My DVD drive is packing in, what to get as an external DVD drive?

I've discovered (https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/390748) my DVD drive is packing in. While my beloved Football Manager and my gf's beloved Sims 3 still work, there will come a tme where I will stop being patient and realise I have other shit to play.

I bought X3 a few years ago, tried it a long time later, and thought it was broken so threw the disc away. Oops. I will need to play this game at some point, without paying £10 extra to get it on Steam. Plus, I like physical manuals.

Getting an external DVD rom drive is the answer, right? I already have an external disc drive, but it's CD-RW. Pah.

If this is the answer, what 'specs' (if any) should I look for when buying one? Any recommendation?

Stank you.

P.S. I put it in gaming because that's what I'll be using it for.

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Man. there are plenty of good internal combo drives of the Blue-Ray verity out there for less than $100.00 USD. check out http://www.maximumpc.com. They have never steered me wrong. Look for the Best Of tab and shock and amaze at the amount of free info you are getting.They even break them down to price points for the budget minded. But I like Lite On products for internal drives, why are you using an external drive for games anyway, bad idea for data transfer rate and forces the drive itself to work harder shortening its life!

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Quoting jeffalford,

reply 1

I'm assuming I'd have to put in an internal drive. Without killing it.

So are external drives a bad thing? Would data transfer matter considering games generally only use the CDs/DVDs for installing?

I thought blu-ray players didn't play DVDs. Blu-ray's a pointless fad anyway, I tells ya.

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Quoting Ozzy38,

reply 2

I'm assuming I'd have to put in an internal drive. Without killing it.

So are external drives a bad thing? Would data transfer matter considering games generally only use the CDs/DVDs for installing?

I thought blu-ray players didn't play DVDs. Blu-ray's a pointless fad anyway, I tells ya.

It would not matter much for games that only check to see if you have the disc. If you go for an external, if your computer has USB2 ports get a drive that can make use of the extra transfer speed (they may all be USB2 at this point, it is not something I keep track of). Blu-ray does DVDs, I should know as my internal drive reads Blu-ray. It is not a pointless fad thing when more space than DVDs can hold is needed.

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Yea Ozzy38, you would have to install it yourself. Not difficult at all Just open the case, find an empty drive bay use the cable and screws that came with it. you need to make sure that you get the right drive for your computer, Serial ATA or IDE are the most common choices right now. Plug in your cables in the right slot,

There should be an install guide that comes with it that should have pictures of the corresponding slots. BEFORE you open the case make sure to unplug the main power cable and press and hold the power button to discharge the capacitors and make sure to have your arm or other hand touching the inside of the case when poking around in there. This avoids Electro Static Discharge which can turn your computer into a nice end table. Make sure to plug the 4Pin power cable into the back of the drive. Then plug in the main power cable, mouse, keyboard, monitor, and sound cables back in. Should have told you to unplug those before opening Sorry! Don't put the side of the case back on yet, you might have to get back in there. Once all your cables are back in place hit the power button your Operating system should find new hardware and ask you to install drivers off the disk that came with it! If all that goes well, you are ready for prime time. Put the case side back on and replace screws and enjoy the $70USD you just save by not taking it to a computer shop.

Gwenion1 is right, now most games don't need constant access to the disk but if you watch a lot of movies or burn disk the data transfer rate does matter. I just read an article in Maximum PC saying that Toshiba has come up with a way ti jam 80 Gigs of data on one Blu-Ray disk. That makes it a fairly cheep solution for hard copy backups as compared to tape drives. A USB2.0 external drive is the easy way to avoid installation if you are not confident in digging around inside your system though. I have used them for laptops that didn't have a Combo drive to install software but on my desktop I want that sucker inside!!

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Thanks for the help. I have a policy of not fiddling inside, or someone else fiddling inside, a PC. Only for cleaning or if there is no other choice.

But I don't use my computer for burning discs or watching movies, only for internets, games and the odd bit of work. So I'll try my luck with an external one. Some games do ask for the CD to be in while playing the game, but I've never heard the thing whirr while playing one so don't think there would be an issue with data transfer.

Except for those old-ass Windows 95 games.

And blu-ray is a fad, like HD. You'll all see! I might wait until DV-ray Nitro discs and Ultimate Definition TVs come out in a few years mirite?

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No problem Ozzy38, yea it think larger hard drives and cheaper Ram have made constant disc access some what obsolete, I have built my last 2 PC's and am not planning on buying a pre-built one ever again. I like knowing what is in it and how it is put together. I will not pay some computer shop $45USD just to open the case. About Blu-Ray, who knows I still don't have one hell my monitor max. is 720P so I would have to spend some money to really use it for movies. One day something will replace it but I think it is here to stay for at least 5 years. I think I 'll reserve judgement until the price drops some more!

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