Quick! Burn me a copy!??!
Jul 01 '00 (Updated Sep 28 '06)
The Bottom Line CD Writers are an excellent tool.
I need a CD-burner! Well! the amount of "dissatisfied customers" could be cut in half if the salesperson/customer knew some simple information on picking out CD-Burners. Ok what brand do I get, I'm burning mostly music, and what software do I need for that??? These questions and more “qualify” customers for the product/service.
Want to get me mad? Come to my service counter and ask why your 486DX2 66MhZ with 4MB Ram and 1.0GB of hard-drive space refuses to accept a CD-Burner! I will reach across the counter and Pimp Smack You!
Simple fact: CD-Burners do not run well unless you have a 200MhZ machine (or faster), with at least 32MB of ram (or more), and if your burning CD’s direct from a CD-Rom drive make sure the CD-Rom you currently have is a 20x (or better). If your computer is slower than these requirements, or if its more than 3 years old, please give up on upgrading and simply use it for other things. (use it for typing, give it to the kids, ect.)
Questions???
Speed preference?
Are you burning music, making copies, or simply backing up?
Is it a gift?
External/Internal?
Example: 4X4X32 8250i HP Internal CD-RW
Well we know the manufacture is HP, it has to be installed internally into the PC, and it has CD-R & CD-RW capability. *We need to read the box more for closer system specifications & software types.
First 4---> Is the "Write speed" or know as burning speed for one time use CD's know as CD-R's...
Second 4---> Is the "Re-write speed" for CD-RW discs.
Third number 32---> Is the read speed of the burner. If it was my primary CD-Rom drive then my games would install at this speed and it would read at a 32x.
CD-R's: One time use CD's, the most common & cheap. If you screw up say goodbye to that CD-R disc. Good for music or "back-up" copies of software.
CD-RW's: Great for data, but a no-no for music... Can be recorded over and over for data purpose. (like a floppy disc with more room). Excellent for backing up data on your hard disk.
Read Speed: The CD-Burner's capability/speed of reading regular CD's, you can use the unit like a regular CD-Rom drive, installing software, playing music, and burning CD’s.
Disc Types
650MB/74mins: Simple, it holds 650MB of data, that’s a ton of floppies! Or it can hold 74 minutes of your favorite music.
700MB/80mins: Same as above, just replace 650MB with 700MB of data & 74 minutes with 80 minutes of music. Some people think you need “special” software to run these discs, you don’t! Almost all burners have the capability to use these discs. These discs come in very handy. I’ve found that great songs like Zeppelin’s ”Stairway to Heaven” is completely bogus when cut off!!!
Software that comes with CD-Burners seems to be a bit crummy, which brings me here to the web in search of new software. Nevertheless some manufactures include excellent burning software for both music and data.
Internal: These CD-Burners must be installed inside an open 5.25’ bay, mostly using a E-IDE interfacing plugging straight to the motherboard or “daisy chaining” off another cable.
External USB: Excellent for people who burn on the go & easy install. Great if you have a USB port on your laptop for travel and the purpose of actually having a CD-Rom drive as well.
External/Internal SCSI: You must know what your doing. SCSI sometimes is for Mac computers, but can be installed into IBM-compatible PC’s with the proper cards. SCSI is more advanced and usually higher speeds/quality. Weather it be external or internal, you may need a SCSI card to further the installation of this burner. (Smart & Friendly) tend to make this type of burner.
By now we have learned some basics. What we need our computer to have, what information is important to know when buying, and some back round information about burners/discs…
I have an old HP 7200i 2X2X32, it’s slow but reliable… I personally don’t “mass produce” CD’s, so I don’t care that it takes 40-60mins sometimes to burn my music or a copy of my software for back up. Besides when I’m burning a CD, I’m not hovering over the unit waiting for it to finish. I’m laid back and usually do something else or forget about it, I could care less when it’s done burning as long as it works… I let it do the work for me.
Simple method of learning how much time *on average it will take to burn a CD.
*My CD-Burner is a 2x I’m burning a full 80minutes of music, it will take 40 minutes to complete this task
*80minutes/2X=40minutes of wait time
**I’m burning a data CD I have an 8x write speed and I’m burning a full 700MB
*8.75MB per minute of music (700/80).
*8.78Mb per minute of music (650/74).
**so 80 minutes of music or data / 8x speed ===== 10minutes of waiting time
***Remember these are rough estimates and this method I came up with seems to work. I hope it helps!!!
Why should I recommend brands?
I don’t see a need to recommend a brand name or even a type of burner. I presented the facts, and gave information about your needs/wants. If you feel you need a 12x burner for mass production go ahead! I feel the best buy for the money is either a 4x or even an 8x. Simply put music doesn’t always burn well at higher than 8x, in fact it usually doesn’t work at all. Don’t buy something off e-bay that doesn’t contain the cables, drivers, jumpers, ect… without those things, your wasting money and time downloading drivers, buying cables, and searching for a users manual. Grab a well-priced burner that suits your desires and needs, so that you go home happy, and chose a name you trust.
Software, labels, and brands of CD-R’s & CD-RW’s are a different story. I don’t worry about labels, but I do consider the free software downloads and upgrades to better my chances of a burning great CD.
Good-luck finding a product that suits YOUR needs.
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