Tips On Buying A CD-ROM Drives.

INTRODUCTION

CD-ROM drive is used with computer to read the information from the CD-ROM. Today CD-ROM drives have transfer rates ranging from 48X to 75X or more. Generally Purchasing a CD-ROM drive relatively easy task however can involve some considerations when purchasing.

Technology of CD-ROM

Before considering purchasing a CD-ROM it is also good consider the other available options.

CD-R - A CD-writer or recorder (or simply CD-R drive) is used to write data on CD-R disks. Usually, a CD-writer can read information from CD as well as write information on CD, The locally produced CD-R disks are created with CD writer. The speed of these drives is up to 52X or more.

CD-RW - You must have a CD-RW drive to write date on the CD-RW. These drives have read and write speed is up to 52X or more but the re-write speed is 10X or more. The CD-RW drive is advanced and more expensive than CD-R drive. It can write data on both CD-R and CD-RW discs and also read data from them

DVD - DVD stands for Digital Video Disk Versatile Disc. DVD-ROM is an extremely high capacity optical disc with storage capacity from 4.7 GB to 17 GB.

TRANSFER RATES

Today CD-ROM drives have transfer rates or speeds ranging from 52X to 72X or more. For Example, a 52X CD-ROM drive has a data transfer rate of 7,200 KBps (i.e. 48 X 150 = 7200)or 7.2 MBps. It means that the higher the number, the faster the CD-ROM drive. This speed is generally only going to be noticeable when installing a program or copying large amounts of data from a CD.

PRICE RANGE

For a CD-ROM drive, not to be confused with a CD-R, CD-RW or DVD drive can vary depending upon the speed and the interface the CD-ROM drive uses.