Compare the Best Optical Disc DrivesJune 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.

Optical Disc Drive Prices

In total we found 18 cd rewriters ranging from $17 to $137. The average price of a new dvd burner is $62 and the 80% of dvd (re)writers are priced between $24 and $94. The most expensive dvd burner that we found is the Asus SBW-06D2X-U at $137, and the cheapest is the Verbatim External Slimline CD/DVD Writer at only $18.

Cd Burner Brands - Price Range

The highest average dvd rewriter price out of all brands is Transcend dvd writers with an average price of $41. Transcend dvd writers range in price from $41 to $41.

Buffalo dvd burners start at $0 and their most expensive dvd burner costs $79. The average price of Buffalo dvd burners is $32 which is the second highest average price of all dvd burner brands.

Apple dvd rewriters range in price from $0 to $84, and the third highest average dvd (re)writer price out of all brands is Apple dvd rewriters with an average price of $28.

Cd Writer Brands - Average Ratings

We have analysed 19 expert reviews and 3,425 user reviews for cd burners and used this data to calculate the average rating for each brand of dvd rewriter.

Biggest Cd Rewriter Retailers

The biggest cd burner retailer by number of products currently for sale is Adorama. We found 10 current cd burner offers from Adorama. The second biggest retailer is Overstock with 7 offers. That means Adorama is significantly bigger than Overstock when it comes to dvd rewriters. Walmart is the third biggest retailer with 6 current offers.

When Are Most New Dvd Writers Released?

April to June is the most common period for new cd writers to be released in. That means that most of the latest dvd writer technology was released in within the last 3 months, and now is good time to buy. In June 2018, eight new cd burners were released making it the biggest month that year for new cd (re)writer releases. In 2017 most new cd (re)writers were released in April, with seven new cd (re)writers released that month. The biggest month in 2016 for new optical disc drive releases was May, with eight new cd (re)writers released that month.

How Fast Do Cd Burner Prices Drop After Release?

In the first 6 months after release, dvd (re)writers drop in price by 6% on average. That means that on a typical cd (re)writer costing $8 you could save on average $1 by waiting 6 months before buying.

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.

We found 109 cd rewriters that are cd rewriters that have a tray loading, which makes tray the most frequently found disc loading type amongst new cd rewriters. The second most popular disc loading type amongst new cd writers is slot. We found 29 cd 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.

Internal is the most popular type amongst new dvd rewriters. We found 79 dvd rewriters that are internal cd burners. We found 51 dvd (re)writers that are external cd rewriters, making external the second most common type amongst new dvd (re)writers.

Optical Drive Types

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

We found 112 cd writers that are cd burners that have a dvd Optical drive type, which makes dvd the most common optical drive type amongst new cd writers. We found 26 cd writers that are dvd writers that have a blu-ray Optical drive type, making this the second most frequently found optical drive type amongst new cd writers.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Cd Rewriters?

The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying dvd burners. For each retailer it shows the total number of dvd burners where they currently have a market leading price. The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying optical disc drives. 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 writer prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.

Proportion of Dvd Burners for Which Each Retailer is Cheapest?

Assessing how cheap each retailer is for dvd burners by counting the number of cheapest prices for that retailer, makes the retailers that offer the greatest number of cd writer prices more likely to offer the greatest number of cheapest prices. The chart below considers the proportion of each retailer's cd writer prices that are the cheapest compared to other retailers. The cheapest retailer that we found using this approach was Walmart. 83.3% of their cd burner prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.