We spent 46 hours on research, videography, and editing, to review the top options for this wiki. If you're planning on watching or burning DVDs on your computer these days, you'll probably need to rely on external hardware, since built-in drives are becoming a thing of the past. Our selection of handy USB models will do the trick nicely.

They offer plug and play functionality with most operating systems and deliver some pretty impressive read/write speeds as well. When users buy our independently chosen editorial picks, we may earn commissions to support our work.

May 1, 2008 - They hit Google and enter a search phrase such as “DVD copy Mac.”. You'll discover a good half-dozen ripping/encrypting tools for sale.

We spent 46 hours on research, videography, and editing, to review the top options for this wiki. If you're planning on watching or burning DVDs on your computer these days, you'll probably need to rely on external hardware, since built-in drives are becoming a thing of the past. Our selection of handy USB models will do the trick nicely. They offer plug and play functionality with most operating systems and deliver some pretty impressive read/write speeds as well.

When users buy our independently chosen editorial picks, we may earn commissions to support our work. DVDs, like CDs, require a laser-powered mechanism in order to read or write to them. Word for mac double line spacing. An optical drive pairs that system with a mechanism for spinning the disc in question, so that all areas of the disc are accessible to the lens.

They were fist made commercially available by Sony in 1987. For the first few years, the technology was used primarily for music CDs and software CD-ROMs. As this was the primary means of installing new software on a computer, most PCs included an optical drive in their design. Epson for mac. This gave users the freedom to use new programs, listen to music straight from their computers, and, in many cases, get.

The introduction of the DVD in 1997 added even more uses for optical drives. Because of their high data storage capacity, they were the perfect vehicle for consuming video content like movies and TV shows. For the first several years of their use, internet connections fast enough to download large video files in a reasonable timeframe were hard to come.

This helped sustain the need for optical drives, updated for the new disc format, in computers during this period. While downloading music and software from the internet was becoming much more of a possibility for many consumers, it would still be a few more years before the same would be true of video content. By the early 2010s, it became more and more common for computer manufacturers to from their machines altogether.

This was due primarily to the amount of physical space they demand. As laptops and even desktop computers began confining themselves to slimmer and lighter profiles, there simply wasn't room for the mechanics of a disc drive. At the same time, it became increasingly possible to download and stream movies and other video content over the average home internet connection. Of course, many people still need a way to read CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs. Whether you've amassed a collection of your own or want to watch something that's not available for streaming, the only option may be to buy an external drive.