have a market leading price. The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying cd rewriters. For each retailer we took all of their prices and looked at what proportion of those prices where the cheapest on the market. The cheapest retailer that we found was Walmart. 5 of their cd rewriter prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.

Proportion of Cd (Re)Writers for Which Each Retailer is Cheapest?

Assessing how cheap each retailer is for cd burners by counting the number of cheapest prices for that retailer, makes the retailers that offer the greatest number of dvd (re)writer prices more likely to offer the greatest number of cheapest prices. The chart below considers the proportion of each retailer's dvd (re)writer prices that are the cheapest compared to other retailers. The cheapest retailer that we found using this approach was Pricefalls. 66.7% of their cd burner prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.