optical drive
An optical drive is a device for access to optical media . In English , the abbreviation “ ODD ” (for O ptical D isc D rive ) is common.
Different drive types:
- the CD-ROM drive : reads CDs ; no longer available in stores because technically obsolete
- the CD burner : reads and writes ( burns ) CDs; no longer available in stores because technically obsolete
- the DVD drive : reads CDs and DVDs ; is still in production but is no longer standard; is used when writing to optical data media is undesirable
- the CD / DVD combo drive : reads CDs and DVDs, but only writes CDs
- the DVD burner : reads and writes CDs and DVDs
- the Blu-ray drive: reads Blu-ray discs , CDs and DVDs, writes to CDs and DVDs; is still used in current PCs
- the Blu-ray burner: reads and writes Blu-ray discs, CDs and DVDs
Drives that can write to optical data carriers can burn both write-once and re-writable data carriers. The term “burning” is used for all writing ODDs , as a laser beam enables data to be stored by means of thermal effects on the storage medium.
The following are considered exotic or obsolete:
- The magneto-optical drive: a hard drive or diskette- like drive in which the storage media called Magneto Optical Disks (MO disks ) are written and read with a laser (higher storage density and speed).
- the WORM ( Write Once Read Many ) drive : similar to a CD burner, but not compatible with the CD standard
- the floppy disk drive : a drive for reading and / or writing to floppy disks
Optical drives, at least the CD variant, were very popular and were found in most computers from around 1995, regardless of type. For limited space, e.g. For example, in notebooks or thin clients , there were later compact drives based on the specially developed SlimLine standard. However, the importance of optical drives has been decreasing steadily since 2010. The MacBook Air without an optical drive, presented by Apple in 2008, sparked a controversy, minicomputers usually no longer have an optical drive for reasons of space, and models from around 2015 often no longer even have an option for an internal optical drive. Either external optical drives can be used as replacements. B. can be connected via the USB interface, or for example USB sticks or external hard drives . There are emulators for software that explicitly requires an optical medium , e.g. B. WinCDEmu under Windows , which can virtually integrate ISO images .
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Leo Becker: 10 years of MacBook Air: The uncomfortable leap into a wireless future. In: Heise online . 15th January 2018 . Retrieved September 24, 2019 .; Quote: "By doing without common interfaces and optical drives, the" thinnest notebook in the world "triggered considerable discussions - and set the course."
- ↑ The biggest pitfalls when buying a notebook. In: Computer Bild . Axel-Springer-Verlag , accessed on September 25, 2019 : "Mini notebooks (netbooks, subnotebooks, ultrabooks) often do not have an optical drive."
- ↑ Leo Becker: 2012 MacBook Pro: Apple wants to support popular professional model longer. In: Heise online . 18th July 2018 . Retrieved September 24, 2019 .; Quote: “The MacBook Pro, which was introduced at the WWDC developer conference in mid-2012, laid the foundation for the mobile professional Macs of the with the 15-inch Retina display, an integrated SSD and the lack of an optical drive (as well as Ethernet and FireWire) next years ”.
- ↑ Moritz Förster: Start of the 2018 model year: Nine new ThinkPads for the office. In: Heise online . 4th January 2018 . Retrieved September 24, 2019 .; Quote: "Newcomers: L380 and L380 Yoga ... The predecessors could still be equipped with an optical drive, this option has now been removed."