Before You Buy a CD/DVD Drive

If you simply want to be able to play music CDs or standard software a plain CD ROM drive will work fine. If you want to back up smaller amounts of data to a CD you will need a CD burner. If you want to view movies on your computer you will need a DVD drive. Every DVD drive I have ever seen will also read normal CD ROM disks as well. To back up larger amounts of data or archive movies you will want a DVD burner.

Before you buy your new CD or DVD drive you will want to be sure that you have an open 5.25" drive bay in your computer. If you have an empty bay, you will also want to be sure that you have available power and IDE connections inside your case to support your new drive. If you don't have the internal space inside your computer you can get external CD and DVD drives and burners as well.

Standard burnable CD and DVD media is very commonly found and available in most stores and areas. However, if you choose a newer dual layer DVD burner, be sure to check the cost and availability of dual layer media of the correct format for your particular drive. Not all dual layer media will work with all dual layer drives.