How to Choose a Blu-ray DVD Drive or Burner for Your Computer

If you want to buy a Blu-ray drive or burner, but aren't sure what to look for in such a drive, learn everything you need to know.

Step1

Blu-ray Drive vs. Blu-ray Burner: At the moment, Blu-ray drives are significantly cheaper than Blue-ray burners. This is the same way CD drives and CD burners, and DVD drives and DVD burners started out before they merged in price, so Blu-ray will eventually merge as well if you think you can wait.

Step2

Blu-ray Read Speed: Because the technology is still relatively new, read speed is going to vary a lot. There are 2x, 4x, and 6x speeds to choose from. Although the numbers may seem small, 6x drives are three times faster than 2x drives, and later when 18x drives come out, 6x drives will seem very slow.

Step3

Blu-ray Burn Speed: Blu-ray burn speed is similar to read speed in that it's slow and varies a lot.

Step4

Blu-ray Standard DVD Read Speed: Standard DVD speeds in Blu-ray drives are going to be slower than is typically seen in solely standard DVD drives, though the newest drives offer almost the same DVD read speed.

Step5

Blu-ray Standard DVD Burn Speed: Standard DVD burn speed is similar to read speed in that it burns at a reduced speed compared to solely standard DVD burners.

Step6

Interface: Nearly all Blu-ray drives use SATA. If you don't know if you have SATA or the old IDE connectors, see the resources for an article on how to find out.

Step7

Customer Reviews: As with any new technology, there are bound to be problems with it from certain manufacturers who rushed to get their product out before everyone else. Read as many reviews as you can before buying.