OT - CDRW advice needed

[Joe Pack]

I want to buy a CDRW unit to use in my classroom. I have both Mac and PC systems, so it needs to be USB connective, and it needs to be external.

I don't have much experience with these, so I am looking for advice on both brands/models and on features I need to look for (or avoid). Also, what software do you find to be the best combination of utility and ease of use?

I appreciate the help.

[Afrim Hoxha]

Go to these two websites:

www.googlegear.com
www.newegg.com

Good prices and virtually low or no shipping charges (depends on item)

Search by category, in this case CDRW.

You want to select something that rewrites and writes at a high speed. I recently purchased an internal 48x write and 24x rewrite for $56.00. The externals will be a more. Go for price since many of these companies have simliar designs.

As far as software. I use Nero. It doesn't get any simpler.

www.ahead.de

Also the CDRW usually come with some type of software.
Hope this helps

[Ken Garlock]

The last time I was in the market for a CDRW, I ended up buying a Hewlett Packard CD-riter Plus, a SCSI model. My investigation told me that Plextor was probably THE best, but like so many things, it also cost the most. I chose the HP CDRW because of the SCSI interface. It is a good drive, and just keeps a tick'in.

If you are looking for an IDE/ATA writer, I would zero in the the Plextor.

I addition to the sites mentioned above, I recommend buy.com. I have bought many things from buy.com and always gotten timely delivery. If you want to return an item, you can get a return authorization number online, and have the item in the mail the same day. They sell darn near everything at competitive prices.

Just a happy customer....

[Paul Kunkel]

I bought an Acomadata 24x10x40 1 1/2 yrs ago. Came w/ Toast for mac & something for PC. There's probably not to much difference in quality these days. $150 to $170 buys a good one, but I'd be leery of used 'cause when they go bad it costs more to fix than they're worth

[Ken Garlock]

http://www.pricewatch.com/ . It is a good place to see company is selling what computer parts at what price. I would steer clear of "house brands" and "OEM" products. But, that is easy to filter out as you browse....

If you don't like them then try http://www.pricescan.com/. They are also very good, and use a "drill down" approach to help you find what you want.

Good Luck,

[Joe Pack]

I appreciate your help.