CD/DWD RW units in these days

Martin · 2026-10-12 11:27:04

My old SATA CD/DVD RW unit acts up. I don't use it much but I do still have non-zero use for it. Looking around I find the only option new is external USB units. Anyone know how well they work with Linux?

I can find SATA units on the 2nd hand market. They are either conspicuously cheap or same price as cheaper new USB units.

/Martin

PackRat · 2026-10-12 13:14:50

The one I have works[ed] fine for burning data or making an audio CD/DVD. Watching a video was painfully janky, and many do not support BlueRay or newer formats.
What's your use case scenario?

I haven't used it for years.

Edit - still works. Burning data to the USB optical drive. Reading the data CD on the internal optical drive.

Even have a use for the CD afterwards:

Must be at least 5 years since using an optical drive. Had to burn some financial data to a CD several years back.

Sector11 · 2026-10-12 13:24:56

I had two. Both died. I have zero use for them.
I have two USB External drives, I use them for backup only.
They are slow.

Never tried installing a system on them but I would imagine they would be slow.

WizardofCOR · 2026-10-14 07:44:25

Have several in multiple machines - I still use them for a variety of purposes. Even have a blu-ray burner as well.
But I'm old-school - even have floppy drives and media. To me, all interfaces present opportunity - and having options can really help.

greenjeans · 2026-10-14 16:50:50

I still have some in several machines, don't get used often but there are a couple of cases for them:

1. I make backups of my work from time to time on DVD's just to have an extra hard-copy that I don't have to worry about anything electronically going bad.

2. A large focus of my work is resurrecting older hardware for folks in my community, and some older machines typically from the early 2010's will boot from the optical drive, but not from USB.

So I have a pretty good stash of DVD's and CD's. Last time I was at wal-mart they still had just a few of both for sale.

Last edited by greenjeans (2026-10-14 16:51:10)

johnraff · 2026-10-15 02:17:28

What about music players in cars? Do they all use USB sticks these days? I still write music to CDs sometimes.

Martin · 2026-10-15 07:00:27

johnraff wrote:

What about music players in cars? Do they all use USB sticks these days? I still write music to CDs sometimes.

USB stick as far as I know. Maybe even that is old tech by now. I went straight from cassette player to USB without participating in the CD players era for cars.

/Martin

greenjeans · 2026-10-15 15:35:35

johnraff wrote:

What about music players in cars? Do they all use USB sticks these days? I still write music to CDs sometimes.

I run Alpine head-units I bought some years ago, they have CD as well as USB, I tend to use USB but for some reason the wife has a fondness for burning mp3 CD's and using those, I think because on these particular units the CD player will display the metadata (artist/song title) on it's display, but the USB will not, it just display a folder/track number.

johnraff · 2026-10-16 02:09:19

One thing about CDs - they're very cheap, like last time I bought a pack of 10~20 they were about 30yen each. (~20¢)
So if you just want to give someone some music or a bit of software they can be handier than upload/download, as well as the privacy aspect. USB sticks cost quite a bit more.

greenjeans · 2026-10-17 15:18:01

johnraff wrote:

One thing about CDs - they're very cheap, like last time I bought a pack of 10~20 they were about 30yen each. (~20¢)
So if you just want to give someone some music or a bit of software they can be handier than upload/download, as well as the privacy aspect. USB sticks cost quite a bit more.

Yep, last pack I bought (which should last me for many years) was a pack of 100 from wal-mart for 9.99 (USD), so 10 cents each. The DVD's were more expensive but still like 40 cents each. At one point years ago I bought a pack of double-sided DVD's so almost 10 gigs of storage and I think they were 50 cents a piece.

dhalgren · Yesterday 23:15:50

johnraff wrote:

What about music players in cars? Do they all use USB sticks these days? I still write music to CDs sometimes.

If you insist on having a "modern" car, complete with spyware...

My old Falcon will still be running long time. As Australian made cars go, mine ia a baby, only 24 years old and only 350,000 km on the clock.
You can tell I remain pleased with my car chooice, and I make use of optical drives also.

Sector11 · Today 22:38:09

dhalgren wrote:

johnraff wrote:
What about music players in cars? Do they all use USB sticks these days? I still write music to CDs sometimes.
If you insist on having a "modern" car, complete with spyware...
My old Falcon will still be running long time. As Australian made cars go, mine ia a baby, only 24 years old and only 350,000 km on the clock.
You can tell I remain pleased with my car chooice, and I make use of optical drives also.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
If a car is a status symbol - you got spyware for sure.
If your car broke down enough I guess you have to have spyware.
If a car is a means to get from A to B a 24 year old working car is just fine.
- in fact preferable IMHO.

#1 2026-10-12 11:27:04

CD/DWD RW units in these days

#2 2026-10-12 13:14:50

Re: CD/DWD RW units in these days

#3 2026-10-12 13:24:56

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#4 2026-10-14 07:44:25

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#5 2026-10-14 16:50:50

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#6 2026-10-15 02:17:28

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#7 2026-10-15 07:00:27

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#8 2026-10-15 15:35:35

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#9 2026-10-16 02:09:19

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#10 2026-10-17 15:18:01

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#11 Yesterday 23:15:50

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#12 Today 22:38:09

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