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Hi im interested in getting a dvd burner for my computer i had a couple of questions before i purchased it i plan on using it for the obvious reasons to burn dvd's and cd's but can it also be used to store data ? kinda like a harddrive i need extra space how it is now and i was gonna just get another harddrive but i read that dvd's hold a lil more than 4.5 gigs.. could i burn files to rewritable disc and use that for storage like mostly mp3's roms text files etc also could u run a program from the dvd?
Before you buy a DVD burner make sure you know your computers capabilities and they meet at least the minimum requirements of the burner.
Go to Start, Run and type in:
dxdiag
Hit the OK button and while waiting for it to completely load look on that first screen as it will show you which version of Windows and your Processor and it's speed in MHZ or GHZ.All the DVD burners I have seen require, at a minimum, 800MHZ with recommended at 1.2 GHZ along with so much RAM. (Not sure if 64MB of RAM is enough).
But yes, you can store data on DVDRW but you will not be able to run installed and then copied applications from a DVD. If they are 'standalone' programs then they will run from the DVD.
Unless you have at least a 1.2GHZ processor then I would recommend you get and install a second hard drive. Make sure the size of the new hard drive is supported by your motherboard by checking it's motherboard manual. (Mine will only take up to 32GB drives and be recognized. The overlays won't work on this machine either.)
Bryan
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well the drive is a Pacific Digital / 8x4x12x DVD+RW / 8x2x12x DVD-RW / 32x16x40x CD-RW / USB 2.0 / Dual /External DVD Burner USB 2.0 looking on a couple of sites i cant find system requirments for it...? i already plan on adding a pci slot with usb 2.0 is there anything i need to worry about? also since the storing files on dvd seems a lil awkward i was planning on gettin a external 2.0 harddrive Maxtor 80 gig 2mb cache 7200 rpm basically what im asking is would the performance be ok with these devices i prob. wont run programs from the external hdd just for storage. thx alot
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oh also the specs for the system are Intel Celeron 466 Megahertz (MHz) processor(win98se) i will add 256 megs of crucial sdram to it before i install both drives ...
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If it is this one Model U-30223 then it too requires 800MHZ PIII at a minimum.
If you find one that will run on a 466MHZ do let me know as I would like to get one too and I am running a 800MHZ PIII.
Bryan
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I personally settled for a CD burner that only requires a 266MHZ processor. It works great but at only 700MB capacity. It came with Nero software. I got one for $20 after rebates from Staples.
Staples does not have a CD burner in their specials this week (maybe next week). They do have a couple of DVD burners though. Staples - this week's specials.
Bryan
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Today while at Walmart I saw a Lite-on 16X DVD Dual Format/Dual Layer burner that requires a 466MHZ as the minimum with a recommnded processor of 800MHZ. $109 US.
Bryan
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