Rewritable DVD/CD drive

[Dodge_Sniper]

I'm trying to get a rewritable DVD/CD drive. Do I have to get any specific one for my computer? I have a Biostar brand computer. Would any DVD drive work?

 

[NightWarrior]

Absolutely. As long as you have an available IDE spot that is

 

[Dodge_Sniper]

:confused

An IDE spot is...? If it helps, we have the regular rewritable CD drive, and below it there are places where you can put 3 more drives. I guess a better question is, will any brand(Sony, Dell, etc.) of rewritable DVD/CD drive work, and does it have to be a specific size measurement, or can you fit them when you add them in?

 

[NightWarrior]

:confused

An IDE spot is...? If it helps, we have the regular rewritable CD drive, and below it there are places where you can put 3 more drives. I guess a better question is, will any brand(Sony, Dell, etc.) of rewritable DVD/CD drive work, and does it have to be a specific size measurement, or can you fit them when you add them in?

You just have to have the connections on your motherboard. You should be fine there, you can always slave off your hard drive or your other CD drive. They are all the same size when you buy and internal cd/dvd drive, 5 1/2 inch, so you'll be ok. You can use any brand, but I'd shop around and read some reviews out there. I haven't looked in a while to see which drives create the fewest coasters.

 

[Dodge_Sniper]

You just have to have the connections on your motherboard. You should be fine there, you can always slave off your hard drive or your other CD drive. They are all the same size when you buy and internal cd/dvd drive, 5 1/2 inch, so you'll be ok. You can use any brand, but I'd shop around and read some reviews out there. I haven't looked in a while to see which drives create the fewest coasters.

Ah. Good to hear. Would it be better to remove my current CD drive when I get the DVD/CD combo? What's a coaster?

 

[NightWarrior]

Ah. Good to hear. Would it be better to remove my current CD drive when I get the DVD/CD combo? What's a coaster?

I'd keep the current CD drive. Then you can record drive to drive without having to rip to hard drive first. Great for quick copying of CDs.

A coaster is a term I use when the drive fails to make a clean copy of a movie/cd. Then the CD/DVD is good for nothing but a coaster under a glass

 

[Dodge_Sniper]

I'd keep the current CD drive. Then you can record drive to drive without having to rip to hard drive first. Great for quick copying of CDs.

A coaster is a term I use when the drive fails to make a clean copy of a movie/cd. Then the CD/DVD is good for nothing but a coaster under a glass

Ah. Yeah, my friend that wiped out/redid this computer recently mentioned something about having the two drives, so you can copy faster.

Coaster That's great.

Thanks for the help man! I'll rep ya as soon as I can spread it around :cool

 

[Pudding Time]

You also might want to check if you have an SATA port available on your motherboard. It will look like the four red ports in this picture.


If you have an available SATA port, I would buy an SATA DVD/CD-RW drive.
Here's one I would recommend: Newegg.com - ASUS Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 14X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - Retail


If you don't have an SATA port. Then you will need to buy an IDE DVD/CD-RW drive. It will run off the same cable as the one the hard drive is running on, like shown here.


However, you might not have the reach with the cable that is connected to the hard drive. If you don't, you might also want to purchase a new longer IDE cable, like this one: Newegg.com - AMC 24" 3-Connector Teflon Coated IDE True ATA133/100 Flat Cable Model CATA100-243 - OEM

Also, if you do go with IDE, you current CD drive should already have a IDE cable connected to it. You should use this cable. The cable will have two connectors and one already in the current CD drive. You should plug the top connector into the new drive, and the second connector into the old drive. So went you fit the new drive into the bay, make sure it sits above the old drive.

I also just thought of something. In case your system is setup with on one IDE cable, which would be used by your hard drive an old CD drive. You should have another IDE port on your motherboard. IDE ports look like this blue port in this picture:


If you have two, and one is free. Use one for both CD drives like I described above, and the other for the hard drive. If you don't have two IDE ports, and the one there is being used for the hard drive and CD drive, then you will have to disconnect the old drive to install the new one. Or you could buy a new motherboard, but that another story.

Hope this helps.

 

[BarOfSoap]

Of course you can, as long as you have a free spot.