[SOLVED] External 2.0 USB CD/DVD reader/burner VS 3.0 USB

[FlBirm]

I have a Z490 MB- I am looking for a external cd/dvd player really just to play some dvds I have-
Should I only be looking for a drive with USB 3?
Thanks

 

[kanewolf]

I have a Z490 MB- I am looking for a external cd/dvd player really just to play some dvds I have-
Should I only be looking for a drive with USB 3?
Thanks

There will be no difference. The basic read rate for DVD is 1.5MB/s or 12Mb/s The 400Mb/s of USB2 has plenty of bandwidth.
USB3 can supply more power than USB2 so there could be benefit from that. But bandwidth shouldn't be an issue.

 

[InvalidError]

If you were ripping or writing DVDs, USB3 would give you plenty of bandwidth margin to avoid underflows. For simple playback though, USB2 would be fine even for BD which tops out at 48Mbps or about 1/8th of USB2's usable bandwidth.

 

[FlBirm]

If you were ripping or writing DVDs, USB3 would give you plenty of bandwidth margin to avoid underflows. For simple playback though, USB2 would be fine even for BD which tops out at 48Mbps or about 1/8th of USB2's usable bandwidth.

Thanks Titan-
Would you suggest something like this then?

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-ZenDriv...ve+Silver&qid=1605452363&s=electronics&sr=1-1

 

[InvalidError]

I would personally prefer an internal SATA ODD instead of having more external cables and peripherals cluttering my desk, though an external one does have the benefit of being easily transferable between systems if you have many on which you only need occasional access to CDs and DVDs on.

DVD/BD drive reviews have fallen out of favor a long time ago with streaming and digital-only setups effectively being the norm now, so I can't say I feel strongly about any particular drive brand. Unless you have some specific requirements, ex.: DVD-RAM support, just get whatever unit you fancy.