CD Burners for Bunnies
May 13 '02 (Updated Jun 10 '02)
The Bottom Line A simple explanation of the key points in choosing and using a CD-RW Recorder to save data and digital audio. Learn how to burn a CD without endangering your home.
What is a CD-RW Recorder?
A CD-RW recorder is a device that can read, write, and rewrite CDs (Compact Disks). You can use it to record data disks or audio disks. Audio CDs will play in your home audio system or Walkman. You may record MP3 files and play them back on any MP3 compatible device.
Not too long ago, CD-RW drives used to be rare and expensive and were for serious users like software developers. They were often called CD Burners, like the ROM Burners which are used to program Read Only Memory, and you had to be an expert to use one. These days they are common, usually shipped with new machines, and their user-friendly software makes them easy to use.
A CD-RW drive does NOT read or write DVDs. That requires a different, currently more expensive device, and is beyond the scope of this guide.
What are CDs?
Simplistically, they are hard plastic disks with a coating of aluminum on one side. Information can be stored and retrieved by firing a laser through the plastic and etching the coating. The important thing to note here is that since the data is stored in the coating, scratching the label side is more harmful than scratching the plastic side. This is somewhat counter-intuitive.
There are two types of CD: CD-R and CD-RW. You can only write to a CD-R once. Once written, you cannot delete or change the contents in any way. CD-R disks will work in most existing equipment. They cost less then 50 cents each, and the price is falling every day.
CD-RW disks cost a little more than CD-R, but you can read, write, delete, and change data. However, most older equipment cannot read CD-RW disks. Check that yours can, before you make a major investment in time and money.
A standard CD will store about 640MB of data or 74 minutes of audio, New slightly larger disks will hold 700MB of data or 80 minutes of audio. Most new CD-RW recorders will handle the larger disks. You can buy the blank disks almost anywhere. I get mine at Staples. The disks must match the speed and density of the recorder. It is a good idea to pay a little extra for quality disks. The ultra cheap brands tend to become coasters.
Why do I want a CD-RW drive?
There are three main reasons to get a CD-RW drive: backups, archiving, and audio.
Backups.
CDs are currently the best media for backing up a home computer system, although, one day soon, rewriteable DVDs will probably replace them. A regular back up is the best way to protect against a computer virus, a hardware problem, and stupid errors.
At 640 MB, a CD is a bit small to hold a full backup of a modern system, but plenty of free software is available that will split a large backup file into 640 MB chunks. Once you eliminate the temporary files and data caches, 2-3 disks will handle most systems.
A CD will usually hold several interim (just what has changed) backup files.
I recommend making a full system back up annually to a CD-R, while making a weekly interim backup to a CD-RW. Make at least two copies of each disk and store one off-site, like in you desk at the office or a bank vault. A more complete discussion of back ups is beyond the scope of this article.
Archiving.
Archiving is storing data on CD over a long term. CD-R disks are extremely hardy if treated properly. You can reasonably expect data stored on one to last for about 200 years. CD-RW disks will last about 30 years. Paper records will last about 100 years, photographs will fade in less than 40 years, and magnetic media will only last 5-10 years, if you are lucky. This makes CDs an extremely attractive medium for long term data storage.
Scanning important documents, like tax and other financial papers, and storing them on CDs is a marvelous way to reduce clutter in your home. Documents on disk are always much easier to find.
CDs are also an excellent choice for storing digital photographs. Depending on the resolution, you can store 200-2000 images on a 50-cent disk, and save them for posterity. In 200 years, your family album will be just as clear and viewable as it was the day you saved it. The photos you took and stuffed in a drawer will be faded and obscure by then. Like archived documents, photographs on disk are easier to find.
Remember, archiving reduces information to a small, easily stored CD. However, that CD can be lost or stolen. Heat or impact can destroy it. CDs are incredibly cheap. Make sure you make at least two copies of anything important. Keep one off-site, in case of fire or flood. Watch one of the many Tornado programs on TLC or Discovery Channel, if you think the extra 50 cents is excessive.
Audio Disks.
An audio disk made by a CD-RW drive is the same as the one you buy at the store. Copying audio data is similar to taping it on a cassette, and it is subject to all the same laws and restrictions. The big difference is that the CD is a digital copy, and will sound EXACTLY the same as the original. You can copy a CD, make a copy of the copy, and a copy of that copy, and so on... Each copy sounds just like the original CD from the store. Try that with a cassette and you will end up with crackling mush.
While you cannot legally copy and sell other people's copyright material, making an audio CD has many uses. Making party mix CDs, or travel mix CDs is fun. Copies of CDs for the car only cost 50 cents each when the hot summer sun warps them. Copies eaten by your Walkman while jogging cost the same. Putting copies in danger situations instead of using the $15+ originals makes a lot of financial sense.
While they are technically only data, CDs containing files in MP3 format are also playable in a wide range of audio devices. In fact for a portable device, a MP3 player will use far less battery power than a comparable audio CD player, unless the CD player has a full track buffer. (MP3 players are automatically buffered.)
What about movies?
If you have an email address, then you are probably getting Spam about software to record movies on a CD.
THIS IS A SCAM. DON'T FALL FOR IT.
Yes, you can get a piece of software that will decode a DVD and store in on your hard disk. Yes, you can get a piece of software that will compress this data (while losing some quality) and store it on a CD. Yes, many people think the lost quality is not significant. Yes, you can get software for your PC that will allow you to watch the CD based movie on your monitor.
Hang on a second; you said this was a scam?
Yes, it is a scam because all the software is available FREE while the spammer will charge you $40+ for it.
Also, you should be aware that the Hollywood Set are having conniptions about the decoder software. I want no part of this argument, but if you hit a search engine with words like CD, Record, Movie, Decode, DVD and so on, you will find everything you could ever want to know.
I do not approve or disapprove of this process. I included this section only to stop you wasting your money.
Drive Speed
There are three numbers associated with a CD-RW device, usually written as 8/4/24. The first number is the speed it can write a CD-R (8), the second is how fast it can write a CD-RW (4), and the third number is the speed to read a CD (24). All these number are relative to the speed of an audio CD. If an audio CD takes an hour to play, then it would take 30 minutes to copy at 2x, 15 minutes at 4x, and 7.5 minutes at 8x, and so on...
You will notice that this follows the law of diminishing returns. While a 4x saves 15 minutes over a 2x, a 16x would only save 3.25 minutes over an 8x, and a 32x would only save just over a minute more. This is important. A cutting-edge drive may have a big numbers, but those numbers come at a price. The faster write speeds also need better-quality, more-expensive, blank disks and tend to produce more coasters. Unless you are going to be an extremely heavy user, a write speed of 8-12 is enough. A read speed of 24-40 is adequate for most purposes.
A drive rated at 8/8/32 would be fine for any Pentium 3 machine, while a 12/12/40 may be better suited for a Pentium 4. Why does the processor matter? Ah! The limiting factor is not usually the speed of the CD-RW drive. More often, it is the PC processor speed, or the speed of the hard disk. Normally, my 2-year-old P3 450 can write at 8x. However, if it has been a while since I last defragged my hard drive, then I run into problems.
What kind of problems, you ask. Okay. The most usual problem is a buffer underrun. Read on!
Buffer Size.
When the drive writes to a CD, the data first loads into a buffer and then to the disk. When the disk needs the next batch of data, if the buffer is not ready you get a buffer underrun. If you are creating a CD-RW, then you have to start again. If you are creating a CD-R, then you have a nice, new, shiny metallic coaster. Congratulations!
This leads to the second buying point for your CD-RW drive: the bigger the buffer the better. A big buffer helps avoid underruns. Look for at least 4MB.
Downloadable Internal Software.
The better CD-RW drives will have Flash ROM or some other type of re-programmable internal memory. This will allow you to download program upgrades and software patches from the Internet -- a very useful feature that will help extend the useful life of your drive.
Internal or External?
An internal drive will fit in a compact media bay in your computer (the same 5.25 bay as a Floppy drive or a CD-ROM). It will use your existing power supply, and will cost slightly less than an equivalent external drive. An external drive comes self-contained, in its own box and with its own power supply. It will connect to your computer via a cable.
The advantage of an internal drive is that it costs slightly less, and it avoids the clutter of extra power leads and cables. However, you need a bay available, and your power supply must be able to handle the extra load. Installing an internal drive needs a fair amount of electronic competence and confidence. Your computer store may install it for you, but you will be without your computer for a while, and any additional cost may offset the price advantage.
An external drive is easy to install; usually you just plug it in and load the software. It sits happily anywhere near your PC. It is portable, so you can easily share it between multiple PCs in the same household. Usually these advantages are more than enough to offset the slight extra cost.
Internal Communication Interface.
An internal CD-RW for a PC will normally use either (E)IDE or SCSI (pronounced scuzzy).
The advantage for (E)IDE is that you will almost certainly have an (E)IDE controller for your hard drive, and so will incur no extra costs. These are the norm, and if your PC comes packaged with a CD-RW drive, it is almost certainly this type.
The advantage for SCSI is that you will almost certainly have an (E)IDE controller for your hard drive, Whoa! Wait! Was that a typo?
No it wasn't. Data passage through an interface is a bit like a train on a railway line. When two trains are using a single track, it makes scheduling difficult and slows things down. Similarly, when both your hard drive and your CD-RW drive use the same communications interface, it makes scheduling difficult and slows things down. Having one use (E)IDE and one use SCSI makes everything run faster.
If you use an (E)IDE drive, you will be very limited as to what you can do with your computer while you are creating a disk. Anything more intensive than playing Solitaire will tend to produce coasters. Having a SCSI CD-RW drive makes things much more flexible. You should be able to use a word processor, or answer your email while you write a CD without any problems, though heavy disk use like backups or defragging is still a no-no.
Bear in mind, that using another SCSI device (like a SCSI scanner) while you create a disk on a SCSI CD-RW, is also asking for a coaster. That was how I made my first one.
If you do not have one, a SCSI Communication Interface will add a little to the cost. Low cost options are available, like the non-bootable SCSI device controller card from Tekram costing less than $20.
External Communication Interface.
External drives normally use Parallel, Universal Serial Bus (USB), or SCSI.
The advantage of parallel is that it is cheap and your computer almost certainly has a parallel port available. However, it is slower than molasses in a Nebraska winter. I cannot recommend this option.
USB and SCSI are both excellent choices. USB is usually faster then SCSI, but newer SCSI cards are the fastest. If your computer already has a USB port or a SCSI port, then it makes sense to go with what you have. Bear in mind that the "railway line" discussion from the internal section is equally valid here.
An important point that does not apply to an internal drive is that SCSI cables are VERY expensive. Also, SCSI connectors are very varied, and you have to be careful to get a correct match. SCSI devices need to be terminated (a complicated concept) and can be damaged if you disconnect them while the power is on.
My advice, all things being equal, is to go with USB. It is a newer, simpler, more-forgiving standard.
Mac's Interface.
Macs normally come in either USB or FIREWIRE (similar to SCSI). They are of comparable speed. I am sorry, but I do not know enough about Macs to make a recommendation.
Software.
A CD-RW drive is nothing without the software to use it. The best package is Adaptec Easy CD Creator. I would not buy a drive that did not include this package. Getting it later will cost $100 or more, so this is a biggie.
The Adaptec Package has two main ways to create Data CDs. The first is to create a CD that any computer can read. This is totally standard, and portable. You can read a CD created on a PC on a Mac or visa-versa. Any other platform equipped with a CD-ROM can read it too. This is the only format you can use on a CD-R.
The second way is Direct CD and it only applies to CD-RW disks. This method is platform specific. You can only read it on a PC using the same operating system that created it, and it must have the Direct CD package installed. You must pre-format Direct CDs, which takes 30+ minutes, and the index uses about 100MB. However, a CD used this way can be read/written by any program, just like big floppy disk. This can be very useful on occasions.
Buy a name Brand.
Buy a Brand X CD-RW drive if you have a large family, and need lots of shiny, plastic coasters. If you want to use your disks for music and data, then stick with big names like Plextor, Yamaha, Sony, and Mitsumi.
Labeling.
In addition to the drive, you are going to need some software for printing CD labels, and a bunch of blank labels. Using the wrong labels can ruin both your disk and any drive in which you use it. You cannot use some old freezer labels and a pen. These disks spin very fast, and need to be reasonably well balanced. The wrong type of glue can leak or fail. Only labels specifically made for the purpose will do.
You can download free software from http://www.neato.com that will work with Neato labels. The labels are also available from the site, and are very reasonable when bought in bulk. You also need the Neato tool to place the labels nice and central on the disk. A trial pack with tool is available from Staples and similar stores for less than $20.
The Bottom-Line.
A CD-RW recorder is an essential part of any home computer for backing up and archiving data. Many people use their drives to compile and copy audio CDs.
I would recommend an External, USB CD-RW drive made by a well-known company. Look for a speed of at least 8/8/24, a buffer of at least 4MB, downloadable internal upgrades, and Adaptec (Roxio) Easy CD creator. You may also need a USB card if your computer does not already have a USB port.
Update June 10, 2002
Seven of the top 10 rated CD-RW drives on PC World Magazine's July 2002 top ten list come bundled with Nero Burning Rom 5.5. Based on Epinions reviews, I now consider it a viable alternative to Easy CD Creator.
See Also:
Digital Cameras for Bunnies: http://www.epinions.com/content_2654445700
Home Computers for Bunnies http://www.epinions.com/content_2661851268
Just cut&paste the URL into your browser's address window.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.