- PC HARDWARE -

Sony Notebook DVD/CD combo burner/player

The DVD or CD ROM (meaning "Digital Video Disk" or "Compact Disk - Read Only Memory") have been the standard media for storing and selling manufactured software programs for a number of years - mainly because of their storage capacity of up to 6 gigabytes (as opposed to it's predecessor, the 1.44MB floppy disk).  CD ROM players, like most things in this business, were very expensive when they first came out (starting at about $250 for a 1X player).  Now, you can buy a `hi-end' 52X player for around $30.

CD ROM hardware comes in four forms: 1) the CD "play only" device, 2) the DVD/CD recorder/re-recorder (CD RW - or `burner'), 3) the digital video device (DVD) player, and 4) the DVD/CD RECORDER/PLAYER.  .  Use of the basic CD player and DVD are pretty straight forward - you just stick the CD in the drawer, close it, and sit back and see what happens.  The DVD/CD "burner", however, (like the one below) does a lot more stuff and is something I would like to talk more about.

HARDWARE:  First, most manufacturers out there today make DVD/CD recorders that work well, so you do not have to spend a lot of money on the `top of the line' to get one that will serve your purposes.  Second, when you are shopping for a burner you may be confused by the `speed' specs of 8/4/32 or 12/8/52, etc.  The first number in this series is the "write-once" speed; the second number, the "re-write" speed; and the third number the "play" speed.  Let me say here, though, that if you buy a `16X record' burner do not expect it to record at twice the speed of a `8X record' burner - because `recording' is only part of the overall new CD creation process.  The process includes formatting, temporarily storing data in RAM, etc. - and these steps take the same time on any recorder.  Further, to get a 16X recorder to record at 16X you need 16X blank CD's - which cost more money.  I have a simple little Panasonic 8/4/32 burner (like the one above that I paid $65 for) that will make a perfect copy of any CD I have in about 15 minutes, uses any blank CD out there, and will play back any CD I have at top performance.  

SOFTWARE AND RECORDING:  Most CDRWs you buy today come with packaged software written by "Roxio".  Although there are a lot of other recording software programs out there (some touted superior), Roxio (previously Adaptec) has been around for a long time - and they know their business!  I have had great results with their software and have no reason to change.  The Roxio/Adaptec (and competitors)  recording programs can be described as follows:

Roxio:  

First, this program provides a quick format of a "record-once" blank CD and allows you to drag-and-drop any information (preferably using Windows Explorer) from your hard drive, ZIP, or floppy drives to the CD until it is full.  It also allows you to prepare the CD so it can be read on any normal read-only CD player.  

Second, it `long formats' a re-recordable CD or DVD so it can be used just like a floppy or ZIP cartridge for backing up important files, and deleting, renaming, rearranging, updating them, etc.  THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE FOR BACKING UP YOUR IMPORTANT DATA.

Copy CD:  Using this feature, you can make an exact copy of any CD in your collection (including music).   This can be done by either making a CD-to-CD copy from a normal CD player or DVD, or creating an "image" of a CD on your hard drive and then `copying' it back to a blank CD.

Music CD:  This feature will first format a "write-once" CD for music recording.  To be able to use it from there, you need a `source' CD player (or files on your hard drive) to copy music tracks from.  Stick the formatted CD in your recorder and your music CD in your player, go to "add tracks" in the software program, and then `drag-and-drop' your favorite recordings from the music CD to the blank CD.  This is a great way to take your favorite compositions from different CD's and make a custom CD of "Your Music".

Data CD's:  I do not find a lot of use for this feature.   It essentially duplicates the features in `Drag to disk' and makes the process a bit more cumbersome.

Slideshows:  One of the newer features of the Roxio software is ability to create professional slideshows and save them as wmv files or burn them to a CD of DVD.  Just insert photo's, music, and transitions in the project mode and export the slideshow to your media of choice.  It is easy - and fun.

Label Creator:  There are lots of programs around that let you create professional looking labels for your data, music, and video CD's, but I find Roxio is the best.  You can import a background and graphics and add wordart text to really make them look great.  If you are copying a store-bought CD you can scan it and then use the scanned image as the background.  And so on....

These are some of the main features of the Roxio software - but there are many more.