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The Joys Of A CD Recordable Drive Finally! After several months of waiting, I finally was able to purchase my first CD-RW Drive. For $250, it is now my new, most favorite (excuse my English), most treasured, most rewarding gadget. It is a ZipCD 650 USB that records and writes at the speed of 4X. For those of us with little previous knowledge of this technology, CD-RW stands for Compact Disk ReWritable drive. One of the setbacks of a regular CD drive is that, of course, there is no way to store or write information on a compact disc. The solution to this is the CD Recorder. It is able to record tiny magnetic pieces of information by "burning" this info onto the CD through the use of a laser. Installing and setting-up the ZipCD was extremely easy. Everything that you need is included in the box. First I installed the Adaptec software that came bundled with the hardware. While I was waiting for the computer to restart, I hooked up the USB cable, power adapter. When it started up, I opened up Toast, and poof, I was ready to make my first music CD (it should go platinum anytime now:) Making a music CD is just one of the things you can do with a CD-RW. You can save large photos onto the CD that you wouldn't normally be able to transfer from computer to computer. It's also probably the easiest and most cost effective way to back-up your hard drive and all your important files. You can also archive stuff that you don't use often to create more space on your hard drive. And my favorite use: making compilations of my original music and beats. Of course, you can make mix CD's of your favorite MP3s, just make sure you do so responsibly. Fun, Fun, and more fun. When it comes to saving your creations, you've got two choices: CD-Recordable (CD-R) and CD-Rewritable (CD-RW). CD-R discs are inexpensive and work on most CD-ROM drives and CD players, and they cannot be accidentally erased. CD-RW discs, on the other hand, can be rewritten up to 1,000 times and can be read on most Multi-Read CD-Rom, DVD-Rom, and CD-RW drives. So, is that US$300 or so that you spent going to be put to good use? You better believe it. I think everybody should have one. CD Drives are so common that your media can be read on just about any computer or CD player. And in the future, CD-RW drives will probably be standard on all new computers. This trend has already started, in fact, though high-end G4s have a DVD-Ram and not a CD-RW. So, in conclusion, that $250 was not wasted. I now have a new outlet for my creative energies, more space on my hard-drive, and a way to transfer material between computers. Peace, -Jordan Streiff
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