 |
Shopping
for a CD-Recorder!
|
|
Factors
to consider: Speed, Reliability, Ease Of Use, Price |
| CD-RW
Reviews: |
CNET
, ZDNET.
We recommend Plextor.
|
| Speed: |
| CD
Burner Speed |
Approx
min CPU needed |
Time
to burn |
| 1X |
486 |
74
minutes |
| 2X |
Pentium
I - 90 |
37
minutes |
| 4X |
Pentium
I - 200 |
19
minutes |
| 6X |
Pentium
II - 333 |
13
minutes |
| 8X |
Pentium
II - 400 |
9.2
minutes |
| 12X |
Pentium
II - 600 |
6.2
minutes |
| 16X |
Pentium
III - 700 |
4.6
minutes |
| higher |
? |
:)
Lucky you! |
|
How
fast will it take to burn a 74 minute audio cd? Speed will make
a big difference for you!
Before
you go out and buy a 16X burner, you have to consider
the speed of your computer!
If
you have an older and slower computer, you may not be
able to burn at 16X ! |
|
 |
|
| Reliability: |
Some of the
newer CD recording drives have a technology called
"Burn-Proof" which is VERY important if you want to use
your computer simultaneously for other things such as web
browsing.
One of
the most common problems people have during a burn is called
"buffer-underrun". Most CD-recorders require a
constant stream of data and if that stream of data is interrupted,
the burn will fail and the cd will be unusable.
|
|
|
| Ease
Of Use: |
If you are
going to be adding a CD recorder to your computer, it may not be
that easy to put in.
| Type
of CD recorder |
Pros |
Cons |
| USB |
Easy
to install. Just connect it to a USB port in the
back of your computer. |
They
are usually not as fast as IDE or SCSI burners. |
| IDE |
Faster,
more reliable burning |
Harder
to set up. IDE cables hardly ever fit and it usually
requires an expert to set this up. |
| SCSI |
Faster,
more reliable burning |
Harder
to set up if this is your first SCSI device |
|
|
|
| Price: |
Of
course! The $90 CD recorder may look good on the checkbook,
but it may not burn many audio cds reliably or
quickly.
We recommend
Plextor.
|
|
|
|
Learn more
about how CD Burners work at www.howstuffworks.com/cd-burner1.htm
|
