Can I watch DVDs on a DVD writer?

[Bernadette]

I've never even heard of a DVD writer. Is it like a regular DVD drive, or is it limited as to what it can do? Thanks, all.

[Gardener]

The model should specify something like R/W (read write).

What brand/model?

[Bernadette]

HP Envy 17t. I'd really like a laptop with a metal body and a DVD player, with at least 1TB of storage. This is the best I could find, unless anyone has other suggestions.

https://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/hp-envy-laptop-17t-3en04av-1

[Gardener]

ok, it's a read/write.

[The Harlequin King]

I've never even heard of a DVD writer. Is it like a regular DVD drive, or is it limited as to what it can do? Thanks, all.

It just means you can also write DVD's, in addition to reading them (which would including watching DVDs). That is to say, you can either burn whole copies of DVD movies, or you can copy data files to a DVD like you would have back in the day with a floppy disk (or, what most people do today, to a USB thumb drive).

DVD writers are standard for almost any computer that has a disc drive at all. I had my first DVD-RW drive probably 15 years ago. I got my first Blu-ray drive for a computer about 10 years ago and more-or-less stopped regularly watching DVDs since then.

Now I'm working on switching over to UHD (4K Blu-rays). I sometimes forget that most people in the world are still okay with just using DVDs.

[Daniel]

I sometimes call them "DVD burners". I personally don't think I've ever come across a DVD writer which isn't also a DVD reader. Usually theyre read-only or read/write, not write-only. I think most of them can also read/write to CDs as well (I'm not sure about the one you've alluded to though).

If you plan on using it to watch movies, you're also going to need some sort of DVD-playing software. But your computer will probably come with that pre-installed.