DVD-Roms:Slot vs. Tray

I was recently asked this about a DVD-Rom drive that had a slot instead of a tray. What are the advantages or disadvantages of a slot over a tray loader? I did some searching & used an AOpen 16x DVD-Rom as a tester & found a 16x Aopen tray for $51.00 (US @ Essential Computers) and a 16x slot for $52.00 (US @ NEWEGG) both work horizonital & vertical & I didn't see any differences in the specs for either drive. So which is better or is it a matter of user preference? I have always used the tray loader & have never own a slot loader so I really couldn't answer the question.

Bubba169

 

Simple answer - one can't break the tray with their knee on a slot type loader.

 

I have a Compaq 3020 which has a slot (CD-Rom) loader and find it very useful as it takes upto 3 CDs at a time. The device is mounted vertically and as mentioned by "Rockster2U" you cannot accidently damage the tray as there isn't one.

I do not know if they make multi-loading DVD Player for computers as I would be very interested.