help!!!

my cd drive/burner is dying, and i need to replace it. keeping in mind i do not currently have a dvd drive/burner in my puter (but i do have a dvd player/burner!), do i want to go with the new combo cd/dvd drive/burners?? or should i stick with just a cd drive/burner? i will not use my puter to watch movies.

assuming the advice is to stick with "just" a cd drive/burner...what the heck am i looking for? there are SOOOO many...and i'm confused! any advice would be greatly appreciated!

thanx,

damgud

I can suggest the NEC 3550A, I have had one for the last year and have burned over 150 DVDs, and another dozen CDs without a complaint. For about $36.00 delivered this is a good deal.

It's also available in black for the same price.

Personally I wouldn't worry about a CD specific burner.
DVD burners are getting so cheap, why limit yourself?

Look for ones with the features you want, and then read reviews on them.
That's a process that will take me anywhere from 1-2 weeks to accomplish.

I suggest you shop places like:
shopping.com
pricegrabber.com
bizrate.com

At these places you'll be able to narrow down the search, by selecting the features you're looking for.
Then, read, read, read.
By going through he reviews, you should be able to narrow down your search, even further.
Then in the end, it comes down to a personal choice.

If your looking for an opinion, I bought this burner about a month ago:
LG GSA-H10N DVD±RW Dual Layer Burner
Got it from NewEgg for $30, but I see they no longer carry it.
Haven't had any problems with it, so far, using Memorex, Maxell and TDK media.
It will burn a full DVD in about 5 1/2 minutes.
Haven't had a chance to try Dual Layer, yet.
It's also a lot quieter than my old NEC CD-ROM.

I agree, DVD-+RW drives are so cheap now that there's really no reason to avoid them. Plus, software of the near future is likely to come on DVD's rather than CD's (example: Windows Vista).

Get a combo drive, it's worth it.

(ok, i just know i'm going to regret this! it's a bit embarassing to show your ignorance! )

everyone keeps saying go with a dvd burner....however, i already have one, just not in my puter. but my REAL question is this...when i get new hardware, or even software for that matter.....will i be able to put the cd into a dvd burner and have the puter download from it? because that's the real issue here...my current cd drive isn't working, and i have no way to dl software into my puter. i recently upgraded to new hi-speed usb ports (as well as added a few extras), and i can't install them because my cd drive is on the outs and won't read the included cd! so i thought, since i must replace it, i'd ask what to replace it with!

as far as "features" go...all i really want is a cd drive to read my installation cd's...and a cd burner. one that does a decent job, obviously. the rest is pure arabic to me! we have a GOOD dvd burner, but it's hooked up with our tivo and tv and another dvd player and the (gasp!) video player.

perhaps i should have made my needs clearer in the beginning...my apologies!

thanx for the continuing help, ALWAYS welcome!

damgud

When you buy a DVD burner, it will read and write CD's. I currently have 2 DVD's in my computer, both will burn CD's or DVD's, one is for Lightscribe.
I recomend Liteon brand, they have never failed me. I had a problem with the one LG I owned, but the NEC was a good one too. If you go to Newegg.com you can see a few different brands and read what people who bought them say in reviews.

Using the one I linked to, as an example:
Write = burn data to (backing up your files)
Read = read data from (such as installing programs)

The proud man never learns anything.