Optical drives have been around for a while for their capability to write CDs, DVDs and even Blu-ray discs.

However, with the need for these devices reducing over the years, thanks to the internet, PC manufacturers are right to not include these drives. Almost everyone prefers to stream or download movies and music instead of getting them on DVD, right?

Yet there’s another reason why optical drives aren’t included with laptop: manufacturers cannot shrink them like SSDs or CPUs and will therefore, cause laptops to be bulky. And considering how no one wants a bulky laptop, it seems to be a bad idea.

That said, there’s still use for these devices as we not only need to access older media but we can used these media formats for archiving purposes, provided we have the right discs. Of course, this will only be possible if these drives continue to be manufactured.

There are other advantages to having an optical drive with programs such as VeraCrypt requiring them so as to create emergency boot tools. Apart from this, some of us still receive CDs as gifts or even buy them from artists when at a concert.

That said, when you get an audio CD, isn’t the first thing that you want to do is rip them into MP3s?

So, the best thing that can be done is to get yourself a light laptop but also obtain a detachable optical drive that usually costs about $40 only.