Compare the Best Optical Disc DrivesJuly 2018

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.

Cd Burner Prices

In total we found 51 cd rewriters ranging from $16 to $299. On average, a new cd writer costs $62 and 80% of cd burners are priced between $21 and $115. The Acer DVD Writer is the most expensive optical disc drive that we found at $299, and the LG GH24NSC0 is the cheapest at only $17.

Cd (Re)Writer Brands - Price Range

I-O Data cd burners range in price from $119 to $119, and the highest average cd rewriter price out of all brands is I-O Data cd burners with an average price of $119.

The second highest average cd rewriter price out of all brands is Acer cd rewriters with an average price of $100. Acer cd rewriters start at $0 and their most expensive cd rewriter costs $299.

Lenovo cd (re)writers range in price from $0 to $115, and the third highest average dvd burner price out of all brands is Lenovo cd (re)writers with an average price of $58.

Cd Writer Brands - Average Ratings

We have analysed 27 expert reviews and 2,909 user reviews for cd rewriters written online and used this data to determine the average rating for each brand of cd writer.

Biggest Dvd Writer Retailers

The biggest optical disc drive retailer by number of products currently for sale is Amazon US. We found 32 current optical disc drive offers from Amazon US. The second biggest retailer is Pricefalls with 10 offers. That means Amazon US is over 3 times bigger than Pricefalls when it comes to dvd burners. Walmart is the third biggest retailer with 3 current offers.

When Are Most New Cd Writers Released?

We couldn't see any noticeable pattern in the release dates for new optical disc drives over the last 3 years. The biggest month last year for new dvd burner releases was April, with seven new cd rewriters released that month. In September 2016 nine new cd writers were released making it the biggest month that year for new cd (re)writer releases. July was the biggest month in 2015 for new cd writers, with 11 new cd writers released that month.

How Fast Do Dvd Writer Prices Drop After Release?

In the first 6 months after release, dvd rewriters drop in price by 2% on average. That means that on a typical dvd rewriter costing $25 you could save on average $0 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.

Tray is the most popular disc loading type amongst new cd rewriters. We found 98 cd rewriters that are cd burners that have a tray loading. We found 28 dvd rewriters that are cd (re)writers that have a slot loading, making this the second most frequently found disc loading type amongst new dvd rewriters.

Type

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

We found 70 dvd burners that are internal cd rewriters, which makes internal the most common type amongst new dvd burners. We found 51 dvd writers that are external dvd burners, making external the second most frequently found type amongst new dvd writers.

Optical Drive Types

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

Amongst new cd burners, the most common optical drive type is DVD. We found 106 cd burners that are cd rewriters that have a DVD Optical drive type. Blu-Ray is the second most common optical drive type amongst new cd (re)writers. We found 18 cd (re)writers that are dvd burners that have a Blu-Ray Optical drive type.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Dvd Burners?

The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying optical disc drives. For each retailer it shows the total number of optical disc drives where they currently have a market leading price. The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying dvd (re)writers. 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 Amazon US. 23 of their cd (re)writer prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.

Proportion of Cd Writers for Which Each Retailer is Cheapest?

Assessing how cheap each retailer is for cd (re)writers by counting the number of cheapest prices for that retailer, makes the retailers that offer the greatest number of dvd writer prices more likely to offer the greatest number of cheapest prices. The chart below considers the proportion of each retailer's dvd writer prices that are the cheapest compared to other retailers. The cheapest retailer that we found using this approach was Amazon US. 71.9% of their dvd (re)writer prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.