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An optical drive is a device that uses a laser to read from and write data onto a large number of popular disc formats such as CDs and DVDs. Optical drives can be internal as well as external and allow you to store huge amounts of data. Compact Disc (CD) drives and Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) drives are the two most commonly used optical drives. High Definition optical drives, LightScribe drives, SuperDrives and magneto-optical drives are some of the latest innovations.
There are basically three types of optical disc formats used in optical drives – CDs, DVDs and HD discs. A CD comes with a storage capacity of 650 to 700MB whereas a DVD has a storage capacity of 4.7GB. HD discs are excellent for storing high-definition video signals and come with storage capacities that range from 25GB to more than 200GB. CDs are excellent for saving all kinds of audio, pictures and text data. Almost all computer software is distributed on CD while DVDs are preferred for copying video and movies, besides computer software.
The CD-Recordable drive is used to write data onto a writable CD, which can then be read by any CD-ROM (Read Only Memory) drive. This is a specialised optical drive that can only read data and cannot record any data onto a disk. A CD-R/RW drive is used to read from as well as record, erase and re-record data onto CDs. Such CDs can be read from any other CD or DVD drives or played on CD and DVD players. When buying a CD-ROM, ensure that it has 32X or a higher speed and can support other CD formats such as CD-R and CD-RW.
A DVD drive works similarly to a CD drive and supports a variety of DVD formats. DVD-R/RW drives are ideal for recording and storing movies and video onto DVD discs as they have a higher storage capacity. The latest products to hit the market are the multi format DVD recordable drives that support both the DVD+R/+RW and the DVD-R/-RW formats.
High-definition optical drives are used to read and write on media with a higher storage capacity than a DVD such as a Blu-ray disc or a HD DVD disc. A Blu-ray disc has a storage capacity of 25GB and a dual layered Blu-ray disc can hold up to 50GB of data. The HD DVDs are designed to store from 15GB to 30GB of high-definition video and other data. These discs can be run on High Definition DVD ROM drives.
A magneto-optical drive writes on a specially designed magneto-optical disc. A SuperDrive reads and writes on all kinds of CDs and DVDs. A LightScribe drive etches graphics and text in monochrome on top of a disc and burns data on the other side.
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Dealtime.co.uk Popular Products : Optical Drives
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