Help me undestand USB 2.0 vs. 3.0 for ODDs...

I'm considering purchasing an external ODD, probably just a DVD/CD combo. I just need it to be able to plug into a laptop to watch movies and play older games on CD/DVD.

And yes, I know the arguments: "Dude, you know you can download movies on iTunes right? Dude, you know you can download games on Steam right, or find software to copy the game files to the hard drive, right?" I know these things, but let's just assume those things aren't possible. Is a USB 3.0 external ODD worth it for playing DVDs or playing games? Will a USB 2.0 produce a bottleneck that is noticeable?

 

There should be no difference in terms of watching DVDs between USB 2 vs 3.

 

Even modern external BD drives by ASUS and Samsung use USB 2.0, so bandwidth isn't likely to be a problem. Also, I'd go for enclosure rather than factory-built drive, because you can always salvage or get real cheap ODD from someone who doesn't need it, and easily replace in case of failure/upgrade.

 

Thanks guys. So if I'm playing a game using a cd or DVD over USB 2.0, it's unlikely I'll notice any significant slowdown compared to an internal ODD?

 

It shouldn't no as most of the game should be installed on your computer anyways.

 

Electronically, the two drives are identical and interchangeable. If you're experiencing any difficulty it is due to some mechanical malfunction. You also get 100% full functions and capability using just USB 2.0.

There is however, one other minor anomaly that I have experienced in that not all USB cords work (no doubt due to their lack of quality control Chinese origins). If that happens, just use another cord.

And yes, not all of us have abandoned optical media nor want to be held hostage by source provider and their limit cap.

 

Same issues with external hdds too, usually due to cheap rubbish cables. For some reason they don't provide enough power... Must be some odd cheap made cables.

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Great feedback! Thank you all.

 

Performance wise, nothing. No DVD drive has ever transferred faster than 10mb/s (most do it at 5-6mb/s) which translates to 80 megabits per second. USB2.0 has a theoretical bandwidth of 480MB per second (or 60 megabytes per second), and USB3.0 has ten times this much. I.e. your bottleneck is the DVD itself.

Power wise there's a difference. All USB3.0 ports are rated for a higher current thus your ODD will only need a single USB plug. Only a few select USB2.0 ports are specified for high current thus you will probably need a Y adaptor to use 2 standard USB2.0 ports in order to provide enough motor power to the ODD for full performance.