ODD Graveyard

I'm likely butchering the technical details, but there are only a handful of ODD (optical disc drive) models that are known to fully support CD-Rom reading capabilities to perfectly preserve more complex CD-Rom discs. The feature set is complex and convoluted, but the masterfully crafted Disc Image Creator software will only accept those few drive models when dumping CD-Roms to ensure perfect dumping. As a footnote, DVD-Roms are much easier to properly dump and can be used with DIC with any old DVD-Drive.

As a result of their ability, these older models of drives made by Plextor often go for searing prices on eBay - some listed as high as a few hundred dollars, but others you can get for less than $40 a pop if you are lucky. As a caution, most "untested" Plextors you buy are likely broken and even the "tested" ones weren't properly tested and often broken. I recently bought one after my old trusty drive died, and after dumping one disc the new one died as well.

In a final push to get some of these drives working or in the trash, I snapped a few photos before... they all ultimately succumbed to the dumpster.