INTRODUCTION
Buying a CD-R or CD-RW drive can sometimes be a confusing task, below we have listed important considerations to look at when considering purchasing a CD-R drive.

TECHNOLOGY
Before considering purchasing a CD-R or CD-RW drive it is also good consider the other available options.

CD-R - CD-R or CD Recordable drives allow you to do everything that a standard CD-ROM is capable of doing however at the same time allows you to create your own CD's for backup. An excellent solution for anyone that is in need of a CD-ROM / backup solution..

CD-RW - Like a CD-R drive a CD-RW or CD Read/Write drive allows you to do everything that a standard CD-ROM is capable of as well as read and write to a CD-RW disc thousands of times instead of once like a CD-RW drive. While a little more expensive this is another great solution for backups..

DVD - DVD or Digital Versatile (video) Disc allows a computer to not only do everything that a standard CD-ROM drive is capable of doing but at the same time is capable of reading DVD Discs and DVD movies. For users who plan on playing games or watching movies on their computers this is an excellent addition. Tips on buying this type of drive can be found on this page.

WHY DVD?
DVD drives like other technology can be a confusing and sometimes be thought of as a non-important consideration. The following is some insight to why a DVD drive may be important as well as different considerations to look at when purchasing a DVD drive.

Why DVD? DVD by many is thought as just a solution for users to watch movies on there personal computers. While for many individuals this may be enough, it is important to also look at the factor that DVD is now being used in games or data CDs such as an encyclopedia. DVD prevents the user from having to switch between different CDs and instead places all the data on one DVD.

DECODING
Software vs. Hardware For the purposes of watching DVD movies on the computer you must consider the following two possibilities for decoding the DVD movie.

Hardware- Hardware decoding requires an additional card called an MPEG card be installed into the computer. This card allows for the movie to be mainly decoded with that card and not software / CPU. This means other things can be done as you are watching the movie. However this is the more expensive solutions verses software and requires additional system resources (IRQ/DMA).
In addition MPEG cards will also give users the capability of connecting external video to the computer, allowing the computer to function as a DVD player for your home entertainment system.

Software- Software decoding requires a software program and the CPU to be used to handle the decoding of the DVD movie. This solution is generally a cheaper solution however requires complete access to the computer and in some cases users with processors lower then 200MHz on an IBM computer will notice poor quality video.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Some other important considerations to look at when purchasing a computer CD-R / CD-RW drive include:

Extras - Some manufactures of DVD drives will include extras such as a DVD movie or movies, cables, deals with DVD movie stores...

Warranty - How long is the warranty and what does it cover.

Support Is the technical support number a free number is it open 24 hours 7 days a week.

PRICE RANGE
When looking at purchasing a computer with a DVD drive or a stand alone DVD drive it is important to take into consideration that a DVD drive will be more expensive then a standard stand alone drive. The price of a DVD may vary depending upon its speed, included software / hardware or its interface.

READY TO BUY
Once you have reviewed the appropriate information and believe that you are ready to make a purchase of a computer DVD ensure that the source which you plan on purchasing the DVD from is a reputable source and you have reviewed our section on what to look out for when purchasing over the Internet.