Optical drives were once so common that virtually every computer came with one, or even two. Now this storage solution is quickly becoming obsolete — it's increasingly rare to find a mainstream ...

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.

The best optical drives for your computer allow you to use or create discs even when your PC doesn't have a drive built in. Many of the best laptops, modern cheap laptops, and even desktops have ...

FM TOWNS, Taiyo Yuden, Pioneer, Plextor, Sanyo Electric. And MediaTek. Deciphering the rise and fall of the PC industry ...

One of the most interesting parts of the recent Apple Mac Mini and MacBook Air refresh is that Apple is moving away from optical drives. Apple isn't the only company to do so, raising the question "Is ...

I haven't purchased an optical disc drive (ODD) for my PC since...actually, I don't even recall the last time I bought one. It's even been a minute since I owned a PC with a 5.25-inch drive bay to ...

So I just hooked up my optical drive for the first time since moving to Windows 10. It's probably been about 18 months since I last used it, and I purchased it back in 2009. I ripped a new music CD I ...

It's the early 2000s, and you're tired of listening to random songs on the radio while driving. The iPod was just invented, MP3 players are still in their infancy, and cars don't support auxiliary ...

Optical storage can last a century, give faster access to data, and is backward compatible with earlier optical technology, yet disk drives and tape rule in long-term storage. Optical media is the ...

The FIC Condor is a great small-formfactor case, no doubt about it. Only problem is that I've killed several optical drives by installing and trying to operate them in the vertical slot that is the ...