An optical drive is a CD/DVD drive made for use with your computer. As laptops have gotten slimmer and lighter and as more data storage and entertainment content has moved online, many laptop models have eschewed the traditional CD-ROM or DVD drive.

However, there are times when you still need one. You may have older computer programs you enjoy using that you want to install on a new laptop via CD. You may have a vast CD or DVD collection that gives you access to entertainment you cannot always get online. Or perhaps, you have a lot of old family documents, like photos, stored on CD and you want to access them. In any of these cases, a DVD and CD drive is essential.

Fortunately, a disc drive is often highly affordable. If you have a laptop, you will want an external optical drive that can connect via USB. If you are replacing an optical drive on a desktop computer, you will likely be shopping for an internal optical drive.

If you currently have a lot of older files—family photos, videos, documents—archived on CDs and DVDs, you may want to put your new disk drive to use transferring those files to an external storage drive. Choosing an external storage drive will give you a little more protection for long-term storage as drives cannot be scratched or cracked the way disks can. You can also backup files on the cloud. Having important files in multiple places will provide the greatest protection against loss or damage.

If you have a great home DVD collection but no Blu-ray DVD player, you can benefit from a computer disk drive when you connect your computer to the TV. Connecting a laptop and TV is simple with an HDMI cable. Since most CD and DVD drives are quite affordable, this is a great budget option for enjoying your home entertainment disk collection.

Most disk drives have both a read and write function. So, in addition to accessing content, you can also burn music, videos and other files onto CDs and DVDs to store or share with others.