|
Have you ever wondered what all
those numbers mean when you go to buy a CD
burner?
When you see a configuration that looks like 2x12x24
(three numbers separated by the letter
"x"), these numbers indicate the drive
speeds of the CD
drive.
The "x" stands for the transfer of 150 KB
of data
per second, and each number represents a different
action that the CD
drive
can take. A CD-R
drive has two actions -- recording onto
and reading from compact
discs. A CD-RW
drive has three actions -- recording,
rewriting (erasing and recording over) and reading.
When looking at the drive
speeds, the first number ("2" in the above
example) indicates the speed at which the CD
drive
will record data
onto a CD-R
compact
disc. So, in the above example, the CD
drive
will record data
at 2 times 150 KB/second.
The second number ("12" in the above
example) indicates the speed at which the CD
drive
will rewrite data
onto a CD-RW
compact
disc. So in the above example, the CD
drive
will rewrite data
onto the compact
disc at 12 times 150 KB/second.
The last number ("24" in the above
example) indicates the speed at which the drive will
read data
from a compact
disc. So in the above example, the CD
drive
will read data
from a compact
disc at 24 times 150 KB/second.
CD-R
compact
discs are discs that can be recorded on
only once. Once the data
has been burned,
it is permanent and cannot be erased. CD-RW
compact
discs are discs that can be recorded,
erased and re-recorded over. Most audio CD
players, especially older models, can only read CD-R
discs, so it is best to record music onto CD-Rs.
CD-RWs
are typically used to store data
or used as back up files.
|