Better Power Savings With ZPODD On Linux

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Better Power Savings With ZPODD On Linux

Intel continues to work on Linux kernel patches for ZPODD support...

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=MTEwODQ

[uid313]

I've unplugged my DVD drive.
It just adds weight, make noise, use electricity, clutter the file manager and open/save dialogs, and add boot delay by device enumeration..
I never even use the DVD drive. I regret buying it, I only bought it because it was cheap.

My next desktop computer that I build will definitely without a doubt be without a optical drive.
When buying a laptop, it will be a requirement that it does not come with an optical drive, I will refuse to buy a laptop with a optical drive.

Optical media is dead.

[d2kx]

I didn't use optical drives for years, thanks to Steam and digital music stores.

[Veerappan]

I'd consider building a computer without a built-in optical drive, but only after I've bought an external USB drive to replace it. I've got too many games in my library that came on optical media and not enough HD space to store images of them all (let alone finding no-CD cracks for some of them).

It's also very nice to be able to just grab a half dozen DVDs right before getting on a plane and just popping the disk in my laptop to watch during a long flight. Yes, I could pre-rip them all, but that takes more of my limited storage space (which is already fully utilized).

[uid313]

I'd consider building a computer without a built-in optical drive, but only after I've bought an external USB drive to replace it.

You can network-mount the optical drive from another computer over the network.
I use a USB stick also.

I've got too many games in my library that came on optical media and not enough HD space to store images of them all (let alone finding no-CD cracks for some of them).

Just rip them and put them on a NAS or other computer and network mount the share.

It's also very nice to be able to just grab a half dozen DVDs right before getting on a plane and just popping the disk in my laptop to watch during a long flight. Yes, I could pre-rip them all, but that takes more of my limited storage space (which is already fully utilized).

Or you could just download the movies instead and not have your room cluttered with DVDs.

[Kano]

Well most optical drives are in desktop systems, nice to save some mW, but thats most likely not significant. I doubt a bit that a laptop with optical drive will last much longer on battery because of those patches, but they should not hurt at least. External drives are very useful, we burnt every LinuxTag DVD using an external dvd burner - only one laptop had an internal one but that was not able to burn with good quality. Hard to say when those media will die - some just like to boot from dvd instead of usb keys because it is simpler. There are systems out there that can definitely boot from usb keys but the bios setup is not really clear how to that - if you are not a full pro...

[Veerappan]

You can network-mount the optical drive from another computer over the network.
I use a USB stick also.

Just rip them and put them on a NAS or other computer and network mount the share.

Note: I don't have enough free network storage space to rip all of my movies/games to the network, and I would need to build a new storage server to accomplish this. It's easier to just keep an external optical drive in a desk drawer.

Or you could just download the movies instead and not have your room cluttered with DVDs.

Limited bandwidth and questionable legality prevent me from downloading copies, and I have a large existing collection of DVDs (500+, possibly 1000+) which makes ripping and network storage impractical. Most of those DVDs are in binders, not in their cases, so they don't take up much space.

When I am leaving for the airport, I'm usually just picking a few within minutes of leaving for the airport, and I don't have time to wait for the network file transfer to complete. This is when having a laptop with a DVD drive comes in handy.