hi, I'm planning to buy my first DVD-writer ever.

There are a lot of terms I am not familiar with.

for instance:

Lite-On 4xDVD+ LDW-401S(dual capable

1)what does LDW mean?
2)does the "+" sign after DVD mean anything?
3)what does dual capable mean?
4)what does 401S mean? What is the S? what does it measure?

in the more expensive ones...
1)what is SOHW?
2)what does dual layer mean?

oh, and btw,

can CD-Roms read the contents of data DVDs?

can DVD writers read data CDs?

data DVD to CD = NO
CD to DVD writers = YES

<font color=green><b><i>Lizards</font color=green></b> do <b>not</b> taste like <b><font color=yellow>chicken</font color=yellow></b>,<b> <font color=yellow>chicken</font color=yellow></b> tastes like <font color=green><b>lizard.</b></font color=green></i>

<font color=red>1)what does LDW mean?</font color=red>
<font color=blue>Lite-On specific, could be Lite-On Disk Writer or Laser Disk Writer</font color=blue>
<font color=red>2)does the "+" sign after DVD mean anything?</font color=red>
<font color=blue>DVD writers use three main DVD standards: DVD-RAM, DVD-RW/-R and DVD+RW/+R. Which DVD standard you choose can be decided by the data or information you plan on recording onto DVD media. If you're only using DVDs to store PC data, for example, then you may not need a standard that creates discs for playing in commercial DVD players, such as DVD-RAM.

If, however, you are using the DVD writer to burn your own digital video camera footage and want to watch it on a commercial player, then you will need to ensure the burner you opt for uses a standard that can be read by the DVD player you own, such as DVD-RW or DVD+RW. </font color=blue>
<font color=red>3)what does dual capable mean?</font color=red>
<font color=blue>LDW-401S can write to both DVD+R and DVD+RW media at 4x and read DVD's at speeds up to 12x. The drive can also read and write to CD's at 40x and is one of the first DVD writers to offer 24x rewriting speeds. </font color=blue>
<font color=red>4)what does 401S mean? What is the S? what does it measure?</font color=red>
<font color=blue>401S is the Model </font color=blue>

in the more expensive ones...
<font color=red>1)what is SOHW?</font color=red>
<font color=blue>The acronym SOHW stands for Sony Optical Half-height optical loader Writer. The name means that this is a product developed jointly with Sony and that its length is reduced, an advantage for certain Mini PCs. </font color=blue>
<font color=red>2)what does dual layer mean?</font color=red>
<font color=blue> Commonly called “DVD9,� dual layer technology has always been part of the DVD specifications, dual layer DVD recording on the desktop is the natural progression of single layer 4.7GB recordable technology.

Dual layer DVD recordable discs offer up to four hours of high quality MPEG-2 video, or up to 8.5GB of data on a single-sided disc with two individual recordable “layers.� Dual layer capable recorders will have the ability to record on the new dual layer DVD recordable discs, as well as on traditional single layer DVD discs and CDs too. Because a recorded dual layer DVD disc is compliant with the DVD9 specification, the discs are compatible with most consumer DVD players and computer DVD-ROM drives already installed in the market.

You may want to check out this handy buyer's guide:
<A HREF="http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;282707134;pp;2;taxid;116" target="_new">Buyer's Guide</A></font color=blue>

<font color=green><b><i>Lizards</font color=green></b> do <b>not</b> taste like <b><font color=yellow>chicken</font color=yellow></b>,<b> <font color=yellow>chicken</font color=yellow></b> tastes like <font color=green><b>lizard.</b></font color=green></i>

thank you very much

Athlon64 Newcastle, 2800+, 640KB Cache, 1800 MHz
MSI K8M Neo-V, VIA K8M800 + 8237 chipset
Sapphire Atlantis Radeon 9600 256MB
DDR400 512MB RAM

No problem. The easy part is the hardware, the software is a whole 'nother ball of wax.

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