My CDRW has givem up the ghost so I'm looking to replace it with a DVD writer.

The LG GSA4163 (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=82782) looks a good buy but in the comments there's a suggestion that the drive requires a min cpu speed of 2.4GHz, - is this likely ? I've always thought HDDs and CD Drives were cpu independent.

I have an XP700+ running Win98SE.

As long as your motherboard supports the relevant interface standard, in this case IDE, then the drive should be physically compatible.

However, as optical drives get faster and faster write speeds, they put an increasing load on the machine. Writing a disc properly requires a constant stream of data to enter the drive's write buffer, and i guess that this could potentially prove too much for older processors to manage on top of keeping a multitasking OS running smoothly without encountering write errors.

Why choose an alternative drive if the comment has put you off, Ebuyer have plenty to choose from! :)

Not sure about your PC spec but on inspection of the spec of the writer, IMO you'd be better off with this one (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=9910071117&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=84112) instead, it's about the same price and does Re-Writable discs as well.

Originally posted by KenDodd
As long as your motherboard supports the relevant interface standard, in this case IDE, then the drive should be physically compatible.

However, as optical drives get faster and faster write speeds, they put an increasing load on the machine. Writing a disc properly requires a constant stream of data to enter the drive's write buffer, and i guess that this could potentially prove too much for older processors to manage on top of keeping a multitasking OS running smoothly without encountering write errors.

Why choose an alternative drive if the comment has put you off, Ebuyer have plenty to choose from! :)

Thanks,

My current Samsung DVD-CDRW combi drive is supposed to be capabe of writing at 40x, but on my system has always maxed at 16x for writing CDs. I've assumed this is the buffer under run protection controlling the process, or perhaps Nero has some influence ?

Anyway I'll look for something else, - I've no real need to write DVDs so another combi drive will serve.

Originally posted by Rich
Not sure about your PC spec but on inspection of the spec of the writer, IMO you'd be better off with this one (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=9910071117&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=84112) instead, it's about the same price and does Re-Writable discs as well.

Thanks Rich, - but isn't this just a black fronted version of the one I looked at originally ;)

Originally posted by Greybeard
Anyway I'll look for something else, - I've no real need to write DVDs so another combi drive will serve.

Even though there's barely £10 difference between a combi drive and a DVD burner...?

Future proof, Greybeard!

And if you need to make a backup of your system, you can get it onto one or two DVDs rather than several CDs.

The LG writer is very good, I used to have the previous model.

Originally posted by Abdul
Even though there's barely £10 difference between a combi drive and a DVD burner...?

Future proof, Greybeard!

That was the idea, but if this DVD writer needs a min of 2.4Ghz cpu it ain't gonna work. although my experience with my current drive suggests cpu speed shouldn't be a factor. The write speed should fall back to a level the buffer controller and cpu can cope with.

'Course the cpu spec might just apply to the max write speed ?

It's just all the hassle of returning something to Ebuyer that's putting me off 'suck it and see' :(

Speaking as a long time user of LG for their burners, both CD and DVD, I'd recommend them...

and as for the minimum CPU requirement... I did a quick check of the requirements in the manual and what came back was this:

System Requirements*
 IBM PC AT or compatible, Pentium-266MHz processor or higher
(higher recommended).
 A minimum of 16MB memory (higher recommended).
 A suitable free standard 51/4“ internal drive bay.
 MS-DOS version 3.1 or higher. (Windows 95 and above recommended).
 31/2” 1.44 Mb Floppy Drive.
 An existing IDE controller with an available cable connector or a new IDE controller
(recommended with IDE PIO Mode 4 capability) that you will need to install.
So, you should be more than fine... You should avoid running anything while you write a CD or DVD though.. and whatever you do, get decent media...

1. Yes its the same one.
2.No it doesnt need 2.4ghz
3. Yes its a good buy.

Originally posted by Martin_s
Speaking as a long time user of LG for their burners, both CD and DVD, I'd recommend them...

So, you should be more than fine... You should avoid running anything while you write a CD or DVD though.. and whatever you do, get decent media...

Thanks Martin - guess that clears things up :) I gnerally use Taio Yuden (sp ?) CDRs.