Cds and DVDs

Ok so we pretty much all have a player in the computer for either CDs or DVDs or both. If you bought your computer this century, then you likely have a CD or DVD writer. Many of us have one player and one writer. That is the most convenient setup, as you can play on one machine and record on the other.

So the difference in these products is as follows:

CD reader and DVD reader (or players) play or read only and a CD player can only play CDs. If you are buying new, there is so little difference in price between CD and DVD players, you might as well buy a DVD player, because it can read both. (Most technology is backward compatible.)

CD and DVD writers come in two types, writable and rewritable. Most manufacturers no long make writable, so rewritable is what new machines should have. In addition, for DVDs there are several types and densities. Suffice it to say you should get one with most types listed, but be sure that thay do DVDRW, DVD+ and DVD-. Do not worry about what all the other stuff is. Your machine will know what to use. The difference is format, rather like the difference between 8 track and cassettte or Betamax snd VHS. For DVD writers you also have a choice of dual layer and density, which means you can store more on a DVD, but this requires that you purchase the special dual layer DVDs. Don't worry about that either.

Storage capacity for a CD is 650-700 megabytes. DVDs will store 4.7 gigabytes and dual layer DVDs will store 9 gigabytes. Remember though, that dual layer DVDs can only play on a dual layer capable machine. So if you want to see how much storage that really is figure out how big your My Documents folder is. Right click the folder and select "properties". That will tell you the size of the folder. Of course all sizes are given either in megabytes or gigabytes. 1024 megabytes is a gigbyte, which means that on DVD will hold about 4.4 CDs. Most people just use 1000 for easy computation when they estimate how many CDs or DVDs they need. Remember that one gigabyte is a thousand megabytes.

As for which CD or DVD "burner" to buy, read the reviews on the popular computer magazine and techie sites like CNET.com, ZDNet.com, Anandtech.com and so. They will tell you which ones are better. Just be sure you buy a reasonable quality CD or DVD. You don't have to buy the most expensive, just a major brand. You can even buy them on a spindle without the jewel cases and store them in a CD binder, as long as they are a known brand. (Look on the main computer sites to see what the major brands of the day are.)