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 DVD
burner - Choosing a new DVD disc drive
By Mitz
Free computer Tips
Back in the good old days, if you were going to buy a DVD
burner it was easy. A DVD burner was just a DVD burner. However now days
there are some many different types of DVD drive burners that it makes it
very confusing when trying to buy a new one. What are all the funny names
associated with these DVD Drives? Lightscribe, Dual layer, and Bluray?
What features to look for when buying a DVD burner
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Speed Most DVD burners you buy now days usually
burn DVD's at 18x or 20x. Anything less than that and it is old stock. To
burn cd-rom the speed is around 48x and to burn a dual layer DVD it is
usually 4x.
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Dual Layer This means your burner will be able
to burn to DVD discs that have more than one layer. So instead of 4.7gb of
DVD disc storage you can have double that. You have to buy a dual layer
disc to burn two layers. They are a bit more expensive than the ordinary
DVD-r/DVD+R.
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Bluray This is the latest technology when it
comes to DVD disc copying and writing. A Bluray disc fits 25gb on one
layer. If you have a dual layer Bluray disc it fits 50gb of data. Your
burner must be compatible with Bluray to read or burn these discs. Simply
being a dual layer burner is not enough. Bluray disc are expensive because
it is only a new technology.
Bluray VS DVD disc
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Lightscribe This
is a new technology that prints a label
directly to your CD or DVD disc. You can design and print text and
graphics onto the surface of a disc making them look neat an professional.
It is done with the same laser that burns the data to
the DVD disc. You need to buy special discs for this purpose.
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Compatibility Make sure your DVD burner
can burner onto all types of DVD discs, including the DVD-r and DVD+R as
some older DVD players are only compatible with the older types.
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Extra DVD burner buying tips
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Research your burner online. Go to forums and
see what they are saying about a particular burner. In the past I have
bought two different burners and there was a clear difference in
performance. Some burners continually have errors when burning discs and
waste your money.
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Make sure
you buy a DVD burner that
is compatible with your computer system. You do
not want to buy a SATA connection DVD burner when your motherboard only
has IDE connections.
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Make
sure the DVD burner is compatible with your operating system. Some people
still have an old operating system on their computers.
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Get
software included with your DVD burner. If you do not get software it can
cost you more money to buy it just so you can use your DVD burner.
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Choose a color that matches your computer. Most DVD burners come
with an interchangeable face plate.
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Think about where you are going to play these DVD discs you create. For
instance a Bluray disc will not play in your average home DVD player.
Notes:
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About the Author
Mitz Pantic wrote this article and others for
tips4pc.com
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