You're probably here because you've either experienced or heard about recording CDs. Recording onto CDs (also known as burning CDs) is becoming more and more a must-have for many computer users today.

When recording music, 650MB translates to 74 minutes. New CD-R and CD-RW formats can record up to 700MB or 80 minutes of music. Often referred as CD-RW drives, these recorders vary in recording speeds, how they're connected to a computer and which computer they're compatible with. Learn the basics with this special JR.com guide then shop for one of our terrific CD-RW drives from Sony, Toshiba, Addonics, Acer, Creative Labs, Teac, Archos, Iomega, Hewlett-Packard, Imation, Ricoh Corp, Hi-Val Inc., TDK, Micro Solutions, H45 technology, Lacie Limited, Yamaha, ADS Technologies, Fantom, QPS Que!, Compaq, and VST Technologies.

You cannot record onto CDs using a CD-ROM. A CD-ROM can merely read (or play) pre-recorded CDs. You need a CD recorder to record CDs. Originally, there were CD Recorders and CD Rewriters. CD Recorders (CD-R) could only make one recording per disc. The more recent CD Rewriter (CD-RW) can make several recordings onto a CD and may also be used as an auxiliary data storage drive. Virtually all CD Recorders can record CD-R and CD-RW modes and read CDs like a CD-ROM. The ability to record onto CDs has many advantages. Blank CDs have 650MB of free space to store data on. Many people use them to make their own music mixes in the order they which. Recording music onto CDs allows people to be able to mix the order of songs on numerous CDs onto one. They'll also be able to download and burn music from the Internet. Recording onto CDs also comes in handy when your dealing with backing up files from your computer or stores large chunks of data.

The main things to look for when buying a drive is how it will connect to your computer and how fast you want the device to record, rerecord, and play CDs.

CD Drives have certain speed capabilities. They are rated at the maximum achievable speed. Several factors can reduce the speed - the speed of your Internet connection (when recording MP3 files), available RAM memory, the speed of your computer's processor, and the maximum data transfer speed of your connecting interface port. A CD-ROM, which only reads or plays a CD, is rated at a maximum reading speed (usually 24x or higher). CD-RW drives on the other hand have three separate speeds always presented in the form of AX BX CX, such as 12x, 8x, and 24x. The first number (12x) refers to the CD-R speed, one-time CD recording. The second number (8x) refers to the CD-RW speed for multiple CD recordings (rewriteable) and is usually a little slower than the CD-R mode. The third number (24x) indicates the maximum speed that a pre-recorded CD can be read (this is the CD-ROM mode). The "X" factor represents the original transfer rate from a CD-ROM, which is 150KB per second, or 150,000 characters per second. 2X would be twice that rate or 300KB per second, 3X would be triple that rate (450KB per second), and so on.

Most current CD-RW drives can record at anywhere between 8X and 16X, and rewrite from 4X to 10X and can read from 20X to 40X. With 16x recording rate, you can burn a 650MB disc in approximately less than 5 minutes.

When it comes to connecting your new CD-RW drive to your computer, there are several variables to always keep in mind. Does your desktop computer have an available drive bay into which you can connect a CD-Drive? If it doesn't (or if you own a portable notebook computer) there are external models available. Your computer may have several available interface ports and there are CD-RW drives for virtually every port. All computers manufactured in the last 2 years have USB ports. Even more recent models also include FireWire ports. These offer very rapid data-transfer speeds. Older models may have a Parallel or Serial port and these are considerably slower. Older Notebook computer models will have a PCMCIA port although current notebooks can be found with USB and FireWire ports.

System Requirements
In order for CD Burners to work effectively, make sure that your notebook or desktop computer has a minimum of a 200MhZ machine, with at least 32MB of ram. If you intend to record tracks from other music CDs, you need a standard CD-ROM drive (which your computer probably already has) with about a 20X read time. This is merely a guideline since system requirements may vary from model to model.

Internal Vs. External
Installing internal CD-RW drives in a desktop computer requires that you have an available drive bay inside the body of your computer. If you have no available drive bays then depending on the flexibility of your desktop, you can either replace your CD-ROM drive with a recordable one (you won't be able to record tracks off standard CDs unless you have both a player and a recorder connected to your computer at one time) or you could add an external one. If you install the drive internally, you connect it via the internal IDE port. Internal CD-RW drives for notebook computers though rare are sometimes available depending on what model machine you have.

External drives for both desktops and notebooks are more common than internal drives. There are a number of different interfaces you can use when connecting an external drive to your computer. This depends on which port your computer has available and which connection the new drive was made for. Most drives connect via a USB port. Older models still have a SCSI interface. Others use a faster FireWire port. External notebook drives could connect via a PCMCIA Card Slot.

Most CD Recorders include a software suite for recording. Especially useful for one-time record on CD-R, recording software allows you to make a master recording on your hard drive prior to transferring it onto your blank CD-R disc. You're provided with several applications for editing and enhancing recorded material.

There are only two types of recordable CDs, the CD-R and the CD-RW. The CD-R allows one-time recording only. The disc is very economical and it is highly recommended that recordings be made with the aid of video recording software. A CD-RW disc can be recorded many times. While priced slightly higher than a CD-R, the CD-RW can also be used for auxiliary data storage, much like a floppy disc drive. With up to 700MB of data storage, it can hold the information of about 500 floppy discs. The CD-RW is also easier for recording high-level multimedia presentations.

One very important element to a CD-RW drive that should not be overlooked is a memory buffer. Most average CD-RW drives come with at least a 2MB buffer memory. What is this buffering used for? Well let's take an example. Let's say you're about to record a 10-minute music track from one of your CDs to a blank CD-RW. Remember that the computer will read a disc at one speed and record on the blank disc at another. Play speed is almost always faster than record speed. So the memory here works to keep the music in the memory before it's recorded onto the blank disc.

There is a myriad of music and data organization software available at JR.com that will help you while using your CD-RW drive. Many drives usually come with all the appropriate cables like USB, SCSI or even FireWire connection cables but you may desire a longer or better-grade cable. Though some manufacturers may include a sample CD-R or CD-RW disc, we suggest purchasing an additional package of CDs.

Not all CD-RW drives work with both PCs and Macs. Make sure you read the specifics before committing to a CD-RW drive.