General Chat

I am a complete idiot when it comes to computers, I want to save things to DVD/CD, advice please.

I don't know much about them either. My current pc came with rewritable cd/dvd. I use the function to burn to cd because of my assumption that more people have cd rom drives than dvd drives but otherwise I can't say which is best. And my assumption might be completely wrong - all I know is that it works for me and that's what matters!!! Angela

Do you want to know about the burners themselves or do you want advice on the software you use to burn files/photo's onto CD/DVD ? Steve.

It sounds as if you are going to buy the hardware so i strongly reccommend that you buy a dvd burner. The basic reason is that you can get such a lot more on the discs and at higher quality. This is especially good if you have a digital camera as the files grow like Topsy. Of course if all you want to do is save your familly tree then CD would be fine but if you have copies of documents, photo's of gravestones etc then DVD is the one. As for make and model I suggest that you look at some magazine reviews and go with their expertise as things change so fast.

Thankyou for all of your reples, I will look at mags etc

June I would take a look on http://www.ebuyer*com They have a good selection at rock bottom prices( from about £39 for dvd/cd burners) they have a returns policy and have lots of customer reviews. I recently bought a new base unit from them they are very good. ( they sell mice from 69p!!) Bob

Thankyou Bob I looked at that site,its very good, this afternoon I was looking at magazines for information when my grandson came up and said, What are you looking at one of those for, you already have a CD writer just need a programme, ( I have his castoff PC) why didn't he tell me that earlier? MEN!!!!

Hi June i too am considering buying a DVD rewriter i already have a Cd rewriter and was interested in what your grandson said, about getting a programme, but when i phoned my PC suppliers they said that isn't possible and that i need to purchase a DVD rewriter! Bev

I've been following this thread with great interest, so can I put my six penneth in, please? I keep on thinking I know a lot about this subject, then realise that I don't! One of the problems, I think, is that the IT industry is so blase about such matters, salesmen are either tekkie nerds who can't communicate in English, or sales nerds who don't know the first thing about the products they're trying to sell! Right, let's get down to basics. As I understand it, a rewriter lets you burn files and/ or programs onto CDs. At least, that is what I do, using Nero as a recommended prog from friends and IT specialists. I've been variously advised to use either single write Rs or multi-use RWs, and find the whole thing very confusing. On the whole I've found Rs more relaible than RWs, although they can only be used once. Comments? Next, the whole confusion over recording speeds. The first IT tekkie told me to record as slowly as possible, in order to maximise detail and quality etc. Tried this when producing my first home video, didn't work, the scenes moved like treacle, then jumped into the next scene! Asked the second tekkie, who said that the first advice was absolutely ridiculous, I would have to burn at the highest speed. Tried this, very successful, that lesson at least has been learned! Next, the speeds you can burn at seem to vary from R to RW CD. Which and how for what function - comments, please? Next, a friend who'd just bought a DVD player asked me to create a home movie for him. Downloaded his film, made the movie and burned it in the usual way via the Nero video-CD prog. Played it through in my DVD player to check, ran perfectly. Sent it to him, he played it in his new player (Sony), refused to recognise it. His machine would only play commercially made DVDs! (Think he may have bought a redundant previous generation model in a clearance sale!) However, that's another pitfall to avoid! I've checked with yet other experts what the difference is between CD burning of eg movies, and DVD burning. I've been told that CD burning is fine for most things, including movies, and that DVD burners are much more expensive. Then again, I'm not sure whether they're referring to PC drives or to the new generation of TV based DVD burners, and what the difference is supposed to be. Think that's enough for now to be getting on with. Sorry to stir the pot so vigorously, but.......! Arrrggh !!! Help, please, for me (and the millions of others out there who I'm sure are equally bemused!) Philip