What disk reader do I buy? going nuts

[Tristerin]

Put in a bay accessory that can show you internal temps, control fans, media card reader, USB headers, etc etc etc.  Or use an ODD

 

Hell they even have ones that are literal cup holders but anything is better than an ODD.  I tricked out a Media Center last year...it had every option available that google could yield a result for.  In the end I decommissioned it lol and its all taken apart now.  Just sharing that, while I get it, its not worth it (cause Ive felt what you are feeling, acted on it, and wasted time and money)

[Windows95]

19 minutes ago, Tristerin said:

Put in a bay accessory that can show you internal temps, control fans, media card reader, USB headers, etc etc etc.  Or use an ODD

 

Hell they even have ones that are literal cup holders but anything is better than an ODD.  I tricked out a Media Center last year...it had every option available that google could yield a result for.  In the end I decommissioned it lol and its all taken apart now.  Just sharing that, while I get it, its not worth it (cause Ive felt what you are feeling, acted on it, and wasted time and money)

if i need to read a dvd it will be annoying pluging it tbh. its questionable that any of that is more useful than a odd, specially a cup holder lol

[Tristerin]

47 minutes ago, Windows95 said:

if i need to read a dvd it will be annoying pluging it tbh. its questionable that any of that is more useful than a odd, specially a cup holder lol

10-4, I shouldn't spend energy trying to convince you otherwise.  However your quest is simple, find one you like, pick it up and get the software you need - case closed.

 

If it were me, and when it was, I would opt to get one with all the current available disc options, like M-Disc etc since you can then at least "have it" 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

3 hours ago, SupaKomputa said:

Optical drive is dead.

3D TV is dead.

Get over it.

 

Optical Disks usage is down but still far from dead. I've found buying CDs, DVDs, and BDs, then ripping them usually gives me the best quality, often for the lowest price, especially if I can find them on a bargain table. Downloaded music rarely has accurate tagging of metadata, if it has it at all whereas I can get the data I need from the case inserts. Downloaded movies rarely has the extra features that comes with many DVDs and BDs.

3 hours ago, Windows95 said:

 

 

why does it require 2 usb ports? wtf

 

what if I need to read an external HDD and at the same time use this drive in a laptop? I would run out of usb ports

It's for additional power. USB 2.0 ports usually cannot provide the power needed to run them. It's possible a single USB 3.0 port would provide enough power to run it but that will vry from cpomputer to computer.

 

If a paucity of USB ports is an issue, try to find an external ODD that has its own power supply.

[Viper9]

19 hours ago, Windows95 said:

but what about the 5.25 bay on the fraktal R6? feels too empty without an ODD...

Just put the front panel on...