Optical drives are still practical for many users, whether to play old CDs and DVDs, install software, or create backups—especially with modern laptops, which are usually supplied without a drive.

I've been a Plextor fan forever, and I've got an old rig I use just for burning where the drive I use for extracting (an UltraPlex 40X SCSI CD-ROM) seems to have finally died.<BR><BR>(I've updated the ...

... that they stop working (this may vary, i.e. it may be only partially or fully) after no more than two or three years of usage ??<BR><BR><BR>You see, first I had a ...

We independently review everything we recommend. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more› By Arthur Gies Arthur Gies is an editor for Wirecutter's tech coverage. He's ...

If your CD/DVD drive takes more than a minute to recognise a disk, or your burner is starting to fail when you create discs, you need to take action. Fixing a dirty lens Clean the lens using a ...

I have just been re-reading your article on Backing up digital photos, and would like your opinion of using DVD-RAM discs for this purpose. I have used these for DVD recording and they seem to work ...

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. Laptops with a physical CD/DVD drive feel like relics of the past. But they do still exist. And no, they are not necessarily weird, unknown ...