Optical drives let your computer read and interact with discs like CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays. While nearly every computer had them a few years ago, they're rare to see on new computers now. If you need ...

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 ...

One truism about computer hardware is that, once purchased, it immediately starts falling behind the leading edge of the technology curve. Consider the Dual-2.0GHz Power Mac G5 I purchased in ...

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 ...

Sometimes, you don't need the latest and greatest. Sometimes, all you need is something basic. If you're building a new machine and have no need for Blu-ray yet, Sony Optiarc has two new units that ...

When Apple announced new Macs last week, one thing that was notably absent from the new models presented was an optical drive. While Apple has been phasing out CD/DVD drives since the introduction of ...

HLDS (Hitachi-LG Data Storage) and TSST (Toshiba-Samsung Storage Technology) are soon to cease manufacturing of both CD-ROM and CD-RW drives. Not too big of a surprise since the last time I went ...

In the era of digital streaming, the market is full of wireless speakers that will play content from your smartphone or pull it down from the Internet directly over WiFi. But if you’re feeling a bit ...

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 ...

These days, very few of us use optical media on the regular. If we do, it’s generally with a slot-loading console or car stereo, or an old-school tray-loader in a desktop or laptop. This has been the ...

Apple declares mid-2012 MacBook Pro obsolete globally, ending support for laptops with optical drives. macOS Big Sur no longer supports this model. External SuperDrive available but needs USB-A ...

If you used or owned a laptop in the 2000s, you'd probably remember that it sported either a DVD or Blu-Ray drive for popping in installation discs, movies, and even the occasional album from your ...