Help with CD Burners

[Tristan]

After being turned on to these wonderful things we call file sharing programs I now have shitloads of lovely mp3s. Basically all I want to do is be able to put these onto CD so I can play them through a stereo. The computer i have is a laptop, but its a not a bad one.

What do i need to do this? my laptop doesnt have a burner but it does have a cd drive if thats relevant. How much does a burner cost? It doesnt have to be fancy as long as i can play the mp3s on a stereo.

any help or advice would be sensational

[Sean]

well ok you're going to need an external burner. last time i checked up on these they ere around the $400 mark. places like harvery norman have loads of these ones coz theywork with almost every computer laptop or tower. then hook it up should be pretty to install just a matter of plugging it in and loading the drivers. then use some software to burn it. nero is probably the best but there are a few out there that do a wicked job. then basically just drag and drop!

[coach]

Check out if your notebook has firewire and/or
USB v2.0 connections....Most of the newer external CDRW support these connections and are significantly faster and more reliable then older generation externals.

Also make sure it has some sort of "burn/safeproof" technology ... this makes it very hard to screw up a session and create CD coasters.

Yamaha have always made good externals pricey but u get quality, they come in a very pretty box and have Nero software bundled in.

It doesnt have to be fancy as long as i can play the mp3s on a stereo.

You might want to check 1st if your stereo actually supports MP3 playback

[Sean]

i think he means it doesnt bother him as long as he can get the mp3s from his laptop to play thru the stereo.

[nicko]

....which all cd burnders should do, it's a basic function, right?

[driload]

yeah sean he mentions wanting them on cd


go the external cd burner seeing as you have a laptop

keep in mind some DVD players can play MP3 cds. if yours doesnt do this then you will have let the software convert to audio cd


the difference?


a CD of MP3 files = 650 or more megs = at least 5 albums worth of music

an audio cd = 70 minutes or so of audio = an album or two

[Sean]

well yes. but if u try to burn a cd full of mp3s as data its not going to play on your cd players. you have to burn it as audio (my brain is muddled but i think its redbook standard) in order for it to play on audio cd players.

[Tristan]

To clear it up. All the tunes i have as mp3s on the laptop i want to put on a cd so i can put the cd into a stereo or cdj player and play the tunes.

So I need an external burner and software. The more user friendly it is the better in my case.


Cheers guys all this is really appreciated.

[nicko]

should be oranges.. you don know that you'll have to burn it as normal cd tracks, not mp3s, like sean said? so you're limited to 99 minutes or less per cd, depending on your burner.