O/T Computer

[david.c]

Hi Guys

I am in the process of replacing the family computer and have a bit of a dilema. One of the machines has a combined DVD rom/CD writer drive whilst the other has seperate DVD rom & CD writer drive, but is another £50.

Is the extra convenience of being able to copy direct from one drive to the other worth the extra money?

As I don't currently have a CD writer, I don't have any experience to base my decision on.    

Any words of wisdom greatly appreciated  

Cheers

David

[adhawkins]

I think you've hit the nail on the head really, the only good reason to get the seperate drives is to be able to directly copy.

However, unless your system can keep up, direct copies might not necessarily be a good idea anyway. The error correction on my CD writer has to work very hard when doing a direct copy, whereas doing a copy via the hard disk (most CD writing software will handle this for you) the error correction isn't required.

The other thing to check are the read speed for DVD and CD of the combined device. Sometimes these will be lower than for a standalone one. If speed is important, then again, buying the seperate drives might be a good idea.

Andy

[david.c]

So Andy, it sounds like you get a better copy going via the hard disk anyway?

The combined drive has a speed of 48x16x (which means very little to me)    

Cheers

David

[adhawkins]

Not 'better', just more reliable. Check what error correction the CD writer has.

Basically, if while writing to the CD, on the original CDs if the PC didn't keep up, you burnt a coaster. Now, the drives have protection mechanisms built in such that they can handle the PC becoming 'busy' for a little while, stopping the disk you're writing becoming useless.

48x16x sounds like 48x read, 16x write.

So, check the read and write speeds quoted for the seperate drives. It may be that they're higher.

Andy

[darthurs]

You can get a comby DVD/CR-RW for about £50 so it seems a bit steep charging that to have them both separate.

It should only be about £30 more for separate.

The other thing with having a comby is if anything goes wrong with it you will have to fork out for a new comby.

What I would do (and have myself) is get the comby DVD/CD-RW and also fit a 52X CD-ROM drive. Most things are still on CD so you won't over-use your DVD/CD-RW and then just use the DVD/CR-RW when needed. 52X CD-ROM drives are about £20.

Dan

[david.c]

Basically, if while writing to the CD, on the original CDs if the PC didn't keep up, you burnt a coaster.

So, check the read and write speeds quoted for the seperate drives. It may be that they're higher.

Andy

Don't have these details here at present but will check tomorrow.

Thanks

David

         

edited to point out that the smileys are for the 'Coaster' comment.

Havn't got the knack of multiple quotes in one post  

[darthurs]

And forgot to say... then there is still the possibility to copy CD's directly if you wanted to.

You will just need to copy them at a lower speed when doing it directly, it should still be quicker then writing to your hard drive first and should be reliable enough.

Cheers

Dan

[adhawkins]

To be honest, unless you're doing a lot of reading / writing of CDs, then there's probably not a whole lot of point you spending the extra money. Use it to put extra memory or a bigger hard disk in if you have that option.

Andy

[david.c]

What I would do (and have myself) is get the comby DVD/CD-RW and also fit a 52X CD-ROM drive.

I must admit that was going through my mind.

Also from Andy's last post it sounds like it's worth seeing how much use the burner gets, and then add the extra drive if it's needed.

Thanks Guys

David

[darthurs]

Also from Andy's last post it sounds like it's worth seeing how much use the burner gets, and then add the extra drive if it's needed.

Sounds like a plan. I would get the comby in this case then.

Dan

[JonnyBoy]

save money and build your own... its like lego... but more high tech.

Bare in mind that you can purchase a dvd writer for as little as 50quid.. and combo dvd/cdr for  30quid!!

[gregh]

Tiny had a good deal in the paper, depending on what you want to do with it. http://www.tiny.com

[david.c]

Just got the new machine and am posting on it now  

Intel Celeron 2.6GHz

256 Mb Ram

40 Gb Hard Drive

Combo DVD/CDwriter

Windows XP and stacks of other software

Keyboard & Mouse

All for £270      

Thanks for everyones advice

David

[JonnyBoy]

bargain    

[karlgurney]

can i just add when i first built a pc i put a cdrom and cdrw drive on the same ide cable, which i now believe is not a good idea, you get better copies and at a faster speed if separate cd/cdrw/dvd drives are on different ide cables IMO. something to bear in mind if installing one yourself.

Karl