What type of blank discs do I need?

[ChirpyKez]

Hello, hope you can help me...
I have recently bought a Toshiba A100-306 lap-top and today I finally decided to try and 'burn' some cd's as I've downloaded a lot of music. I had some blank discs that came with the lap-top and just assumed they'd be fine but I think they are the wrong ones as they say 'for use in 16x DVD drives.'. The spec of my lap-top is as follows :

Specification for this TOSHIBA A100-306

Processor Type Intel Core Duo T5500
Processor speed 1660 mhz
Memory Size 1024 mb
Memory Type DDR
Hard Drive Capacity 80 Gb
Optical Drives DVD Super Multi Dual Layer
CD-ROM Speed 24 x
CD-RW Speed. 10 x
DVD-ROM Speed 8 x
Floppy Disk Drive No
Screen Size/Type 15.4" WXGA
Graphics Card Type Intel 945 Integrated
Graphics Memory 128 MB UMA mb
TV-out No
Sound Type 16 bit Stereo
Modem Type 56k
Wireless Enabled Yes
No. of USB Connections 4
No. of Firewire Connections 1
Infrared Port Included No
Other Interfaces WIFI 802.11a/g
Battery Type Lithium Ion
Battery life (up to) 3.4 hours
Software Titles Included MS Works
Operating system Win XP Media Center

Please can someone explain what discs I need to be using. This is all new to me so the jargon above means very little! Thanks in advance.

[Dudley]

I have a Toshiba Qosmio and I use 'imation' budget CDs (about 20 pence each if you buy 50 at a time from PC World) and they work fine in both my Technics stack system and in the car. You can buy as few as ten to try them out. They are 1x - 52x compatible. It would be surprising if the package came with non compatible disks. I hope this helps.

[rojash]

There's nothing wrong with the disks you've got. But they are DVDs. If you want to burn CDs, you will need to buy some!

[ChirpyKez]

I'm still confused.....what's the difference then? I know I must sound stupid but I have never tried to do this before. What would I use blank DVD's for with a lap-top? So does it not matter what speed discs I buy?

[Dudley]

Hi again Chirpy, DVDs are mostly used for video recording and cannot be played back on music players whereas CDs are for audio. Rojash is right, you need to purchase CDs for this purpose and the CDs I have suggested will work fine.

[Dudley]

P.S. You can of course also record video on CDs but they don't hold as much data as DVDs.

[ermadea]

ChirpyKez, I rememeber when I first wanted to burn some cds, and feeling overwhelmed about my inability to do so, and my lack of knowledge on how to master it, so I guess you feel the same. You need to buy cdr discs, and most have the same capacity, 80 minutes, somewhere between 16x and 52x speed (The rate at which your cd writer burns them) 700mb (The size of files that can be written) Audio cds dont use up much space in terms of size but only 80minutes, so although you could burn 150 mp3's, you'll only get a cd for a cd, but if you burn a load of mp3's some newer cd players will play them. (My dvd player plays a 150 mp3 disc), but data cds hold much more, but as its music files you want to burn, then you also might like to buy some cdrw discs which can be used to burn files, then rewritten and used again, but these cdrw's are no use for a permanant copy that you wish to play on a home cd player or in your car, only cdr' discs can do that, but no doubt someone knows different, so you buy your cds, you put one in your cd drive, you open up your media player, click burn, drag your files into the media player, then make sure your cd drive is making an audio cd, click start burn, go make a cup of tea, and come back and hey presto! Good luck and let us know how you get on, before you know it you will be an expert.

[ChirpyKez]

ermadea and ZebUK - just to say thank-you both for your answers it is really appreciated. I have ordered some cd-r discs off eBay so when they arrive I will have a go and see what happens, I'm hoping it is an easy process! Thanks again.

[ermadea]

You are very welcome, thanks for the stars

[ChirpyKez]

Hello again - here is your update!
This morning I finally did it - as you told me to...I dragged my songs and clicked burn {all very exciting} I filled up a disc {in fact I've just done my 2nd} and waited and then when it had completed I tested it in our cd player in the lounge, I was worried nothing would play but hey presto it was absolutely fine so I am well chuffed and can't believe I never did it sooner! Now I am sending the songs to my MP3 player so it is brilliant, and free!
Thanks for everything ;)

[ermadea]

Hey Chirpykez, well done you, told you it was easy! It's a good feeling when you do your first burn, it's like your own wee creation, and like you said, that infinite second when you put it in the cd player waiting to see if it works (Thinks, could it be that easy?) and what a lovely feeling of self - satisfaction when it all comes together, Iam relly pleased for you, and was glad to help, Answerbank is such a good site, with lots of helpful people, now what's your next project ha ha?