Holiday Buyers' Guide: Cases, Power, and Storage

Optical Drives

Unless you are on a network, just about the only way to install all of your programs is via CD/DVD. While just about any CD/DVD drive will work for this purpose, we have gathered a few of favorites that excel in writing, reading, and playback functions and do not break the bank.

What will break the bank (though not as badly as the MTRON SSD) are the HD-DVD or Blu-ray drives that are available on the PC. The HD format wars continue unabated and the result is a mixture of drives available on the PC. Here, Blu-ray definitely has the advantage, as several drives are available that write to the Blu-ray format and a couple even offers Blu-ray Write/Playback along with HD-DVD playback capabilities.

We still have no idea when the HD-DVD writers will show up on the desktop - or if they ever will. Toshiba announced the SD-H903A (2.4X HD-DVD+/-R Dual Layer Write) HD-DVD drive at CES 2007 and then proceeded to keep the drives under wraps for the next nine months. We have heard of a few out in the wild, but volume shipments are just not occurring right now. This same pattern holds true for the HD-DVD playback drives with our only test sample being the SD-H802A that features 2.4X HD DVD-ROM, 5X DVD-R/RW, 5X DVD+R/RW, 5X DVD-ROM, and 15X (Ouch!) CD-ROM/CD-R/CD-RW capabilities.

The least expensive way to get HD-DVD playback on the PC is to utilize the XBOX 360 HD-DVD drive, unless the recently announced ASUS HR-0205T undercuts its price and is available in volume. The Blu-ray camp is in better shape on the PC side with several drives available from Pioneer, Plextor, Sony, and LG. Although expensive, at least the options are available with writing capacities reaching 50GB currently.

We have finally seen the big push for most CD/DVD drives to move from the PATA interface to a SATA interface. It seems as though manufacturers have solved most of the compatibility problems that arose with the early SATA optical drives, and we should see the death of PATA later next year in this sector.

CD/DVD Writer

Samsung SH-203 CD/DVD Writer - $34
The SH-203 is capable of 20x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW and 12x DVD-RAM writing speeds. The drive also features 16x DVD+R DL and 12x DVD-R DL writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 16x. Other features include 48x CD reading and writing speeds, 32x rewriting speeds, Super Link 2MB buffer, SATA interface, and a Nero 7 software bundle.

Blu-ray Playback

Pioneer BDC-202 Blu-ray Disc/DVD/CD Combo Drive - $280
The BDC-202 offers 5x read speeds on BD-ROM, BD-R, and BD-RE Blu-ray single layer discs and 2x speeds on dual layer discs. The drive also features 12x DVD±R, 6x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW and 5x DVD-RAM writing speeds. The drive is capable of 4x DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 12x. Other features include 32x CD-R reading, 24x writing/rewriting speeds, and a SATA interface.

Blu-ray Writer/ HD-DVD Playback

LG GGW-H10NI Super Multi Blue Drive - $899
It is hard for us to recommend an optical drive in this price range, but this drive sets the standard for Blu-ray writing speeds and also offers very good HD-DVD playback capabilities. On the other hand, you could purchase the previous LG GBW-H10N or a mid-range Sony/Lite-On Blu-ray drive, an XBOX 360 HD-DVD player, and pocket a couple of hundred dollars to buy some movies and popcorn. The GGW-H10NI writes to BD-R media at 4x, BD-RE/BD-R DL media at 2x, and offers 4x read speeds on BD-ROM, BD-R, and BD-RE Blu-ray single layer discs and 3.2x speeds on dual layer discs. The drive also offers 8x DVD±R, 6x DVD-RW, and 4x DVD±R DL writing speeds. Also included are DVD read speeds of 12x and HD-DVD reads speeds of 3x.

Other Options

Outside of Blu-ray/HD-DVD support, most optical drives these days are very similar. We are at the point where branding often doesn't make a big difference for the majority of users. If you need other options, consider the following.

Plextor PX-608CU Super Multi Portable DVD Drive - $149

LG GSA-E10L External LightScribe DVD Rewriter - $65

ASUS DRW-2014L1T LightScribe DVD Rewriter - $39

LITE-ON 20X DH-20A3H-06 DVD±R DVD Rewriter - $29