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Despite the rumors you may have heard, buying a CD or DVD recorder in the modern world is no longer a dreadful experience. In days past, you would be at the mercy of that fast-moving predator of the electronics store — the computer salesperson — who would either turn on the high-pressure hose and sell you the most expensive drive on the planet or stand motionless with hands in pockets, oblivious to the answers to any of your questions.
Today, however, you may never even enter a brick-and-mortar store to buy your drive. If you're on the Web, you can choose from literally hundreds of online stores. You can shop 24 hours a day, at your leisure, and you have all the time you need to compare features and prices. It's paradise for those of us who are ready to purchase online.
Your first choice to make in your trip down Hardware Boulevard is a simple one, yet it has the most effect on the price and performance of a recorder. If you've never run across these terms, an internal drive lives inside your computer (just like your floppy drive or your existing read-only CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives). An external drive sits outside your computer, using a power cord of its own and a connection of some sort to your computer's case.
Staying inside with internal
Why not pick an internal drive? Most folks do, and here are the reasons why:
- Convenient: Your drive is built-in to your computer, without an extra power cord to mess with and some sort of connection cable to boot.
- Fast: Depending on the interface, most internal drives are faster than their external brethren.
- Cheap: Also, an internal drive is usually less expensive than an external unit because it's not carrying around its home like a digital hermit crab.
Breathing the open air with external
For some computers (for example, laptops and the stylish Apple iMac), you have to pick an external drive because you have literally no room to install a second internal drive. (Creating extra room with a hacksaw usually isn't advisable.) However, a number of good reasons explain why an external recorder would appeal to even the stodgiest PC owner:
- It saves a bay: A bay is an internal space inside your PC's case where you can add devices. Most desktop PCs have several of them, but technowizards and power users can easily fill up every bay with other gadgets. Because the case has no room inside, an external drive suddenly looks sexy and attractive (at least to them).
- It's easy to install: Afraid to open your computer's case? You are not alone, and you have no reason to be embarrassed. Adding an external drive means that you can leave your desktop alone, and it may even be easier than installing an internal drive. If you choose a USB or FireWire drive, for example, the process is as simple as plugging in a connector and the power cord.
- It's portable: Everyone in the building can share your recorder, perhaps as a backup device or to carry along with laptops.
Here's the bottom line: Unless your computer simply doesn't have room or you don't want to open it, save your money and stick with an internal recorder.
"Edna, the salesman says we need an interface"
Geez, what a word. It sounds like something you would hear from an engineer — ack! — but the word interface really has a simple and straightforward meaning: It's the type of connection that you use to unite your computer and your recorder in everlasting friendship (at least until you unplug them).
EIDE
The most popular interface for PC and Mac owners all over the world is the EIDE. EIDE stands for Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics. Unfortunately, EIDE drives don't come in external form, so if you need an external drive, you can skip to the next interface.
Virtually all desktop PCs built today use EIDE hard drives and read-only CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives. To handle the workload, your PC likely has both a primary and secondary EIDE connector; each of these connectors supports two EIDE devices, so you have the capacity for a total of four EIDE drives. If you already have one hard drive and one read-only CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive in your computer, you're using only two of those four connections.
EIDE drives are simpler and cheaper to install than SCSI and are a good pick for most home PCs.
SCSI
Short for Small Computer System Interface, SCSI is significantly faster and more efficient than a typical EIDE drive, and a single SCSI card can connect anywhere from 8 to 14 different devices — which is great if you plan to expand your computer to help NASA with the latest Mars probe. SCSI drives are available in both internal and external form. If you have an older Macintosh computer, it likely has an external SCSI port.
Unfortunately, SCSI is harder to configure than EIDE because a number of settings have to be made correctly for anything to work. Also, a SCSI recorder is usually significantly more expensive than its EIDE counterpart.
SCSI drives are a good choice for the experienced PC or Mac owner who's willing to spend a little more for better performance and all those extra connections — but be prepared to spend more time configuring and fine-tuning.
USB
At least USB is only three letters long. It stands for Universal Serial Bus, a connection type that's used exclusively for external drives. USB is the best thing to happen to PC and Mac owners since the invention of canned air. (Yes, believe it or not, the same USB drive can be used by both types of computers.)
USB is Plug and Play, which means that you don't have to reboot your computer when you connect a USB recorder. Plus, your computer automatically recognizes that USB drive, so you have nothing to fiddle with or set. Many USB drives don't even need a separate power supply.
On the downside, a USB 1.1 connection is much slower than an EIDE or SCSI connection, so today's fastest CD and DVD recorders can't use it. You can't burn a DVD at all using a USB 1.1 connection, and CD burning is limited to 4X or less. USB drives tend to be somewhat more expensive because USB is external only. Finally, most older computers have only two USB ports, so if you're already using USB devices, you may need a USB hub; this little black box converts one of your USB ports into four ports. Cool!
FireWire
Imagine a — hey, wait a second, FireWire's not an acronym. Anyway, FireWire is also fast enough for today's high-speed drives, and it's been around longer than USB 2.0. (Technoheads also call it the IEEE-1394, and you may see it advertised as such when shopping for digital camcorders.)
FireWire (developed by Apple) has all the advantages of USB, and it also comes in two flavors: FireWire 400, the original standard, and the new FireWire 800 (which is twice as fast, and currently available only in the Mac world). Both types of FireWire connections work great for external CD and DVD recorders. As an additional bonus, you can use a FireWire 400 port for connecting many digital cameras, DV camcorders, scanners, and the like.
What's the catch? Only external drives need apply, and FireWire drives are typically a little more expensive than a USB 2.0 drive. All current Macintosh computers now have FireWire built-in (naturally), and PC owners can add FireWire ports by installing an adapter card.
FireWire 400 is the best all-around choice for high-performance external recorders, because it connects far more devices to your computer.
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