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Canuk · 2012-01-09, 04:39

I am setting up a HTPC using XBMC and am now wondering if I need a DVD player/writer to be installed in the case. The reason that I ask this is because many of the small sized cases do not have a front opening for the DVD device.
Logic tells me that having a player/writer is a good idea but then again if one is using mostly archived movies from a hard disk is the DVD unit really needed?
Please give me your comments as I am wanting to buy a new case soon!
Thank you in advance.

TeKo · 2012-01-09, 04:42

Not that hard...
Do you want to watch DVDs?
Do you want to burn DVDs?

If the answer to one of the 2 questions is YES, you need a DVD RW.

bluray · (This post was last modified: 2012-01-09, 05:15 by bluray.)

DVD is phasing out very fast. The question should be- do you want to watch blu-ray/dvd on bd-rom? If the answere is yes, you should be able to find a case with bd-rom slot and a bd-rom within your price range!

TeKo · 2012-01-09, 05:06

If its only about the case you could get one of the small miniITX cases and get a slimline Bluray drive later when you need it.
Imo the even smaller cases suck anyway aslong as you want to use something > atom because you have next to zero air flow. (Or you buy sth really expensive)

And I dont know why anyone would ever use DVDs again you can just rip them to about 1/4 of the size at the same quality and dont need discs.

Canuk · 2012-01-09, 10:52

Thank you All for the replies;
The answer to your question is that sometimes I might get a DVD/Blue Ray from a friend to watch. The second issue is of course air flow with the very slim cases.
A good idea though about going the external BD option.

Thanks again.

magao · 2012-01-09, 10:58

I just have a Blu-Ray player in my (Windows 7) server. Generally if I want to watch a DVD or Blu-Ray I'll rip it first, but I've also got the drive shared so I can pop a disc in there and access it from my HTPCs.

bluray · 2012-01-09, 19:04

Canuk Wrote:Thank you All for the replies;
The answer to your question is that sometimes I might get a DVD/Blue Ray from a friend to watch. The second issue is of course air flow with the very slim cases.
A good idea though about going the external BD option.

Thanks again.

You'll be fine with BD-ROM in a Mini-itx case. I don't have any problem with air flow or overheat with a standard size BD-ROM in my Mini-itx case.

fryed_1 · 2012-01-09, 22:12

I put a BD/DVD player in mine "just in case" about two years ago. At $75 or so for the drive, I figured it was a good option if I ever wanted to use it.

I've never used it...

bluray · 2012-01-09, 22:18

fryed_1 Wrote:I put a BD/DVD player in mine "just in case" about two years ago. At $75 or so for the drive, I figured it was a good option if I ever wanted to use it.

I've never used it...

You must not have Netflix and Redbox then. I enjoy pop in BD from Netflix and Redbox in BD-ROM, and I use BD-ROM on all my HTPC's.

patm95 · 2012-01-10, 05:53

Yeah it depends on you really. I put one in my htpc and have only used it a handful of times. For the most part, if I have a dvd I like, it is ripped on my hard drive anyway from another pc, so the need for one on my htpc is kinda rare.

Canuk · 2012-01-10, 06:02

Thank you all for the feedback, my thinking regarding this matter is similar to all of your thoughts.

Thanks again!