DVDs are now affordable Few things are more convenient than the drives (or burners) that make CDs or DVDs. Once prohibitively expensive, they're now getting more common. Adding a drive to an existing system isn't difficult. CD-RWs, make recordable (write-once) and rewriteable CDs. They have been supplanted by DVD burners. These machines can make DVDs, or, if you prefer, CDs. For instance, you'll probably have to use CDs if you want to play music in your car. Otherwise, DVDs are usually more convenient. They hold 4.7 GB of data, while CDs hold 700 MB, at most. That difference can be crucial if you are backing up your computer, or making a home movie.

DVDs hit the market in 1997. They were accepted very rapidly, and it wasn't long before burners appeared. Early DVD burners were expensive, but prices have fallen rapidly. Today, a DVD burner that mounts inside a computer runs less than $150. Expect to pay about $100 more for an external drive. The upside is that external burners are easier to install. Basically, you run the USB or Firewire cable from the burner to the computer, and plug in the burner. Install the burner's software, and you're ready to go. If you want an external drive, keep your hookups in mind. Burners use either Firewire (IEEE 1394) or Universal Serial Bus. USB comes in two varieties, 2.0 and 1.1. Here are the speeds at which they theoretically can move data: Firewire--400 megabits per second USB 2.0--480 Mbps USB 1.1--12 Mbps, USB 1.1 is very slow. If you have USB 1.1 ports on your computer, buy a $20 upgrade card. It must be mounted on the motherboard. A USB 2.0 burner should work with your 1.1 ports, but it would be very slow. Despite USB 2.0's higher theoretical speed, Firewire is the best way to go.

It is almost always significantly faster than USB 2.0, although neither reaches the theoretical speed rating. Apple computers have Firewire ports, but most Windows machines do not. Firewire cards are available for Windows machines. They generally run $20-$30. If you can use a screwdriver, you can install an internal DVD drive. Instructions with the DVD burner will explain jumpers. A word about numbers: DVD burners come with numbers such as 4X/2X/4X. CD burners come with much higher numbers--for instance, 48X/24X/48X. In both cases, the numbers are multiples of a base. They refer, respectively, to the speeds with which write-once (recordable discs) are burned, rewriteable discs are burned, and discs are read. But CD and DVD numbers are not comparable. The DVD number is about nine times higher than the CD number. So, a DVD rated at 4X is approximately equivalent to a CD rated at 36X. DVDs have been handicapped for years by their multiple standards. Many burners today can burn both DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW. If you will be playing the DVD back on a drive other than your burner and computer, check to see which standard the DVD player uses.