CDRW whats that all about then?

[Zenki]

I want to get a CDRW for my tower and have kind of settled on the £50 Sony 52x on the PC World site. I don't know much about computers so was hoping someone could enlighten me about the speed figures and their benefits. I assume the ones with the lower speeds such as 48x/12x/48x give better copying/replay clarity because the run slower than the 52x/24/52x such as the Sony. I won't be using it for anything out of the ordinary ;) so would a 52x be sufficient? My CDrom is 52x so do I have to get a 52x RW to run with this? :confused:

[JonnyBoy]

The 52x refers to how fast it can write data - it has nothing to do with quality. The higher the number the better :)

[Zenki]

How come the slower ones are more expensive then?:confused:

[JonnyBoy]

errrrr, dont know :confused:

My IT friend was well pleased with his 48x he got the other day though, purely because of speed.

Anyone?

[200sxer]

Originally posted by Zenki
How come the slower ones are more expensive then?:confused:

The quality won't be worse if it's faster.

The price could be due to the brand, you pay for name with pc hardware just the same as you do with clothes.

[David_S14]

Originally posted by Zenki
How come the slower ones are more expensive then?:confused:

It will be down to the features on the drive, the ones you want are:
Burnproof or Buffer underrun protection
A good size cache (4MB or 8MB)
A drive that is supported with the better copying software (CloneCD, Blindwrite etc.)

For a cheap drive that has good features and is well supported have a look at the Liteon range

[Vipers]

it would be more expensive depending on brand as previously said or because they are not buying in as many in bulk and as such they're cost price is higher than the new ones cuz they've brought loads of them.

i can do some ARTEC 52x24x52 cdrws for £40 comes with nero

[amcluesent]

Is it worth getting a drive that supports 'Mount Rainier' format disks? I like the idea of a CDRW that can be used just like a v. large capacity floppy.

[voodoo_melon]

If the drive has buffer underrun protection and you have a pc less than about 3 years old the size of the buffer doesn't really matter. Most drives now have only 2mb as it can pause itself if it runs out of data.

I think Adaptec/Roxio(?) directCD lets you use a cd like a floppy. Those cd-r's vipers has seem good value, I got a liteon 52x24x52 a month or so ago for about £48 iirc.

[Mark]

Ebuyer are doing 52x LG ones for £38 and are doing free delivery until the end of the month

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=45413

I have a Liteon 52x that was £45 and is very good

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=42134

:D

[andyf]

Originally posted by Zenki
How come the slower ones are more expensive then?:confused:

Because people want faster drives, so when manufacturers release an updated version (or new) of their drive, they generally discontinue making the slower one. Hence they become rare and expensive (but there is minimal reason for a slower drive)

[Zenki]

I dunnit! I went to PC World and got a Sony 52x. I got home and thought, "Fuggit, I'll try and put it in meself!"
I then took the cover off the tower and JEEEEZUS! how many wires! Bear in mind that you could write what I know about the inside of a PC on a toytown stamp it was frankly quite scary seeing all those boards and wires. I sat there for about ten minutes figuring out what wire went to what and what was mastered and slaved and then took the bull by the horns and started unplugging stuff!! Ten minutes later I had the case back on and the thing booted up. Ten minutes later I had illegally copied a CD, purely for my own use you understand! Its Working perfectly. This IT stuff is a piece of pi55, dunno why you IT teccy types get so much money, its easy peasey lemon skweezey!!! ;) :p

[Martin T]

You lucky wine waiter- 99 out of 100 ppl with that kind of knowledge of computers would have buggered something up. I know, coz it used to be me who had to sort it out!

[Vipers]

Artec 52x24x52 = £40
LiteOn 52x24x52 = £45
Liteon 48x24x48 = £40