How to Buy a CD or DVD-RW Drive

When purchasing a new CD or DVD drive there are a few things to consider. The most important thnig to consider is what you want to do with the drive. In the past two or three years 90% of all computers have come with a DVD-RW drive already installed. This drive is capable of reading or writing to most any type of disc on the market today. If you have a computer that has any other drive such as a CD-RW, CD-RW+DVD or a DVD-ROM drive, consider upgrading to the newer DVD-RW Drives.

Now it doesn't matter whether you are replacing a bad drive or upgrading to a newer one, here is a list of features you might want to have on your new drive.

• 20x writing speed are standard on most new drives today.
• Double Layer capable is also a standard feature to look for. (Allow you to burn both 4.7GB and 8.5 GB DVD+R discs)
• Lightscribe is a common feature on most new drives; this option is an extra and not really needed. See Note Below*
• The last feature is the interface type; most DVD-RW's come in an IDE or SATA Model. Make sure you replace your drive with the same type. IDE drives have a wide cable about 2 ½" in width while the SATA drives have a small ½" wide data cable going to the mainboard. If you're not sure which one you have check with the manufacture of your computer,it should say in the parts list documentation. If you are still stumped, check in theCD/DVD section of the website for an article on how to identify your drive.
  
  

One last thought, make sure when you order or purchase a new drive that you have the proper software to be able to burn discs. Most of the retail drives will come with basic version of the software, while OEM or bare drives come with no software. Do not make the mistake of thing that the software you already have will work fine, check with the software company to see if they fully support your new drive, or purchase new software that will.

Note*(Lightscribe is a process of using the DVD-RW's laser to burn a label or graphic on the top of your disc, this is used instead of a label. Now is theory this sound very cool, but, the process is slow and you have to buy special discs to use it. Most people find it too expensive, time consuming and the graphics are hard to see. I recommend ignoring this feature).

Below you will find few links to the best and cheapest DVD-RW on the market.