I got a Phillips burner for Christmas and I love it. I recorded a ton of music to play in my CD changer for long trips. :yesnod:

 

Patrick, my son, the impatient, performance-oriented technonerd, just bought himself a new Dell with a fast CD burner...I'll find out what he got and let you know.

He has about as many music CDs as you do photos, and just had to have cable ISP to avoid over-night burning of CDs. He works Napster and similar sites for all he can get for free. All I know is that the spec number like 32X is the speed of the CD burner; the higher the number, the faster it burns a CD.

 

Hi Patrick,
First, you have two great looking Vettes.
Now a little burner information. Maybe this will give you a little better understanding of what they are.

Burners today are speed rated by using a ??X number.
This came about many years ago when CDROM drives were created.
The first one ran at a certain speed. (Like a 265 cu. in. small block)
Then when technology improved, they got faster.
The faster ones were always compared to the first one.
So..... a 2X ran twice as fast as the original.
Example, todays CDROM drives are about 56X. (56 times faster than the original.
(Somewhat like a 283 Cu. in. might be a 2X of a 265)

Burners now have 'three' functions.
1/ Burn a "one time" CD. (Burns one time, never can be changed)
2/ Burn a "re-writable" CD. (Can be erased and burned many times)
3/ Use as a regular CDROM reader.

You will see burners advertised as, eg. 24X10X40X
24X is the max. rated speed for one time burns.
10X is the max. rated speed for re-writable burns.
40X is the max. rated speed for reading a CD.

Blank, one time burn CDs (CD-R) are very inexpensive. However !! to achieve
the max. burn speed of 24X you should be using CDs rated for this speed.
They also come in two capacities 74min. and 80 Min.
The 80Min., ones hold more information. (you can put more pictures on them)

Also Blank re-write CDs (CD-RW) have a speed rating.

You have likely figured out that the larger the "X" rating of the drive, the faster it runs. (Don't forget to get the fast blank CDs as well)

As for a good brand, well, I would stay with a recognized brand, they are all pretty good. (Eg., Sony, Plextor, AOpen, Phillips, HP, etc.).

You were asking how long does it take to write a full CD.
At 24X, it would be in the 5 Minute area. Depends if you have verify set to on.
(Verify option would be like if you rotated all four of your tires and when done,
you went back and re checked all the wheel nuts again - verify)
The system simply compares what was written to the original.

Hope this is not too confusing and helped a little.
Barry

 

Barry, I read recently that burned CDs do not retain information indefinitely. I always thought that CDs, if protected from scratches or other damage, were permanant??!?

Are you right in Halifax or outside, say Dartmouth way?

 

Ya, what Barry said.
My only additional comment is that I usually slow down the software when burning (especially if the data is very important to me) rather than push the envelope just for speed.......I do enough of that with Corvettes anyway!

Patrick,
A common mistake users make is to confuse the jargon between RAM and hard disk storage. RAM (random access memory) refers to the chips (layman's term) plugged into the motherboard (mainboard). RAM is where the computer does its "thinking", whereas the hard drive (C and D) in your case is where the programs and your data are stored until needed.



[Modified by 67HEAVEN, 2:32 PM 3/9/2002]

 

Hi Mac,
I also read that about CDs. I didn't follow up to see how accurate the statement was. I had forgotten about that, I'll do some checking as I
am putting more 'stuff' on CDs as well.

I am located in an area about 20 Km from downtown Halifax. It's called
Sackville, POP. approx 45K., near Bedford. If you travelled from Halifax
to Dartmouth, without taking one of the bridges, you would travel near
Sackville.
All this area is now called HRM (Halifax Regional Municipality), now under one
administration. (Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, Sackville Etc.)

Barry

 

Sackville....site of a Radio Canada International shortwave transmitter (if memory serves)

 

Sackville NS, not to be confused with Sackville NB, home of Mount Allison University. I think the shortwave station is in NB as well, 67, or at least there's something with a great deal of wires and towers just outside of Mount A. I'm originally from PEI but me mudder is from Pictou. I've got relatives scattered all around the Maritimes.

From what I've read, factory produced CDs use a completely different process which makes them more resistant to fade but homemade CDs have a 'life expectancy' of 7-8 years which is normally long enough but for those who are storing jpegs for future use, this is a scary prospect.


[Modified by Mac, 2:09 PM 3/9/2002]

 

I don't normally double-post but this is worthwhile, IMHO, since we were talking about Nova Scotia. Have you heard of the lost tribes of Nova Scotia? It's a sad tale, really, but worth a read.

http://www.satirewire.com/news/0112/souwesters.shtml

 

Oh Patrick,

Don't forget to ask her to handle the following as well:
- set jumper on CDRW to Slave if using the primary IDE cable (Drive C: will be master)
- set jumper on CDRW to Slave if using the secondary IDE cable (if CDROM is already using secondary Master)
- set jumper on CDRW to Master if using secondary IDE cable (if CDROM is already using secondary Slave)
- if only using one IDE cable now (Drive C: Master / CDROM Slave) do you have another IDE ribbon cable in the computer
- if you already have Drive C: and Drive D: on Primary IDE cable, and CDROM on Secondary cable, does your secondary cable have three (3) IDE connectors on it (one for motherboard, one for CDROM and one for CDRW)
- is your computer's bios utilizing both primary and secondary IDE?

Pause for effect :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy:

When buying CDRW, make sure you get software or the CDRW drive is nothing but an expensive CDROM drive.

If you have a brand name computer (Compaq, etc.) do you know how to get the case cover off? :p:

I'll give you a few moments to catch your breath Patrick, before I ask the second twenty questions. :D

 

I'm originally from Amherst, NS.. I've spent a lot of time on PEI. A truly great place.

7-8 years on the life of a CD. That is scary.
A re-writer uses a different encoding method, I don't know if the limitations
are the same.
Barry

 

Patrick, gotta love all the techno babble.

"NERO" software seems to be the easiest to use, and works great as well.

 

Hey Dude....yer gettin' a Dell.

 

Your wife is correct. If your computer is 4-5 years old, then with a new one you get many benefits, not just the burner.
Nothing gets older faster then a computer.

 

You fellers keep buyin' them Dells...We got to do our part to help the economy out of this hole (And, it won't hurt my Dell stock's price either. I still have this fond hope of becoming a Dellionaire). :D :D

 

Funny how no-one ever decided to seek the classic computers and restore them, hmmm? I can see it now.... (scene fades from Corvetteforum to a dingy compu-junkyard somewhere down south)


"Yeah, you got any parts for Commodore 64?"

"Maybe... whatcha lookin' for?"

"Something original, date-stamped chips, 1975."

"I gotta bone-yard out back, maybe got whatcha need, but it's not gonna be cheap."

"Well, okay. Have you got an inventory list I could look over?"

"Naw. Most of them are wreck, you know, upgrade-rage. As newer, faster computers came out, people got frustrated and started beating on them, or trying to stuff 'em full of aftermarket go-fast parts. I can't keep track of what's original and what's not, so just go dig around for a while and if ya find something interestin', let me know."

"Do you have any tools I could use to open cases and such?"

"Yup- here ya go, but remember- ya break it, ya bought it."

"Hey, I found an old box and motherboard! It looks pretty decent. Just needs some clean-up, maybe some NOS RAM chips...."

"I remember when that one came in; an old lady brought it in. Her son bought it then he joined the army and left home. It sat in his room for about 30 years before she sold it to us. It's all original, numbers matching everything so it's gonna cost ya."

"What do you mean? I don't think it's the original CPU.... look, the numbers seem to be off-centre, like someone stamped them by hand."

"Uhhhm, yeah, well the lady told me it was all original, but maybe the kid did some hop-ups before he left, right? Anything like that happened before I got the computer."

 

Sheesh Mac,

You guys start on the Kokanee pretty early on Sunday mornings :jester
:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Patrick, it depends on what you use it for, but I believe I might spring for the 256MB upgrade. But, if you are getting by on 64MB, you'll probably think you have the moon with 128MB. If you do a lot multi-tasking with heavy data transfer (with cable or DSL), the 256MB will be the difference between it working well with no problems, and frustration.

You should get your Dell faster than you thought and faster than they tell you...a week or less.

 

I just bought a new HP computer because I got a digital camera for x-mas. What a hassle....the new computers come with XP operating system so my digital film card reader and my scanner need new drivers to work with it (downloaded the reader, waiting to get cd from HP for the scanner). Anyway for a little over $1000 I got a cd burner, a dvd player, 512mb of ram, 60gb hard drive and 1.3ghz processor. As Chuck stated get as much ram as your pocket can afford, it's the one thing that really makes a difference in performance. So I just burnt my first cd and it was quick and very simple...MS is finnally makeing their operating systems user freindly.

 

Jerry makes a good point.
A new Dell or whatever, likely will come with Windows XP (Home).
All your previous equipment that you are migrating from the old system
will need the updated drivers.
All these should be available from their respective internet site. In this case all
from HP.

Patrick, since the Dell system you mentioned only has 128Mb., then it may not
come with XP. If it does, then 128mb. is definately not enough. XP would
run "like a dog". You need 256 Min. for XP.

Also, have you given any thought as to how you are going to get all your current information, (pictures, etc.) from your old system to the new one.?

What version of windows are you currently running ?

Sorry to keep kitting you with all this stuff Patrick, we just want to be sure
you get through this without too many problems.
Better to deal with some of these things now, then after you purchase something, and it might be too late.
Barry