Difference between 16x DVD +/- RW Drive ...and... 16x DVD+/-RW & 16x DVD Drives

zoe

With a Dell PC there is the option to purchase either;

16x DVD +/- RW Drive
or
16x DVD+/-RW & 16x DVD Drives

So the difference appears to be that the second option has a 16x DVD Drive which first option doesn't.

I don't really understand what this means?

16x DVD +/- RW Drive seems to already be a DVD Drive, so what's the additional 16x DVD Drive?

Thanks

SeanW

Probably means a DVD+/-RW drive and second drive, that being the DVD ROM.

zoe

So with option one I can play DVDs and record onto a DVD, is that right?

But I'm still not sure what the additional 16x DVD Drive in the second drive is for? What would someone require this second drive on which DVDs can also be played if the 16x DVD +/- RW Drive can already play DVDs?

monkey tennis

For easy copying. Same reason many people used to have a CD writer and a seperate CD ROM drive.

Khannie

It's offering a drive that's a reader + burner and a drive that's only a reader.

As monkey said: if you don't intend copying a lot of dvd's there's no need for the additional reader.

zoe

So with the first option I would only be able to play DVDs, but with the second option I would be able to play DVDs and also copy what is on one DVD onto another DVD.

Is that right?

With both options I suppose I would also be able to record onto a CD?

Soundman

1) 16x DVD+- Read and write both DVDs and CDs

2) 16x DVD Read DVDs and CDs ONLY


Put DVD into #2 and blank media into #1. Record from #2 onto #1


Clear enough?

po0k

You only need the first option ie. a dvd RW drive.
It'll read and write dvds.
You'd be better off buying a second DVD burner later on if you want a second drive than paying Dell's extortionate prices for a bare reader.

K.O.Kiki

Well... €24 built-in vs €17+shipping?
Not that bad a deal... unless that DVD-ROM drive doesn't include CD±RW capability, in which case off to Dabs or Komplett ya go

Khannie

zoe wrote:

So with the first option I would only be able to play DVDs, but with the second option I would be able to play DVDs and also copy what is on one DVD onto another DVD.

Is that right?

No....With both options you'll be able to copy dvd's. The more expensive option just makes it slightly faster to do so.

You should go with the cheaper option.

zoe wrote:

With both options I suppose I would also be able to record onto a CD?

Yup.

dubmick

also on the fly recording isn't that reliable.

zoe

Thanks very much for the help and info!

I'll just get the first option.

SeanW

Having 2 DVD drives has other advantages:

If you play a game a lot, and it requires the CD in the drive, you can be really lazy and leave the game disk in one of the drives and use the other for more transient uses.

It's a fast way of de-regioning your computer to play DVDs from more than one region code, i.e. set one of the drives to region 2 (PAL - Ireland) and the other to a desired code, Usually 1 (NTSC - USA)

But I would suggest buying the second drive seperately.

Firstly you can get a DVD+-RW from Komplett for €35, it's also a good idea to get a different brand of DVD drive because some makes of drive have problems with some brands of DVD. You could end up with a "Jack Sprat" case where the disc won't work in the drive you intended, but will work in the other. From personal experience, I also tend to find RW drives more reliable than ROMs at reading home-recorded discs.

zoe

Thanks Sean,

yeah I'll try without the additional drive and then if I need the extra one, I'll buy one later on. It seems that many of the Dell add-ons can be purchased later at lower cost.