How Do CD Burners Work?
We already know that CD burners copy data onto a CD, but how does this process actually happen?
Basically a CD player will use a laser to read the tracks on a CD reading from the inside to the outside. The tracks and spaces in between will look like ¡°hills and valleys¡± to the laser beam. Instead of having a ¡°hills and valleys¡± design to them, recordable CDs are completely flat with a dyed surface. When the laser beam runs over them, their translucent dyed surface turns from a shiny color to a dull opaque color forming ¡°hills and valleys¡± on the recordable CD that resemble the ¡°hills and valleys¡± on the original CD.
LightScribe
Hewlett Packard has gained an increase in popularity with people who create DVDs or CDs with the introduction of their LightScribe software.
LightScribe makes it possible to burn a label onto a CD or DVD using a regular laser beam. By using LightScribe you are able to customize the CD or DVD you created and give it a professional looking appearance.
As a result of the popularity the software has created, the editors of the magazine ¡°Popular Science¡± awarded Hewlett Packard with the ¡°Best Of What¡¯s New¡± award for creating the LightScribe software.
Read the Outside of the Box
By reading the outside of the barbones kit box, you can see what the kit contains and which computer parts are lacking. It will be quite frustrating to be ¡°knee-deep¡± in putting the barebones kit together, and find that parts are missing because they are not included in the kit. So before you purchase a kit, make sure you have all the necessary components.
Upgrading to a DVD Burner
There are many people who prefer to use CD drives and not upgrade to a DVD burner. However, there are a lot of reasons why you should consider using a DVD burner instead of using a CD.
The first benefit to burning DVDs is the amount of space they are able to hold. DVDs provide more value for your money because they are able to hold approximately four gigabytes of information, while a CD can hold only seven hundred megabytes.
The second benefit to upgrading to a DVD burner is the speed at which a DVD burns compared to a CD. Most DVD burners can burn at 1,352 Kilobytes per second whereas a CD drive burns at only 150 Kilobytes per second.
A third reason to consider upgrading to a DVD burner is the ability of some DVD burners to be able to burn a normal CD. However, this opposite is not true with CD burners being able to burn a DVD.
Based on this, there seems to be fewer reasons why anyone would not want to upgrade to a DVD burner.
Determine Your Brand of CD Burner
If you are not sure what brand of CD burner is installed in your computer, you can use check this in a simple way.
First, click on the ¡°Start¡± button on the Windows XP desktop. Then go to ¡°All Programs¡±.
From ¡°All Programs¡± select ¡°Accessories¡± then ¡°System Tools¡±, and click on ¡°System Information¡±.
The ¡°System Information¡± window will open, and after clicking ¡°Components¡±, select CD-ROM.
The information that shows within the window will report to you information such as the description, manufacturer, name and status of the CD drive installed on your computer
Computer vs. Barebones Kit
A barebones kit is a practical way to build a new computer system.
The advantage of using a barebones kit is that it saves money to buy a kit with only the minimum hardware installed. Afterwards, cheaper parts can be added to the rest of the kit to build the new computer. In this way, barebones kits make owning a computer very affordable.
Another dvantage to buying a barebones kit instead of buying an already assembled computer is how easy it is to assemble the components of a computer. Barebones kits come with instructions, and as long as the person can clearly understand the instructions, they can assemble and start enjoying their new computer in record time!
Finding Affordable Computer Parts
Anyone interested in buying affordable computer parts can first start by calling around to various electronics store. Another way to find affordable computer parts is to ask friends for a recommendation.
It is also possible to receive a recommendation on where to buy affordable computer parts by asking questions in computer technology forums. There many message boards or forums established where veteran computer owners will take the time to answer novice questions. This is also a good place to enquire about finding affordable computer parts.
Deciding On The Right Barebones Kit
The most popular selling barebones kit is the Mach Speed K8M8MS. This kit comes with a Mach Speed Socket 754 MicroATX Motherboard, an AMD Athlon 64 processor, 1 GB of DDR 400 MHz memory, and a cooler fan, a Raidmax XB ATX black tower case, keyboard, and optical mouse.
The second barebones kit that has become a hot selling item is the Biostar M7NCG 400 barebones kit. The Just4PC 747 computer case includes the Biostar M7NCG 400 motherboard, an AMD Sempron processor, and a cooling fan.
The third hot selling barebones kit is the Asus K8V-X SE barebones kit. This kit comes complete with a Raidmax XB Black ATX tower case, an Asus K8V-X SE motherboard, an AMD Athlon 64 processor, a cooling fan, and 512 megabytes of DDR memory.
Based on these top selling barebones kits, it is the no wonder why the Mach Speed K8M8MS barebones kit is the most popular, especially because it can be purchased with a keyboard and optical mouse.
Popular CD Burning Software: Nero 7 Ultra Edition
Nero 7 Ultra Edition is another popular burning software. It retails for approximately $80 and gives the user the ability to burn CDs, DVDs, and create home videos while providing full audio, photo, and video support.
After installation, to burn an audio CD in Nero 7 Ultra Edition software, start by clicking on the music Audio symbol on the Nero StartSmart page.
This will open up the Audio page with options to choose from such as ¡°Make Audio CD,¡± ¡°Play Audio,¡± and ¡°Convert Audio CDs to Nero Digital Audio¡±.
Choose the ¡°Make Audio CD¡± button, then select ¡°Add¡± button to add the songs you want to burn.
The next steps are to choose from pertain to how you would like the CD burned. Make sure to give your CD a title, and select the "Write Method".
Afterwards, selecting the number of copies, choose ¡°Burn¡± to begin making your audio CD.
Popular CD Burning Software: Windows Media Player
Some people might be surprised to find out they already possess CD burning software on their computer. As a component of Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Media Player already possesses the ability to burn and create your own CDs.
To burn a CD in the latest version of Windows Media Player, you should have a CD burner drive, a recordable or rewritable CD, and the CD or music you would like to copy.
Start by opening Windows Media Player on the desktop. Next click on ¡°Library¡± and then click on the name of the playlist you would like to copy.
Afterward click on ¡°Burn List¡±. You can drag songs from the Contents window to the List window. After have a list of songs that you would like to burn, place a blank recordable CD into your CD burner and click ¡°Start Burn¡±, making sure the computer is burning an audio CD.
Barebones Kit Costs
Paying for a barebones kit is actually quite affordable, and this is why some people choose to buy a barebones unit rather than a buying a fully intact computer.
Usually barebones kits range between $100 - $400 dollars, depending on what rebates or sales are available. The Mach Speed K8M8MS kit retails for around $300 dollars while in comparison the Asus K8V-X barebones kit retails for around $280.
The best advice for getting a barebones kit you can afford is to call around and compare prices of different vendors before deciding on the most affordable one.
Calculating DVD Burner Speed
To calculate the actual speed your DVD drive will burn at, it is necessary to multiply the drive speed by the rate at which the data is read and copied.
For example a 4X drive will have an actual speed of 4 X 1352 Kilobytes per second or 5,408 Kilobytes per second.
Using this formula it is possible to calculate the actual speed for a DVD burner.