Cdrw purchase questions

[jayzad]

I apologize up front to the Senior members, for the same old Question. I know that I may in some way asked for help in this area before, but it is getting to be crunch time, and I still need any help you can give. And you will see this post at more than one BBS today, because I need the help. I’m trying to find an internal CDRW that has the most features over the other for around $200 to $250 Current system is Compaq 5150 400MHZ 128mb ram AND I’M STILL TRYING TO FIGURE OUT THE SPEED OF THE CD ROM. I want to be able to copy almost any type of s/w or game that I have. 1. What spec’s are important to look for in my current CD-ROM. 2. A site that will have the best comparison chart on CDRW drives. And things you can suggest to look for on those charts. (like if it supports 74 to 80 record time), (does it support CD+G ) other to look for ?????? The current system has a on board sound card. Will I need to get a PCI Sound card or use the one I have? The CDRW I get more than likely will come with Adaptec s/w, but may also by the Nero s/w. The one I’m looking at is the HP 9510I at Best Buy this week for $250 after rebate. 4meg buffer. Any comments or other thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks to all and have a Great Turkey Day.

[darrelld]

I don't keep up much with the cd-r's, but when I bought mine price was the major factor.
Fortunately it will do just about everything, the one thing it won't do that I wish it could is write text onto audio cd's.
So Whenever I need to replace it that will be a feature I will be looking for.

[NDC]

Look no further....... Plextor is the way to go! Get a Plextor 12/10/32 SCSI drive. It's gonna be a bit over your budget since you will need to get a SCSI card which should cost you about $50 USD + $279 USD for the CDRW drive, but it will be well worth it in the long run..... If you want to skip the SCSI interface, you can also go for the same drive that is IDE interface which will save you the additional $50 for the SCSI card. But don't get me wrong now..... IDE Plextor 12/10/32 has the same "Burn-Proof" technology as the SCSI model, but the downside is that it will utilize the CPU more since it's IDE, not SCSI. But from my experience using my IDE Plextor 8/4/32 without "Burn-Proof" technology has been very reliable even in heavy multi-tasking environments. I also use a Sony External SCSI 8/4/32 model and the Plextor IDE 8/4/32 performs no less than my Sony SCSI CDRW drive.

As for being able to copy games that are copy protected will not depend on the drive, but will depend on the software that you use.... I've successfully burned games using Padus Disk Juggler that failed to copy with Adaptec Easy CD Creator. Padus Disk Juggler seems to burn copy-protected CD's better than Adaptec Easy CD Creator. I hear that Nero Burning ROM also does a great job when the settings are set appropriately.

And for the last question..... Most new CDR or CDRW drives support 74min (650mb) and 80min (700mb) CDR medias, so you won't have to worry about that... Plextor CDRW drives support both of them and so do Nero, EZ CD, and Diskjuggler CD burning software...

Here is the link to a few Plextor CDRW drives so that you can check out the specs. Shop around and I'm sure you can find them at a lower price than here:
http://www.egghead.com/ss/brands/plextor.htm

[jayzad]

Thanks for the help, I will look at the plextor, and the scsi feature, but you say that most cdrw support the 80mim feature, but from what I can tell HP's cdrw do not correct me if im wrong. http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

[phecky]

Yeah, check the Buy.com site. They also sell that same IDE Plextor drive with 10 free CDR's. I had to buy one as I couldn't pass up the price- it's an excellent price for a great product even though it's last year's model. You won't go wrong with it and plus you'll be saving some cash for another day.

[jayzad]

Yes I can't make up my mind, but these look real nice. But what I'm I missing here. What is the big difference in these two drives. I want to be able to backup [copy] puter s/w, mp3, game, play station, [with the mod chip, and even cd+G karaoke. And also burn 80min cd's. Is it just the speed, and buffer. The one for more seems not to have any buffer or less can't tell for sure. what do you recomemend/??? Do you think the cheaper one will do ??

http://www.plextor.com/english/products/12%5F10%5F32.html

http://www.us.buy.com/retail/computers/product.asp?loc=1913&sku=10252769&PageFormat=3
http://www.us.buy.com/retail/computers/product.asp?loc=223&sku=10263818&PageFormat=3

[This message has been edited by jayzad (edited 11-22-2000).]

[Richard_Cranium72]

MY HP 8250i works with 80 min CD-R's just fine, the only downfall to the HP's as I see it is the price..

Ask yourself ACTUALLY how often are you gonna burn CD's.

If it's everyday,, then a SCSI may be what you NEED..

If you're like most, a ide will work just fine.

Here's a link to a Plextor that will set ya back LESS than $120.00 inc S/H if you buy by Friday..

32X/8X/4X REWRITABLE EIDE CD-RW W/SOFTWARE
Our Price: $146.95- $30.00= $116.95 http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

Buy.com
$30 off $150 New Customers (80457348) Expires: Nov 30 www.techbargains.com (http://www.techbargains.com)
http://www.us.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10229213&loc=1913

looks OK to me, check out the other Plextors too->> http://www.us.buy.com/retail/store.asp?loc=1913

gluck
DrVette

[Richard_Cranium72]

quote--------
" I want to be able to backup [copy] puter s/w, mp3, game, play station, [with the mod chip, and even cd+G karaoke. And also burn 80min cd's. "

I don't know about any of that except that it WILL burn the 80min cd's.

Velly interesting,, "Back-Up pewter"
HOW About it Experts ??
Can you back-up the system to a cd ??

[jayzad]

thanks I'm sorry for the confused post. But I have noticed that the word copy is a touchy word with some. So I meant make back up copies of computer software, computer games, play station games that are used with an instaled mod chip in the game device. Make music cd's using mp3 files. And also be able to copy, and play karaoke disk that are in a format called cd+G karaoke. lol not much clearer for you sorry, but thanks http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

[crazyray]

CDRWin seems to be the favorite program out there for backing up Playstation games. You might want to make sure the drive you pick is supported.

[awwall]

Bought the Plextor 12/10/32 CDRW IDE from Buy.Com. Great Price,check them out. As for Speed, can burn 650meg in 6 min, fast enough for me without the high SCSI price.

DrVette, I routinely back up my "system" to CD. I burn the entire Windows directory with all its sub-directories. On more than one occasion this has been a God Send. Some .dll corupted or erased,etc. Just copy it back from the CD. Works Great.

My .02 cents

aw

[NDC]

Backing up the whole Windows Directories + Sub-Directories on a single 650Mb or even 700mb would only be possible with Win9x or Win ME.

As for Win2K, not including applications that you installed after installing Win2K, would be at least 1gb. My OS partition which only contains the OS, not applications that I installed after is 1.21gb.

[awwall]

NDC, you are absolutely correct. The backup I refer to on CD is Win98. Win2000 would never make it on a single CD.

aw

[elroy]

My 2 cents also: I'm on my 2nd cd-rw. Bought a Samsung 8x4x32 this time, works GREAT and cheap. Biggest consideration on a cd-rw is the buffer size. 4 is very adequate but there are some out there with 8mb. Plextor is undoubtedly the BEST !!! As for backing up a system use NTI's Backup program it will span several cd's. www.ntius.com (http://www.ntius.com)

[Beemers]

My HP 9350i will do a full system backup or selective.

Overview
HP Simple Backup is a Windows based Backup software that allows you to use your HP CD-Writer to create backups of your computer's files and then restore those files to any computer equipped with a CD reader (yours or anyone else's).

HP Simple Backup offers four options to manage your backup needs:

Full System Backup
Custom Backup
Complete System Restore
Custom Restore.
HP Simple Backup also offers the following features to customize your backup or restore sessions to suit your individual needs:

It can back up your entire drive, individual directories (with or without their subdirectories), or individual files.
It can put multiple backup sessions onto one disc thus avoiding wasted media.
It will estimate how many discs you will need to complete your backup so you won't run out of media half way through a job.
Its Autorun feature allows you to restore files to any computer equipped with a CD reader (yours or anybody else's).
You can even customize the way that you restore your files (i.e., overwrite all files, just the old ones, or never overwrite an existing file).
HP Simple Backup is an easy to use, intuitive, and economical way to keep your files safe.

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Full System Backup
Making a copy of your computer's entire hard drive is easy with HP Simple Backup.

Start HP Simple Backup.
Click on Full System Backup from the main screen.
HP Simple Backup's Wizard walks you through the rest of the necessary steps.

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Custom Backup
HP Simple Backup's Custom Backup feature allows you to pick and choose which files you want to backup. To create a Custom Backup just perform the following steps:

Start HP Simple Backup.
Click on Custom Backup from the main screen.
HP Simple Backup's Wizard walks you through the rest of the necessary steps.

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Complete System Restore
HP Simple Backup's Complete System Restore option allows you to take the backup files you created using the Full System Backup option and put those files back onto any computer equipped with a CD reader (yours or anyone else's).

Insert the first CD of your backup set into your CD reader.
Click Complete System Restore from the automatically displayed screen.
HP Simple Backup's Wizard walks you through the rest of the necessary steps.

Note: If HP Simple Backup does not start automatically, click on the Windows Start button and then select the Run... option. Browse to your CD reader's drive, double click the Setup.exe command and then click OK.

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Custom Restore
The Custom Restore option is much like the Complete System Restore option in that it allows you to restore files to any computer equipped with a CD reader (yours or anybody else's).

Insert the disc you created using HP Simple Backup's Custom Backup option into your computer's CD reader.
Click Custom Restore from the automatically displayed screen.
HP Simple Backup's Wizard walks you through the rest of the necessary steps.

Note: If HP Simple Backup does not start automatically, click on the Windows Start button and then select the Run... option. Browse to your CD reader's drive, double click the Setup.exe command and then click OK.

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Automatically Excluded Files
Because of the constantly changing characteristics of some types of files, HP Simple Backup automatically excludes them. Following is a list of some of these types of files:

Backup application files
Index files for caches (internet files, history files, etc.)
Windows swap files
Drivespace or Doublespace files
Temporary directories (i.e., .tmp files)

Cheers!