DVD Drive question

[4johnny]

I am new to DVD burning and I am getting ready to buy the sony dru500ax.
My computer can only hold one drive. so my question is:
is it possible to copy dvds with one drive by copying the data to the hard drive before the burn?
or do I need two dvd drives, one to read and one to burn?

thanks

[BuddhaTB]

My computer can only hold one drive. so my question is:
is it possible to copy dvds with one drive by copying the data to the hard drive before the burn?

Yes you can. Just make sure you have a hard drive with atleast 10GB of free space to store the dvd copy on your computer.

[boblx2]

I have that same limitation in one of my computers. You can use a burner for a reader but first of all they burn slow compared to a reader. But it can be done. The other caveat is that it is a poor option for a burner to be used as a reader. The reason being they are a terribly expensive reader. What I finally did was to buy a "shoebox" and attach the reader (A06) outside of the computer. It sits on top where it is easily accessible.
You can buy a trayless Pioneer A06 for about $50.00 or less so it is a much less expensive reader then an A05 or a Sony DRU-500A which go for around $350.00 at the present. The mechanical parts are the first thing to go on a burner so it is best to conserve them for what they do best.
But it will function as a reader if there are no other options.

Hope this helps...........