A combo drive refers to optical drives that are capable of recording
and/or reading two or more types of optical media. As DVD drives were
introduced, combo drives referred to those optical
disk drives that combined CDmedia read and write capabilities with the capability to read DVD media. As the
popularity of DVD media grew, the definition of what makes a drive a combo drive
also changed. In CD and DVD media, the term now usually describes a DVD drive
that also includes CD media read and write capabilities. Before combo drives,
consumers needed to choose between a CD burner or a DVD-ROM drive.
Combo drive is also a term which can be used to describe disc players capable
of playing one or more media formats. For example, a combo drive that is capable
of playing both HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs would be a combo drive.
PC Stats: AOpen COM5232 Combo Drive Review PCstats.com is testing the new AOpen COM5232 CD-RW/DVD combo drive. The AOpen COM5252 is capable of burning CD-R media at 52x speeds and CD-RW media at 32x. Reading CD-ROM material hums along at 52x, and the drive can also read DVD's at 16x.
Pioneer's New Blu-ray Combo Pioneer has developed a BDC-202 Blu-ray Disc Combo Drive. With BD-ROM compatibility, the drive enables professionals and consumers to watch high-definition (HD) movies on personal computers.
