Computer Multimedia Drives

Selecting Multimedia Drives

Multimedia drives include drives such as CD (Compact Disc), DVD (Digital Video Disc), CD burners, or DVD burners. It's pretty much up to you as what type of drive you get. It just depends on your actual needs. I do recommend going with a DVD or DVD-RW drive. The reason for this is because as software programs get bigger an bigger, a lot of them now are shipped on DVD's. Most, if not all, DVD drives can read CD's as well, so you're covered either way. It's also a good idea to get a DVD drive that can write to CD's and DVD's for a couple of reasons. A writable CD (CD-R or CD-RW) or DVD is a good way to back up your important files and it's a good way to transfer files from one computer to another if you don't have a network available. The suffix on the drive type, -R or -RW, refer to Recordable or Rewriteable. -RW type drives can be erased and used again, whereas, -R type drives can only be written to once.

CD and DVD drives are available with either a PATA/IDE or SATA interface. When you select your multimedia drive, make sure the interface type you choose is compatible with your motherboard.