CD burners, which are often called CD-R/RW drives depending on the media they're being used with, allow you to record data or music files onto blank CD media. This process is called burning and is different than ripping, which is copying music files from a CD onto a computer hard drive as a MP3 file. CD burners can burn onto CD-Rs, which can only be written onto once, or CD-RWs, which can be written over about 1,000 times.

CD-R/RW burning times
The higher the values, the faster the burner can perform the operation. Here is a comparison grid that will help you understand the time savings that a faster burner can have. The times below are based on an entire 700MB.

This disc looks similar to a CD, but has a significantly higher capacity for data storage. DVD-ROMs hold up to 4.7GB of data. DVD drives can also play CD-ROMs, music CDs, as well as other DVD and CD formats. Besides playing software, a DVD-ROM drive (combined with a monitor) can replace your DVD player and TV, as it can play full-length DVD movies.

Now that the rewritable DVD revolution is well underway, it's clear that this medium will provide versatile solutions for your PC storage and computing needs, as well as serve as a great entertainment source.

One advantage of the rewritable DVD format over other rewritable media is its storage capacity of 4.7GB. This media can also record about two hours of high quality digital video-over and over again.

Rewritable DVDs' data backup capability offers several benefits. First, it offers you security. High storage capacity means that you finally have a format that allows you to copy all of your files over in a reasonable amount of time and with relative ease. Plus, since DVDs are so durable and have a lifespan far surpassing that of other media, you don't have to worry about your data being damaged or lost. Rewritable DVDs also save you space; not only do you have the option of repeatedly writing over unwanted data, but one DVD holds almost seven times more data than a CD-R!

There are three rewritable DVD formats available now, two of which feature fairly similar capabilities: DVD+RW and DVD-RW. Both are compatible with most DVD-ROM drives new consumer DVD players, however, make sure your media and DVD writer are compatible before trying to record onto a DVD. DVD-RAM doesn't play in home DVD players, but is ideally suited for data storage, lending itself to PC use. Both DVD-RW and DVD+RW have read-once complements: DVD-R and DVD+R, which cannot be written over once they're recorded on.