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
CD media 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.
