Does your laptop have an optical drive

I went to Best Buy tonight for the first time in several months (okay maybe two and a half tops) and I was surprised to see quite a few laptops that excluded optical drives in an effort to be super thin and light. I suppose they are trying to follow the macbook air. That made me wonder how many people here have a laptop without an optic drive.

So do you have one or not? Personally I do and can't imagine going without it since I constantly watch dvd's on my laptop.

I'm not a laptop fan, mostly because no one builds my box but me. That being said, the only time I use my optical drive is for installing things. For storage I mostly use external hard drives or my FTP server.

Haven't owned a laptop since I was in the military.

Haven't owned a laptop since I was in the military.

airshocker

Nope. I use my desktop to rip and convert DVDs into .m4v files and just copy them over to my netbook for when I'm travelling (which also saves on battery life and having to worry about carting around a bunch of discs).

The other thing is you can always just pick up an USB external DVD drive for ~$30. That way you have a drive if you need it but don't have to worry about the extra weight when you don't.

Nope. I use my desktop to rip and convert DVDs into .m4v files and just copy them over to my netbook for when I'm travelling (which also saves on battery life and having to worry about carting around a bunch of discs).

The other thing is you can always just pick up an USB external DVD drive for ~$30. That way you have a drive if you need it but don't have to worry about the extra weight when you don't.

Slow_Show

Why do you use a proprietary .m4v format?

Why not just convert the raw DVD .vob files into more standardized h.264 .mp4 or .mkv files?

I went to Best Buy tonight for the first time in several months (okay maybe two and a half tops) and I was surprised to see quite a few laptops that excluded optical drives in an effort to be super thin and light. I suppose they are trying to follow the macbook air.

Serraph105

They're different types of laptops for different uses. What you saw were probably Ultrabooks.

Ultrabooks
Netbooks
Notebooks
Gaming~

My netbooks no haz one. My desktop ran outta sata cables for drives anyway.

I went to Best Buy tonight for the first time in several months (okay maybe two and a half tops) and I was surprised to see quite a few laptops that excluded optical drives in an effort to be super thin and light. I suppose they are trying to follow the macbook air. That made me wonder how many people here have a laptop without an optic drive.

So do you have one or not? Personally I do and can't imagine going without it since I constantly watch dvd's on my laptop.

Serraph105

My Toshiba A215-s4757 has an optical drive. My Toshiba NB-300 has none built-in. But, I do have an external USB2 LG DVD burner for it.

My wife's matching NB300 has none. Her Sager and the kid's HP laptops have optical drives.

And that was used for predator missiles.Fightingfan

Psh, more like porn and dirty e-mails to all the girls back home.

I have a 10" HP Netbook so no, it doesn't have an optical drive.

[QUOTE="Slow_Show"]

Nope. I use my desktop to rip and convert DVDs into .m4v files and just copy them over to my netbook for when I'm travelling (which also saves on battery life and having to worry about carting around a bunch of discs).

The other thing is you can always just pick up an USB external DVD drive for ~$30. That way you have a drive if you need it but don't have to worry about the extra weight when you don't.

peterw007

Why do you use a proprietary .m4v format?

Why not just convert the raw DVD .vob files into more standardized h.264 .mp4 or .mkv files?

I think Handbrake defaults to .m4v when rendering iPod/iPad-compatible files. I'm assuming he's using Handbrake.

I think Handbrake defaults to .m4v when rendering iPod/iPad-compatible files. I'm assuming he's using Handbrake.

jun_aka_pekto

I think Handbrake defaults to .m4v when rendering iPod/iPad-compatible files. I'm assuming he's using Handbrake.

jun_aka_pekto

Yeah, I originally was using Handbrake to convert to .mkv but got tired of compatibility issues and wasn't willing to learn another program.

Yes, yes it does. It would be torture if it didn't have one.

The one for work doesn't, don't have a personal one.

It has one but the HP mini my wife bought a few months ago doesn't. I only really use it to rip CDs I buy. With the world moving to digital distribution I wouldn't be surprised to see video game systems released in 20 years lacking any type of optical drive being the norm instead of the exception.

I went to Best Buy tonight for the first time in several months (okay maybe two and a half tops) and I was surprised to see quite a few laptops that excluded optical drives in an effort to be super thin and light. I suppose they are trying to follow the macbook air. That made me wonder how many people here have a laptop without an optic drive.

So do you have one or not? Personally I do and can't imagine going without it since I constantly watch dvd's on my laptop.

Serraph105

I have a blu-ray player in my laptop so yes. I don't know why the hell you would opt to not have a drive at all, but there are some people that don't need it and it serves their needs I suppose.

Nope... I have an external optical drive but I've used it a total of 3 times...

I think one of the main reasons, which was already mentioned, is the idea of digital distribution. I have very few physical games left anymore and I don't see that changing very much. Most people have been moving towards digital downloads which the market reflects. I love movies however, and I like owning physical copies which I can watch whenever I want.

Yeah and I wouldn't buy one unless it had one.

I think one of the main reasons, which was already mentioned, is the idea of digital distribution. I have very few physical games left anymore and I don't see that changing very much. Most people have been moving towards digital downloads which the market reflects. I love movies however, and I like owning physical copies which I can watch whenever I want.

starfox15

So, Desktops don't have optical drives? Guess the wierd cartridge that has the letters "DVD" on it is a cup holder :)

But other than that, I don't think I've seen a laptop that doesn't have one.

So, Desktops don't have optical drives? Guess the wierd cartridge that has the letters "DVD" on it is a cup holder :)

But other than that, I don't think I've seen a laptop that doesn't have one.

jesuschristmonk

[QUOTE="jesuschristmonk"]

So, Desktops don't have optical drives? Guess the wierd cartridge that has the letters "DVD" on it is a cup holder :)

But other than that, I don't think I've seen a laptop that doesn't have one.

Serraph105

I have one, I have probably only used it once in around 7 months.

Yes, but I'd prefer it if it doesn't. It's just a waste of space and weight, it's as obsolete as a floppy disk reader.

[QUOTE="Serraph105"]

I went to Best Buy tonight for the first time in several months (okay maybe two and a half tops) and I was surprised to see quite a few laptops that excluded optical drives in an effort to be super thin and light. I suppose they are trying to follow the macbook air.

Blue-Sky

They're different types of laptops for different uses. What you saw were probably Ultrabooks.

Ultrabooks
Netbooks
Notebooks
Gaming~

Yes, but I'd prefer it if it doesn't. It's just a waste of space and weight, it's as obsolete as a floppy disk reader.

notsoawesome

Yeah, I use it for watching DVDs when I don't want to get out of bed, as well as for a recovery CD that runs a backup/restore program.

They're a bare essential for desktops, especially for games that require a CD/DVD.

You mean a CD drive? Yes, it does.

i can't help but feel optical drives are pretty useless on any computer. on my gaming desktop i used my optical drive twice. once to install windows, and another time to install drivers for the wi-fi module. of course, the drivers were probably available on the internet and i made an image of the disk anyway. since then, i disconnected the power and data cables since there's really no point. on the laptops that i've used in the last 4 years or so i've never had to use the optical drive. total waste. a single external optical drive is all anyone needs.

Kh1ndjal

[QUOTE="Kh1ndjal"]i can't help but feel optical drives are pretty useless on any computer. on my gaming desktop i used my optical drive twice. once to install windows, and another time to install drivers for the wi-fi module. of course, the drivers were probably available on the internet and i made an image of the disk anyway. since then, i disconnected the power and data cables since there's really no point. on the laptops that i've used in the last 4 years or so i've never had to use the optical drive. total waste. a single external optical drive is all anyone needs.

BuryMe