want to buy CDG burner

[carlam]

I have a hp with windows xp, 128RAM, and 32GB hard drive. I need to buy a burner to copy my CDGs. What player do I need, and do I have to upgrade my computer to use it. My computer is 2 years old. Do I need More RAM to run the software, as specified in the microstudio requirements for windows XP? If I order the burner, and software through MTU, will I have everything I need?

[mlepine]

carlam,

Best CDG drive on the market is the Plextor brand which also happen to be the best burner drive overall (my opinion).

I would suggest buying it from MTU because they test all drives they ship and I also believe they're competitive but it's up to you to decide where to buy! Do your self a favour and don't buy any other brand, Plextor is the best!!

For your ram I would say 128 is ok to run with XP but it's very limit, 256 would be a much better option in my opinion.

So, with Microstudio & Plextor you're in for a good time believe me!!

regards

[admin]

We have tested CDR drives since 1996 for CDG Certification. We use to find as many as 6 out of 10 would not work long term... even 12 months... as these drives degrade slightly with use and time. Today, we don't see anywhere near that ratio, but we do reject some drives.

When you buy from MTU, you have access to our free support if you need help. We know exactly what to do in most cases as we deal exclusively with CDG discs and their special problems. You can read many testimonials in the Microstudio Help Forum and Testimonials where folks have purchased drives that "claim to do Karaoke" only to realize that the salesman's definition of Karaoke was "music only" i.e. no lyrics/graphics were copied. We had one gentleman who had made SIX drive purchases and none of them worked. He bought from MTU and voila, he was backing up his CDG discs in minutes.

As to XP and RAM, HP may have stripped some XP functions out for the "in house" XP version. However, generally, XP requires 256MB RAM ITSELF to run without hickups. Microstudio doesn't use more than 10MB of space, but when XP is already shoe-horned into 128MB, even taking 10MB can cause XP to complain. Save yourself some headaches and upgrade your RAM. Random problems due to low RAM are VERY difficult to diagnose.

The easiest drives to install are the USB. These simply plug into your USB-2 port and the computer recognizes it automatically. These also can be swapped between computers if that is important. The IDE drives are cheaper, but are mounted inside the computer, requiring a little more technical knowledge. If you want to use DVD drives in the future, purchase our model that supports DVD and CDG. It is a super drive, albeit a bit more expensive. Depends on what you want to do.

Microstudio is very easy to install and use. We bury all the technology of making a CDG discs. We have buttons to Import, Play, Write CD, etc. Anyone can use Microstudio if they know anything about using Windows.

[kjzone]

carlam...........

mlepine and admin are correct and in my opinion.....

IF YOU DON'T PURCHASE A PLEXTOR BURNER YOU ARE WASTING
YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY.

PLEXTOR IS ABOUT THE ONLY BURNER LEFT ON THE MARKET
THAT 1. READS, 2. WRITES, & 3. PLAYS......CD+G DISC CODES
CORRECTLY.

[George]

AAAAAAND...

MTU will certify that the ones they market will do it.

George

[carlam]

Thanks everyone, I think today is the day to make my order. I didn't realize the drives MTU sold were plextor. Everything I've read says to get plextor. Guess I'll also get more RAM, My computer came with xp preloaded, with 128 SDRAM, with uses the hard drive for storage as needed. The extra RAM should speed up my computer.

[jaddams]

Carlam,

Extra RAM is the least expensive way to make your computer run faster.

It works!

All things being equal upgrading the RAM is the way to go.

To have a really smooth running machine on XP, do not stop at 256. You really want 512. Try it, you will not be disappointed.

Good luck,

Jon

[carlam]

jaddams,
I was talking to a friend of mine at work, he suggested just that. He'll put it in for me, now I just have to figure out what type of RAM I need. I ordered the microstudio's and the 52 external drive. I want my RAM in before it arrives.

[carlam]

Just want to say my burner works great. I spent the weekend making backup copies. Haven't increased my ram yet, but still I'm able to get the copies. My USB port is 1.1, instead of the fast 2.0. Guess I'll have to fix that to, to increase my speed