More recently, the presence of a CD-drive inside the computer case testified to its belonging to elite office equipment, because not everyone, as they say, could afford it. However, scientific and technological progress very quickly made disk drives for laser discs commonplace. And now there are also external drives.
An external drive is a compact device that reads and writes information from disks. It connects to a computer through one of the ports, and is identified as "external" precisely because it is located not inside the case of the system unit or laptop, but outside. Moreover, this quality has an important advantage associated with the ability to connect to various computers or floppy drives. After all, it can be easily carried and taken with you, for example, on the road.
When you need an external drive
The need to use an external drive is obvious not only because of its preferred portability and versatility associated with versatility for computing devices. In fact, there are a lot of situations with the use of an external drive. Users of netbooks, for example, find it hard to imagine life without them. After all, due to the compactness of netbooks in their case, there was simply no place to build an internal drive. Hence the natural problem of acquiring an external device for laser discs arises.
Ease of connecting an external CD-drive is connected with switching through a regular USB port. By the way, potential buyers of netbooks should know that their equipment, as a rule, also provides for the presence of an external device for working with laser discs. And for those who often use internal drives, for example, in laptops, the situation is familiar when they can fail. In this case, as an alternative to a possible expensive repair, you can purchase an external drive.
In addition, when you need to rewrite data from one laser medium to another without transferring information to a hard disk, the option using an external drive is simply necessary. A comparison with the epic "two-cassette players" is appropriate here. Thus, the scope of application of external drives for computers and laptops is simply unlimited.
Varieties of external drives, their advantages and disadvantages
The classification of external drives depends on many aspects of their application. So, they differ in the availability of the ability to record, the power supply option, the type of switching through the computer port, the types of readable disks and other features of operation.
Thus, external drives are mainly classified into the following types:
- DVD-drives recognize discs of the "CD" and "DVD" formats (the most common now);
- Blu-Ray devices work, respectively, with discs in the Blu-Ray format and, of course, with the CD and DVD formats;
- CD-drives capable of writing and reading exclusively "blank discs" (they are already quite rare today);
- writing and non-writing prefixes differ in the ability to write information in addition to reading it (the latter are already a rarity today);
- devices that receive power through a special power supply unit or through a USB connector.
The unified approach of external drive manufacturers eliminates their division into devices for personal computers and laptops. Therefore, users of PCs, laptops and netbooks do not need to worry about the type of computer device when it comes to purchasing an external drive.
As an independent device, external drives have a number of indisputable advantages over the built-in analogue, which include the following:
- the ability to use on various computer devices, which, by definition, cannot be done with an internal drive;
- quick and easy duplication of the internal device in the event of its failure;
- use in devices, the design of which does not imply the presence of floppy drives at all (for example, for netbooks and tablets);
- compact dimensions, modern appearance and ease of connection.
However, external laser drives have their weak points. These include the following characteristics:
- low speed, which is directly related to the connection of an external drive through the USB port, which in any case works slower than the internal system ports;
- the need for a separate power supply on many models of "external" (via a USB port or through a stationary power supply);
- low quality power supplies that quickly fail; moreover, it is almost impossible to choose a specific power supply unit to replace a burnt-out element, which makes it necessary to completely replace the external drive;
- higher cost than the built-in analogue.
Connection procedure
The ease of connecting an external device for laser discs is a great asset. After all, switching this drive through a standard USB cable to a similar connector on the computer case and to a regular outlet in the 220 V and 50 Hz power supply system allows us to talk about the maximum adaptation of external drives to modern computer technology.
Of course, if necessary, you can install drivers and additional software, but, as a rule, this is not necessary. After all, modern standard tools allow you to work quite correctly with a newly connected drive, which is perfectly recognized by the computer system.
How to choose the right drive
When choosing an external drive, you must take into account the format of the computer port. So, if a computer or laptop has a USB 2.0 port, then you need to buy only such a drive, since this directly affects the speed of the process of reading and writing information. If there is a choice, it is advisable to give preference to devices, the combined power supply of which can be carried out both through the USB port and through the standard power supply system.
Such a redundant power system will be able to guarantee uninterrupted operation of external equipment in the event that the power supply burns out, given the possibility of recharging from the computer device itself. Accordingly, it is advantageous to be able to operate external drives in stand-alone mode, for example, when the netbook user is on the road.
If you have a choice, you should give preference to those models of external cd dvd drives that can read and write as many of the existing formats as possible. In addition, it is important to understand that it is universality that comes first, and not any secondary and little-demanded functions. After all, you should not make the choice of an important console, based only on the number of functions, which, moreover, do not cause professional necessity, but are based only on curiosity.
Of course, the appearance of the external drive also influences the choice. Since a beautiful design can always decorate the workplace. When reviewing the speed qualities of an external drive, you should not rely on the highest-speed samples, since the standard 52 speeds will be enough under standard operating conditions. In addition, it should be borne in mind that recording information at high speeds is often incorrect. Plus, the motor of the external drive can break down if you use this operating mode frequently.
Regarding the priority brands and manufacturers of external drives, it can be noted that the thematic consumer market is currently characterized by perfect stability. That is, there are no outspoken leaders or outsiders. Of course, most of the models presented have their own characteristic strengths and weaknesses, and the market itself is developing rapidly. Therefore, it would not be superfluous to advise this: before buying an external drive for laser drives, you should monitor the market and make a deliberate choice.
