Most optical drives today are combo CD/DVD drives that support DVDs and all the CD formats: CD audio, CD-ROM, CD-R and CD-RW. The speeds of the drives are rated by their CD-ROM and DVD transfer rates.

The drive also has BDXL support, allowing you to store up to 128GB on a single BDXL disc. Add on 40x CD read and write speeds, and you have one of the best external optical drives on the market.

Modern CD-ROM drives also play audio CDs. See CD-ROM and CD-ROM drives. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction requires permission.