nycrocker
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posted on December 24, 2000 10:32:26 PM
I sell my own recordings on eBay (and on my web site, at my gigs, etc.) and wanted to get a CD burner. Someone just told me I can't run it on my computer cos I only have 16 MB RAM.  PLEASE tell me this isn't true!!! I have a Compaq Presario 4505 Pentium. Do I need a new computer just to get a CD burner? Can anyone help? (Obviously I know nothing abut computers, I'm just a rock n roller.) Thank you!
Sad Rocker
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twelvepole
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posted on December 24, 2000 11:24:29 PM
Sorry, but I use Easy CD Creator 4 Deluxe and part of the system requirements are for 32mb of ram and at least a 166mhz processor.
Maybe you can just upgrade your ram?
Ain't Life Grand... 
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yisgood
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posted on December 25, 2000 06:41:57 AM
RAM is about as cheap as it gets these days. You can probably find 64 mb for about $70. Go for it.
http://www.ygoodman.com
[email protected]
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borgt
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posted on December 25, 2000 06:45:14 AM
Additionally it is probably the easiest upgrade to do yourself. Super-simple and you'll notice huge differences in your PCs performance.
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avaloncourt
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posted on December 25, 2000 06:52:07 AM
16 Meg is by far too little to consider making CDs. I burn approximately 3000 CDs a month on 4 computers and 2 standalone machines. I have multiple buners in every computer and the standalone. Easy CD doesn't support the mutiple burner copying so I use other software but for singles I often just run one off with their CD Copier utility.
One thing you would definitely face, even if you could burn with 16 Meg, is buffer underruns. You would have a computer old enough that it relies on the system to process that data and any slowdown causes the data getting to the drive to stop or slow. This causes the burner to come to a halt because it has no more information to write. When this happens, you have made yourself a bright, shiny new coaster.
I have multiple drives of the new technology which prevents this situation but you need a modern computer for those as they require "bus mastering" which channels the data from the CD-ROM to the writer. This is much more efficient and alleviates many problems.
One thing to keep in mind is if your original material is on a CD-R, your read speeds will be significantly slower. If you read much slower, this also means you will write much slower. This is why I invested in one particular CD-ROM drive type which is much more efficent at reading data. The drives are very expensive in comparison to anything that comes installed in a computer but with good original CD-R media I can reliably read data as fast as 50x with that drive. Don't expect anywhere near that with a regular CD-ROM drive. Depending on the quality of your original source CD-R media, you may only get 4x - 8x with a regular drive. High quality original media will get you higer read speeds than that. If you are writing directly from your hard drive then you won't be affected by those read speed problems but will be affected by slow computer problems.
I hate to be the bringer of bad news but CD recorders are frustrating to so many people because they are very sensitive and very tempramental to anything but the most perfect recording conditions.
[ edited by avaloncourt on Dec 25, 2000 06:56 AM ]
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twinsoft
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posted on December 25, 2000 07:17:42 AM
Just got a CDRW drive. Love it. (Not ready to go into full production yet, tho'.) Avaloncourt, that's great info, I wish I knew what the heck you're talkin' about. Right now I'm backing up my hard drive as I just bought a 556 MHz bare bones tower and am getting ready to transfer.
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avaloncourt
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posted on December 25, 2000 08:11:24 AM
twinsoft: In a few sentences: Choose the best media you can to make your backups on. If you ever need to get the data back off it will read a lot faster and be much more reliable. I've tested a lot of different blank CD-Rs and there is indeed a huge difference in the quality. One of the programs I use is called Feurio. It allows you to test the Maximum read speed of a written CD-R. Back when I first got into this I had the attitude, "A CD-R is a CD-R. It's all marketing hype." When I put Feurio on the computer I saw how wrong I was. Cheap media was only reading at 4 or 8x and not consistenly. I then started testing brand names and what a difference!
In order of how well they were able to be read, here is what I found: HP, Sony and TDK. Memorex were inconsistent along with several other brands. Imation read much slower than I imagined they would. The HP read speed really flies. This will make a huge difference expecially if you ever have to restore from those discs. It will save a lot of time.
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pacoferrone
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posted on December 25, 2000 08:13:45 AM
RAM is dirt cheap.....you can get a 128mb chip for about 40 bucks ..check pricewatch.com/......i just bought a 128 chip for 40 plus 8 bucks shipping........sweet deal!!!!!!!!
ALSO
just bought a new tdk 12x10x32 with 24x ripping speed.....its called a velocd..it also has a NEW technology that PREVENTS buffering errors...now no more errors, it makes perfect cds every time.....retail price at local comp usa 350, i found it on price watch for 259 with a 50 buck mail in rebate on top of that....shipping was 12 bucks.........burns a full 800mb cd in 6 minutes.............how sweet it is.......it also comes with nero pro and several other nice programs.........i like nero over adaptec deluxe 4.o because it is more reliable when using the copy cd feature..from my experience and research adaptec is notorious for buffering errors when using the copy cd feature...see the latest issue of maximum pc for more details
[ edited by pacoferrone on Dec 25, 2000 08:18 AM ]
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sirpaladin
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posted on December 25, 2000 08:36:38 AM
I just got some memory at www.crucial.com. Their website makes it easy for newbies (like me) by having a step-by-step guide on how to make sure that the memory you are getting is compatible with your computer system. At the least, you can find out what kind of memory you need to get. Happy holidays to one and all =)
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RB
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posted on December 25, 2000 09:26:34 AM
I have enough punch in my PC to handle a burner. Can anyone suggest an economical brand and cat number for an internal burner? This would be for my son's use, and hopefully, will give me back the MEGS of HD space he has his files stored on!
Thanks
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avaloncourt
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posted on December 25, 2000 10:10:51 AM
pacoferrone: You're absolutely right about Easy CD causing buffer problems. It's a shame that's the software supplied with most burners. I use Nero and Feurio. Both do quite well.
RB: If you just need it for basic backup, I'd recommend watching ads for BestBuy. They have had some good deals on various CD-RW drives. That keeps it to your area (if there is one in your area) and you save shipping fees.
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bitofagrump
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posted on December 25, 2000 10:12:25 AM
RB,
I have had a Yamaha 8x8x24x EIDE since July or so and have used it quite a bit. As Avalon pointed out, different media works better than others. I have had the best luck with Ricoh branded media. at the time, I believe I paid around $170 for the drive-though I'm sure they have dropped since then.
I have used it for just about every type of copying except for MP3s which I have no interest in. I found that things went smoother and faster if I copied whatever it was I wanted to burn onto my hard drive first and then from the HD to the CDR.
I think there has been some good advice offered here. I think if you stick with a known brand you'll do fine.
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pacoferrone
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posted on December 25, 2000 10:53:22 AM
avaloncourt
i also learned via an error message on nero that if you have your burner and the source drive, in my case my dvd drive, connected to the same bus port on your pci card that buffering errors during copy cd function may occur(they areconnected in the master/slave method). this is due to both devices trying to use the bus at the same time, makes sense to me...nero allowed me to burn anyway and it worked sometimes and not others...so when i got the new burner i also purchased an another pci port with 2 more bus's....now i can add a third harddrive if i need to.....i got that for 30 plus 8 bucks shipping off pricewatch, local comp usa had it for 60 plus tax.........
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ed123
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posted on December 25, 2000 11:42:24 AM
What do you burn 3000 cds for? Have a business?
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avaloncourt
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posted on December 25, 2000 11:43:44 AM
acoferrone: I think you meant to say IDE. IDE/ATAPI burners shouldn't be on the same IDE cable. You are absolutely correct on that. The data can't go both directions at the same time on an IDE cable. When you're dealing with high speed disc copying as with 16x burners this can cause a huge timing problem.
Nero does an excellent job of catching all kinds of problems in computer configuration. It will also tell you and explain how to turn Auto Notification and Disconnect off. Those settings cause a lot of problems with CD software. Even Adaptec's own software has problems it tells you how to fix. Also, their DirectCD causes huge numbers of problems. Packet-written CDs have problems of their own and also can't be read in another computer unless DirectCD is installed.
As acoferrone pointed out, if you want to add another burner you can add an additional IDE controller card using your PCI slots. A SCSI card can also allow you to add several SCSI-based CD-RW drives.
ed123: Yes, we do in-house short run production and 3000 is about an average in a month. Sometime more and other times less. This month we probably will hit more around the 5000 area. It's been very hectic. We always keep an eye out for deals and newer technology and have spares around in case we have a failure. Overall the drives have held up well. I can't say as much for the CD-ROMs. Prior to going to the Pioneer True-X CD-ROM drives we found most to be pretty erratic in their reliability. Pioneer lives up to its data throughput claims and have been extremely reliable. They're costly but not nearly as much as regular drives having data flow problems and trashing 5 disks at a time. Another plus for the Pioneer CD-ROM is that it has a 7 laser pickup which allows the drive to run slower while actually pushing more data than anyone else. This keeps things very quiet and no vibration. Having 6 drives in a computer case can really build up a lot of noise and vibration.
[ edited by avaloncourt on Dec 25, 2000 11:53 AM ]
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Pocono
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posted on December 25, 2000 12:14:38 PM
Yep, I'm with avalon.
I do 500-1200 CDs a week.
Pioneer is the best ROM for output by far.
I use Plextor writers exclusively, as I have had not ONE problem with any of them from the first time I started using them 2 years ago.
I have (8) 8x Plextors that have EACH written over 10,000 CDs without even one problem over two years.
I just added another (8) 12x Plextors
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ed123
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posted on December 25, 2000 12:27:11 PM
Pocono, what is your email, I need to ask you a question in private and hopefully you will be kind enough to reply to me.
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twelvepole
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posted on December 25, 2000 01:48:47 PM
With only doing maybe 5 burns a month, I haven't had any problems with Easy CD, but would like to learn more about this Nero software... any links would be nice. I am always willing to try something that could be better.
Ain't Life Grand...
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Pocono
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posted on December 25, 2000 02:02:57 PM
ed: [email protected]
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avaloncourt
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posted on December 25, 2000 06:38:20 PM
twelvepole: Nero is available at my local Staples store. It's with the software for doing MP3 mixes and such.
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pacoferrone
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posted on December 25, 2000 06:44:56 PM
avaloncourt
you are correect sir, thats exactly what i meant..i know ibought one, not real sure what exactly it was called....but thats it.........burn on!
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kerryann
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posted on December 25, 2000 07:27:19 PM
If I may ask a question here, does anyone know if you purchase a CD writer and copy mp3 files to a CD if you can listen to it in a Sony Discman or stereo CD player or can you only use the CD in the computer?
I have some old recordings of myself and family members playing celtic music and would love to record them as mp3s into my computer and then transfer the songs to CDs so my parents could listen to them on their stereo.
I hope that made sense. Any help would be appreciated.
Not Kerryann on eBay
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avaloncourt
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posted on December 25, 2000 07:50:13 PM
kerryann: The only way you could play the MP3 files on a standard Discman player would be to have a program like Easy CD Creator make an audio CD of those file for you. You would have the limitations of an audio CD such as 74 minutes of program time on a standard CD.
There are hybrid players out there which play both regular and MP3 CDs but they're pricey and your MP3 disc would only play on your computer and in those kinds of players.
twelvepole I checked on the Nero software and here's where you can find all the information you might need:
http://www.ahead.de/en/Index2.htm
[ edited by avaloncourt on Dec 25, 2000 08:23 PM ]
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twelvepole
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posted on December 25, 2000 09:01:28 PM
avaloncourt Thank you for the info and will check the local Staples here.
kerryann Easy CD Creator 4 is very easy to make CD's with MP3's. That is what I use and play them everywhere, including my vehicle stereo.
Ain't Life Grand...
[ edited by twelvepole on Dec 25, 2000 09:05 PM ]
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nycrocker
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posted on December 25, 2000 09:26:07 PM
I sure am glad I asked! THANKS everyone for all the useful info! This is great!
Happy Holidays and thanks again for all your help
Rocker 
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reamond
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posted on December 26, 2000 04:42:41 AM
If you want to convert mp3 to CD DA [regular CD music format ], just use Winamp player software to convert the mp3 files to wav output and it saves them in a folder you designate, then burn the wavs as digital audio- the CD will play on any CD player. Winamp is a free download.
You will also see just how compressed mp3 is after you convert. File size increases x 10. A 3 meg song expands to 30 megs.
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pacoferrone
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posted on December 26, 2000 05:30:42 AM
avaloncourt
home and car cd/mp3 players are not that pricey from my experiences....i bought a discman type unit that plays borth wav and mp3 cd's for under 150 bucks and i just bought a 3 disc carousel home unit combo cd,mp3 and dvd player by pioneer for 200 bucks. it lookks like your standard home cd carousel player..........works great too
when purchasing the afaptec software make sure it is the deluxe as the older adaptec does not automaticly convert mp3 to wav for you
also not all standard cd players are cdr compatible. i had a problem playing them on a friends new sony home dvd player. we wemailed sony asking what was up, they replied saying their units do not play cdr's based on the reflective material used on cdr's...i say thats a bullsheet answer as i have a 5 disc cd changer by sony for my home, approx 5 years old and it plays them babys just fine.........best thing to do i bring a burned cd and make sure it will play on what you want to purchase, in my opinion
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avaloncourt
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posted on December 26, 2000 05:46:11 AM
pacoferrone: You're right about the price. An awful lot of people don't want to pay 5 times the price of a discman type unit just to add MP3s.
On the CD-R issue, DVD players are a whole different animal. DVD players used to be completely incompatible as the color of the media on a CD-R was completely incompatible with the color of the DVD laser.
Apparently Sony has overcome this as I bought their highest end DVD player about 2 weeks ago and it has no problems at all with reading anything off any disc whether CD or VCD. I read very recently that for problematic players, burning to a CD-RW discs alleviates a whole lot of problems. There must be a color shift in RW discs.
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