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If you’ve been checking out the latest laptops and desktop computers you’ve probably noticed that most of them no longer come with an optical drive.
In fact, DVD and Blueray drives are now quite rare in the latest models.
There are three primary reasons why computer manufacturers have started skipping the optical drives when designing new laptops: [Read more…]
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Question from Linda: I’m looking for a new laptop Rick and I’ve noticed that most of the new ones on the market today don’t come with an optical drive.
I have hundreds of CDs and DVDs that are filled with photos that I need to access on occasion so my new laptop needs to have a DVD drive.
I know I can buy an external DVD drive, but I’d prefer to have it built-in.
Why on earth are they making laptops without optical drives? [Read more…]
Many new laptops now come without an optical drive built-in, and that’s fine if you no longer have a need to play music or movies from DVDs, install software that’s distributed on discs, or back up your data onto blank writable DVDs.
But what if you still need access to an optical drive on occasion?
The easiest way to solve this problem is to purchase an inexpensive external USB optical drive. Just like external USB hard drives, these drives simply plug into an open USB port, allowing you to do everything you could do with an internal optical drive without the burden of the extra weight.
I recently had the opportunity to check out the Pawtec External USB 3.0 Aluminum 8X DVD-RW Optical Drive (#ad), and I really like it. [Read more…]
These days many laptops are shipped without a built-in optical drive. And in my opinion, that’s a good thing since our video and musical entertainment is now streamed to us instantly over the web.
Not having to include an optical drive means the computer manufacturers can sell their laptops for less while also reducing the laptop’s over-all weight.
That being said, many folks still have program installation files, music and movies on CDs and DVDs. If you’re one of them, you know that not having an optical drive at all is simply not an option for you. [Read more…]
Question from Ashley: Hey there! I just got a new Acer Aspire Touchscreen Laptop and I have an old game that I want to put on it. However, the new laptop doesn’t have an optical disk drive.
Is there any possible way to transfer a CD’s contents onto a USB drive so I can play the game on my laptop? Thanks so much!!!
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]