No, its not needed. Its very nice, and will save you a coaster here and there, but its not "worth" it. It was added in as hype to sell the product for more profit. Just keep you hd and burner on different channels, and for christs sake, get away from your computer for a whole impossibly long, jesus I'm a dork and cant leave my pc for 5 minutes while it burns. Besides, I know my pasty white skin could use some exposure to that big bright light in the sky......