Compare the Best Optical Disc DrivesSeptember 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.

Dvd (Re)Writer Prices

The price range of dvd rewriters is from £10 to £103 and in total we found prices for 50 dvd rewriters. On average, a new dvd writer costs £40 and 80% of cd writers are priced between £12 and £79. The Fujitsu S26361F3718L2 is the most expensive dvd burner that we found at £103, and the Apple SuperDrive is the cheapest at only £10.

Dvd Rewriter Brands - Price Range

The highest average dvd writer price out of all brands is Pioneer dvd (re)writers with an average price of £59. Pioneer dvd (re)writers range in price from £23 to £95.

Verbatim cd burners range in price from £0 to £93, and the second highest average optical disc drive price out of all brands is Verbatim cd burners with an average price of £39.

Transcend cd writers start at £38 and their most expensive dvd burner costs £38. The average price of Transcend cd writers is £38 which is the third highest average price of all dvd burner brands.

Cd Burner Brands - Average Ratings

We have evaluated 18 expert reviews and 3,435 user reviews for optical disc drives and used this data to evaluate the average rating for each brand of dvd burner.

Biggest Dvd Writer Retailers

We found 29 current offers for cd burners from eBay making it the biggest dvd burner retailer. That is slightly bigger than the second biggest retailer, Amazon UK for whom we found 25 current offers for cd burners. The third biggest retailer is Ebuyer with 14 current dvd burner offers.

When Are Most New Dvd Writers Released?

April to June is the most common period for new cd burners to be released in. Eight new cd (re)writers were released in June 2018 making it the biggest month that year for new dvd (re)writer releases. In April 2017, seven new cd (re)writers were released making it the biggest month that year for new cd writer releases. In 2016 most new cd rewriters were released in September, with nine new cd rewriters released that month.

How Fast Do Dvd Writer Prices Drop After Release?

On average optical disc drives drop in price by 10% in the first 6 months after release.

A typical new cd rewriter costs on average £15. By waiting 6 months before buying you could save on average £2.

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 (re)writers. We found 109 cd (re)writers that are cd rewriters that have a tray loading. We found 29 cd (re)writers that are dvd burners that have a slot loading, making this the second most common disc loading type amongst new cd (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 79 cd (re)writers that are internal dvd rewriters, which makes this the most common type amongst new cd (re)writers. The second most frequently found type amongst new dvd rewriters is external. We found 51 dvd rewriters that are external cd writers.

Optical Drive Types

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

The most frequently found optical drive type amongst new dvd burners is dvd. We found 112 dvd burners that are dvd writers that have a dvd Optical drive type. We found 26 cd burners that are cd (re)writers that have a blu-ray Optical drive type, making blu-ray the second most common optical drive type amongst new cd burners.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Dvd Burners?

The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying dvd (re)writers. For each retailer it shows the total number of dvd (re)writers where they currently have a market leading price. The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying cd rewriters. 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 eBay. 16 of their optical disc drive 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 cd rewriters 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 eBay. 55.2% of their dvd rewriter prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.