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.

Dvd Writer Prices

In total we found 82 optical disc drives ranging from £5 to £217. A new dvd (re)writer costs on average £42 and 80% of dvd writers are priced between £12 and £77. The cheapest cd writer that we found is the DELL 338-BGN at only £5, and the most expensive is the Sonnet RACK-MIN-BDRW at £217.

Dvd (Re)Writer Brands - Price Range

Sonnet cd burners start at £217 and their most expensive dvd (re)writer costs £217. The average price of Sonnet cd burners is £217 which is the highest average price of all dvd (re)writer brands.

The second highest average dvd writer price out of all brands is I-O Data dvd writers with an average price of £154. I-O Data dvd writers range in price from £154 to £154.

The third highest average dvd (re)writer price out of all brands is Silverstone cd (re)writers with an average price of £81. Silverstone cd (re)writers range in price from £81 to £81.

Optical Disc Drive Brands - Average Ratings

We have checked 27 expert reviews and 2,909 user reviews for cd writers available online and used these reviews to determine the average rating for each brand of dvd burner.

Biggest Optical Disc Drive Retailers

We found 58 current offers for optical disc drives from Amazon UK making it the biggest cd burner retailer. That is more than twice as big as the second biggest retailer, Idealo UK for whom we found 28 current offers for optical disc drives. The third biggest retailer is Techdna with 15 current cd burner offers.

When Are Most New Cd Rewriters Released?

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

How Fast Do Optical Disc Drive Prices Drop After Release?

In the first 6 months after release, dvd (re)writers drop in price by 12% on average. If you are prepared to wait then you could save an average of £3 on a typical £29 new dvd writer 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 frequently found disc loading type amongst new cd burners. We found 98 cd burners that are cd writers that have a tray loading. We found 28 dvd (re)writers that are dvd writers that have a slot loading, making slot the second most popular disc loading type amongst new dvd (re)writers.

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 dvd (re)writers, which makes this the most common type amongst new dvd burners. We found 51 cd (re)writers that are external dvd rewriters, making external the second most common type amongst new cd (re)writers.

Optical Drive Types

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

DVD is the most popular optical drive type amongst new dvd writers. We found 106 dvd writers that are cd burners that have a DVD Optical drive type. We found 18 dvd burners that are dvd writers that have a Blu-Ray Optical drive type, making Blu-Ray the second most frequently found optical drive type amongst new dvd burners.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Cd Rewriters?

The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying cd burners. For each retailer it shows the total number of cd burners 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 UK. 32 of their dvd writer 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 optical disc drives by counting the number of cheapest prices for that retailer, makes the retailers that offer the greatest number of dvd burner prices more likely to offer the greatest number of cheapest prices. The chart below considers the proportion of each retailer's dvd burner prices that are the cheapest compared to other retailers. The cheapest retailer that we found using this approach was Amazon UK. 55.2% of their cd writer prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.