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Mother Nature has ways of telling you to stay away from certain plants and animals — you don't want to get involved, usually because of claws, teeth, or poisonous spines. Unfortunately, you can encounter lots of really nasty, time-wasting trouble when buying, installing, and using a CD or DVD recorder, and you don't receive any warning beforehand. For example, recording over a network sounds like a great idea — until you try it.
Here are a few things to avoid.
Antique USB 1.1 drives
Avoid buying a USB 1.1 drive. Here's what the advertisements for these drives didn't tell you:
- They're slow. If Dorothy had used a USB 1.1 drive, she would still be in the Land of Oz. Because the data transfer rate is limited to the top speed of a parallel port, virtually all USB 1.1 drives are limited to 4X recording, with a handful of drives capable of a blistering 8X.
- Forget DVD burning. You might as well try to burn a DVD-R with a book of matches. USB 1.1 simply can't provide the data transfer speeds to burn a DVD at 2X or higher.
Unless you have absolutely no recourse — either you burn with a USB 1.1 drive or you don't burn discs — let these antiques fade away into the hoary pages of history and invest in a USB 2.0 or FireWire recorder.
"Holy aqueous tragedy, Batman!" (Avoiding liquids)
Not much explanation needed for this maxim: Keep liquids away from both your discs and your recorder!
In a pitched battle, a diet soda always wins. At least you can clean your discs when they have been accidentally dunked — you may have to use a little disc cleaning solution. However, knock your mug of hot cocoa on your external recorder, and you have just created an expensive paperweight.
A bad labeling job is worse than no label
A disc that's badly out of balance is harder to read, so sticking a huge, heavy label on just one side of a disc may render it unusable. This includes large mailing labels, return address labels, and even — gasp — stickers. If a label weighs enough, it throws the disc's balance out of whack. For this reason, many manufacturers of DVD media advise that you never apply a paper label to their discs; check the manufacturer's recommendations before you stick something where it shouldn't go!
The easiest way to avoid this problem is to use CD-ROM/DVD-ROM labels and a labeling device, like a CD Stomper system, which leave your discs in perfect balance after they're applied. Even better, you get quite a bit more space to hang text and graphics.
Copy protection works
If you're buying a CD or DVD recorder to create backup copies of games or DVD movies, don't expect much success. Most computer CD-ROM games and all DVD-ROM discs are copy protected, and you won't have any luck in duplicating them.
Certain programs can remove the encryption from DVD movies, and one or two recording programs purport to duplicate discs. However, a number of different copy-protection schemes are also available and are continually being updated. Therefore, what works on one disc may not work on the next. 'Nuff said.
Don't settle for a tiny buffer
The size of your recorder's data buffer has a direct effect on the performance of your recorder — especially when your system is under pressure, like when other programs are running in the background or you're recording at 24X or faster speeds. The larger the buffer, the more efficient the recording process, and the less likely you are to encounter errors during the burn. (If the drive supports burnproof recording, buffer size is somewhat less critical, but you'll still benefit from faster recording with a larger buffer.)
If you're shopping for a recorder, get a drive with at least 2MB; naturally, 4MB or more would be even better. Most older recorders have a scanty buffer of 512K (or even less), so scavengers beware.
Putting the worthless in high-tech cleaning
You have absolutely no reason to spend $20 or more on a CD cleaning device that looks like a cross between one of da Vinci's flying machines and an automatic bread maker. All you need to clean your shiny round friends is a photographer's lens cloth — any high-density silk material will do in a pinch, too.
Keep 'em cool
One thing your CDs and DVDs share with pets and children: Never, never, NEVER keep them trapped in a hot vehicle, especially in direct sunlight. Owners of car CD players know how finicky these beasts can be, and no matter what Aunt Matilda told you, discs can warp.
How can you fix a warped disc? Forget trying to press it back into shape with a thick, heavy hardbound book — coping with the disc is a better idea. Most recorders are more tolerant of a warped disc than audio CD players are, so you may get lucky enough to copy it (or at least create a disc image you can use to record a new disc).
However, it's best to just keep those discs cool in the first place!
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