Are optical drives dead?

[sean16]

Are optical drives on PCs really a thing anymore?

I've noticed in the past few years that most PCs don't seem to have optical drives for reading discs and most builds on here seem to always come without one. I know there's been a major shift from physical to digital content but are they really that useless nowadays?

I have an optical drive on my PC from 2014 and, call me old fashioned, but there's still some sense of comfort in being able to read old discs. Not that I have to use them much any more, I have a few old DVD-ROMs lying around and some CDs (both pretty much useless considering they're old games I don't play and thanks to Spotify), but an optical drive just seems like a handy tool to have if the need were to ever arise where you had to load a disc.

I ask this because I'm looking at getting a new PC and wonder if I should include an optical drive in my build. It's not a necessity and I'm not even sure if most case designs on here support the implementation of a drive, but I dunno, it would be a nice thing to have.

Are they really no longer that necessary? I feel like I'm just being sentimental.

 

[AgentCooper]

Are optical drives on PCs really a thing anymore?

I've noticed in the past few years that most PCs don't seem to have optical drives for reading discs and most builds on here seem to always come without one. I know there's been a major shift from physical to digital content but are they really that useless nowadays?

I have an optical drive on my PC from 2014 and, call me old fashioned, but there's still some sense of comfort in being able to read old discs. Not that I have to use them much any more, I have a few old DVD-ROMs lying around and some CDs (both pretty much useless considering they're old games I don't play and thanks to Spotify), but an optical drive just seems like a handy tool to have if the need were to ever arise where you had to load a disc.

I ask this because I'm looking at getting a new PC and wonder if I should include an optical drive in my build. It's not a necessity and I'm not even sure if most case designs on here support the implementation of a drive, but I dunno, it would be a nice thing to have.

Are they really no longer that necessary? I feel like I'm just being sentimental.

They’ve become less and less important as time has progressed. The bundled CD’s with you get with things like printers are increasingly out of date and small print tends to direct you to the manufacturer’s website to get the appropriate drivers. Likewise with games, physical media for PC is fast becoming extinct.

There’s still a place for them, but it’ll depend on your needs. I have many discs but I don’t use them often enough that purchasing a case with an appropriate drive bay seemed necessary. I just bought a cheap USB external DVD player and drag it out when required.

 

[Martinr36]

I've got 2 externals, one for the desktop and one for the laptop, and about the only time they get used is when I update or reinstall my video editing software (yes i buy the disc version, rather than download)

 

[ubuysa]

I've got 2 externals, one for the desktop and one for the laptop, and about the only time they get used is when I update or reinstall my video editing software (yes i buy the disc version, rather than download)

Whenever I get software on a DVD I always copy it to a folder on an HDD - I have a folder that just holds installation software. I do have a DVD drive but long experience has taught me that they do become unreadable and are often fussy about which drive they will work in...

 

[NoddyPirate]

I've got 2 externals, one for the desktop and one for the laptop, and about the only time they get used is when I update or reinstall my video editing software (yes i buy the disc version, rather than download)

External drives are so cheap these days that it seems like the way to go given how infrequently one will use Optical drives.

On my last little horror of a PC I was intending to remove the DVD Drive (or disconnect it at least as a giant hole on the front of the case wouldn't have been too attractive) and use it's SATA connection for an additional SSD instead. I didn't get around to it, but the idea was based on the fact that I had used the DVD drive a grand total of twice in the previous 5 years......

 

[TonyCarter]

Ditto everything that's been said above.

External DVD/CD/Blu-Ray (strangely the CD Writer is faster burning CDs than the newer Blu-Ray one) - and they're very easy to 'install' as the only need a USB cable (and sometimes a power brick for the blu-ray options). Easy to replace/upgrade, and can be swapped between the 4 machines I use for that sort of stuff.

 

[DarTon]

I felt exactly the same way as the OP when trying to spec my recent PCS PC. Virtually none of the cases seems to have a space for a 5.25 DVD drive. I found this pretty annoying given that the width of cases like the Corsair 5000 Airflow was identical to my Corsair Obsidian Airflow.

I just bought a USB3 to Sata/IDE adapter for <£20 (has external power supply) and that allows me to use the DVD/Blueray/HDDs that I've ripped out of old PCs. DVD-drives can be finnicky about reading old media, so using the original drive that wrote the archive over a decade ago is often better than using a new external one.

It's also allowed me to move to a smaller case. With just two NVMe SSD drives and no HDDs or SATA drives internally, I could move to the smaller Corsair 4000 Airflow and still have loads of space. No drives to get in the way of airflow.