CD-Rewriters

[PACKERS]

hi
im a bit confused and hope you can help me.
im thinking of buying a CD-ReWriter.
and am wondering if you can tell me the difference between an 'IDE', 'SCSI', 'USB' and 'EIDE' drives?????.
Also which i can put in my system (how do i work this out, is it based on my motherboard etc??) what do i look for on my system?, and what do i plug it into if i do get one, theres 2 free expansion ports but where do all the conections go???.
And one more thing, i currently have a 48x mx normal cd drive, can i leave this connected and will they both conflict if i do??

thanks for taking the time to read my message
please reply soon anyone

Greg.

[ixl]

Hi Greg,
IDE, SCSI and USB are different interfaces, which are the ways that the device connects to the system. Most likely you will want an IDE drive because you already most likely have an IDE CD-ROM drive.
You can continue to use your existing drive, and put the writer on the same IDE channel with it, assuming that you have two IDE channels (which most systems do.)
P.S. I deleted the duplicate message in the other forum to avoid confusion.

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Charles M. Kozierok
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...
Note: Please reply to my forum postings here on the forums. Thanks.

[rsnake13]

hi greg, i also wanted to let u know that i juxt purchased a cd-rw. i wanted one i could use on my 3 computers. so i went usb. they are not as fast , but close enough so i won't notice. Plus, i have a fast ide cd-rom already on all 3 computers so i was not concerned on the read speed. i purchased a HP 8220E cd-rw. its speed is 4x4x6. like i said its fast enough and easy to switch between the 3. good luck

[Paleo Pete]

To answer the rest of your questios, "what do I plug it into and where do all the connections go?"

The drives should plug into a connector on the motherboard, you shouldn't have to worry about that one, the existing drive should already be plugged into it. Check the jumper settings on the back of both drives, one should be set as Master, and the other as Slave. I always put the one at the end of the ribbon cable as Master., the one in the middle as Slave, for consistency. Plug the new drive into the open connector on the ribbon cable, which is about 2" wide. Watch for the colored stripe on one side of the cable, it must correspond to the #1 pin on the drive, which should be marked. If the drive's LED stays on constantly, you have the cable plugged in upside down.

Next, you need a power cable. That will be a white plastic plug about an inch wide, 1/4" thick. Check the other drive, it has one, so yo can see what it looks like. If you don't have an extra one inside the case, go to a computer shop or Radio Shack and get a splitter. It plugs into one of the power plugs and supplies power to two devices. It is keyed so it only fits one way, don't worry about it being plugged in wrong, it's not possible unless you use a hydraulic press or a decent size hammer.

The existing drive should also have a wire running from the back of the drive to the sound card. This carries a signal to the sound card so you can use the CD ROM to play music CD's. Leave it on the existing CD ROM drive, you won't need one on the new one. The sound card only has one plug for it anyway. True, many have two plugs, but they're different types. Only one type is normally usable. Just remember to use the original drive to play music CD's.

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If you had everything...Where would you put it?

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[zomster]

Looks like others have alrdy explaind about the cables...

I also just got a new Burner I picked the HP 8x4x32 which runs for about $175US also has a $30us rebate atm, ive burned over 100 CDs with no probs so I am really happy with it.. using the Memorex CDs

Ive heard Yamaha makes real nice burners but more costly.. Ive never been fond of any Sony product but ive heard from others there burners are also nice.

Hope this helps