What is the difference between a DVD Burner and a DVD-ROM Drive?

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Joshua7812

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Sep 20, 2013
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I'm needing to buy one for my new build and I don't know which to buy... If a burner can do what the drive can do plus burn stuff, I figure I should just get it.... If not, I'll probably need to get both.... Can anybody help?

These are the two products I'm looking at...
1. The BURNER: ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM

2. The DRIVE: ASUS Black 18X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E818AAT (DVD-E818AAT/BLK/B/GE) - OEM

Thanks for any help, everybody!

Many thanks,

Josh

P.S. I didn't really know where a question like this should go... "Components" is the only category I could find that sounded close enough. I apologize if this was put in the wrong category.
 
Solution
T
A burner will read AND write the specified media(s), whereas a ROM will only read.
Earlier versions of DVD drives deliberately manufactured differences between the two so that a DVD-ROM would read much faster than a writer, which was usually limited to only 4x read speeds.
Not sure if that is still the case so read the specs carefully and test independantly.
There are also drives out there that advertise as Blu-Ray but when you look at the specs will notice the two parts that read: ..DVD-RW... BDR. Means will write DVDs but only read BD. Choose carefully.

NOTE: A burner will undergo more stress and heat due to the increased demands of burning with a greater chance of lessened lifespan as a result, whereas a reader runs much cooler and...
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CepheiA

CepheiA

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Aug 31, 2013
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You seem to be understanding it correctly.

A ROM drive only reads and writes data from discs. ie, you can play a DVD/CD, drag and drop contents to your computer harddrive.

A burner reads and writes data to and from discs. ie, you can play a DVD/CD, drag and drop contents to your computer harddrive and make a DVD/CD with data you select.

Buy the burner, unless you want to burn DVD/CDs on the fly then you'll need both.

 
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Techneer Jai

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Oct 9, 2013
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Generally, a burner 'burns' optical discs as well as reads them. ROM for a drive means Read-only.

A unit listed as say, "CD-RW / DVD-ROM" means it will read and write CDs, but only read DVDs. You need to look very closely at the published media formats supported. If it does not specifically say
"writes DVD +/- RW, DVD-DL" it means it is a read-only for that medium.
 
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Joshua7812

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Sep 20, 2013
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Thanks for the response.
 
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Joshua7812

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Sep 20, 2013
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Thanks for the quick response. To make sure I'm seeing information correctly on the two devices I'm looking at, do the details indicate that I could by the burner only and be without any loss? I could use it for pretty much anything I could possibly need an optical drive for (excluding Blu-Ray and the suchlike) and be perfectly fine? If so I see the wiser decision being to go with the burner (it has a full 5-star rating on Newegg.com with over 4,500 reviews, plus it seems overall better) and avoid having to purchase both products. However, I want to make sure I understand the details correctly so that I don't buy it thinking it'll cover everything for me and then find out I still need to purchase the DVD-ROM/CD-ROM drive.
 
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Techneer Jai

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Oct 9, 2013
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A burner will read AND write the specified media(s), whereas a ROM will only read.
Earlier versions of DVD drives deliberately manufactured differences between the two so that a DVD-ROM would read much faster than a writer, which was usually limited to only 4x read speeds.
Not sure if that is still the case so read the specs carefully and test independantly.
There are also drives out there that advertise as Blu-Ray but when you look at the specs will notice the two parts that read: ..DVD-RW... BDR. Means will write DVDs but only read BD. Choose carefully.

NOTE: A burner will undergo more stress and heat due to the increased demands of burning with a greater chance of lessened lifespan as a result, whereas a reader runs much cooler and requires less power.
If you are going to be doing more reading than burning, such as watching DVDs instead of producing DVD backups/archive discs, you might be better off with both.
Also, DVDs are much more sensitive to degradation from scratches, dirt, and opacity due to time and environment since their data tracks are much narrower than those on common CDs.
A standard CD-ROM drive may be able to read an older and more worn disc than the latest DVD drive due to looser requirements for the media, and always remember that manufacturors produce specs for one particular type of disc or manufacturor thereof.
A generic disc may not do well on one particular drive but using a different disc manufacturor's product may make a world of difference.
 
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