[Heccubus]

I realized today that it is now cheaper to get a DVD ROM drive for your computer than it is to get a DVD player for your TV. So if you're like me, and have a decent set of speakers, this is probably a good route to take! This works well in that now, rather than having to save up $80+ for a decent DVD player, I can save up $50-$60 for a decent DVD ROM drive.
I found this amusing!

[banned]

I know nothing about prices, so I know nothing about this. But don't most computers come with dvd playing stuff now-a-days? and don't more people have t.v.'s then computers... if this is true, one of two things has occured. Either the t.v. people have continued to be greedy, or the computer people are stupid. I have no idea what I am talking about so if you want to ignore me, that's fine.

[Heccubus]

It depends! I don't have a DVD ROM drive because I didn't think it was something I needed. Then my DVD player died in the spring. My current system was build mostly from parts that were pulled from my last computer, so I don't have one. Also, some people might want a DVD ROM and a DVD burner for direct copying, perhaps?

[Chefelf]

You can get a DVD burner for about $40 - $50 (USD). Even better than getting a ROM drive. Well worth the investment!

[ion eon]

yah i have one of those, i reccomend them

[Heccubus]

I guess I should specify that the prices I mentioned were in Canadian dollars.

[ion eon]

do what now??? are you like in Canada

This post has been edited by ion eon: 23 October 2005 - 03:38 PM

[Otal Nimrodi]

No, he just gets such joy out of confusing poor innocent americans to death by using canadian dollars in conversation.

[Heccubus]

Finally someone who understands. Thank you Otal.

[floppydisk]

My DVD player came for free when my mom opened an account at a bank. It's definitely not a high-quality one, but it plays DVD's, and it hasn't tried to lead the other electronics in my house on a murderous rampage, so I think it's okay.

[Heccubus]

I decided to leap on this convenient pricing and I now have a perfectly functioning DVD ROM drive installed!

[Deepsycher]

Hi there, DVD rom and rewriter drives may appear to be well, conveniently, affordably priced, but what about the quality?

Years ago when trying to repair a lot of cheap newer drives in my possession, mainly had drawer problems. I noticed that the band was loose or snapped.
As an experiment I used regular elastic bands on most and the draw opened up well, but after a year, other problems started to emerge such as reading the discs, even after cleaning with a head cleaner.

What is difficult for me to get now, are drives that work on cogs and not bands. Some of my ones which are based on cogs still work dating back 10 years ago, still with no drawer problems.

This may explain the strange pricing on some products; Developers who economise on essential parts including the engineered band and mechanism, and in return may compensate by decorating the front to make it look pretty to buy, as from my experience.
Perhaps it is not strange after all. For the best interest of competition through mass marketting of cheap throw away items.


Now here is strange pricing; Local shops that charge high end prices for low end products, may sound a joke but it is true, locally.

The last time I went out to component shops:

Sound Blaster 5.1 value cards were selling in local component shops for £69.99
Happened to see a quantity of three pack for £19.99 on a shopping site.

Branded Cd's and DVD's discs are three time less from places where I order.

For quality it appears I have to go a long way to find it.

This post has been edited by Deepsycher: 30 December 2005 - 10:37 AM