Hello,

It seems that notebook CD-ROM drives are less forgiving and require
consideration when burning CDs to be read by them.  Most successful
burns are those at 1x and will all sessions closed.

Is this a unique sensitivity to notebook computers and their CD-ROM
drives or is the CD-R being burned with least compatible parameters in
the cases when those burned CDs are being read fine by desktops,
though some notebooks can't swallow them?

/Lizardnation

Thank you for your interesting question.

Generally I have heard that for maximum compatibility, 1X is better
than any other setting, because the exposure to the laser is longer
and hence burn is done deeper, which in turn makes the contrast
between the 'pits' of the disc (area that has been burned in) and the
rest of the disc is higher, and easier to read.

However, I wanted to verify this, and discovered that the story
appears to have changed with newer media; basically, it's up for
debate and dependant on the combination of burner & media you're
using. The best strategy is to experiment, but if you have to guess at
a setting, go with 1X.

Closing sessions always increases compatibility, as older drives don't
know how to handle open sessions; indeed, until recently most
non-CDR/CDRW drives did not know how to handle them either, seeing the
disc as damaged when trying to get the basic Table Of Contents
information from the disc.

Andy McFadden's authoritative FAQ on CD-Recordables provides more
detail in section 3-31 on the 'proper' speed to burn at:
http://www.cdrfaq.org/faq03.html#S3-31


Links to Andy's and other FAQs on burning CDs:
http://oakroadsystems.com/tech/cdrfaq.htm


Again, thank you for your interesting question that led to me finding
information that was both new and useful to myself. Please ask for a
clarification if you need one.

Search strategy:
://www.google.com/search?q=burn+1x+compatibility+cdr

---

Request for Answer Clarification by lizardnation-ga on 01 Jul 2002 01:51 PDT

Hello Bookface,

The issue which doesn't seem to be clear to me is why it has the
incompatibility on notebooks and not desktops?

/Lizardnation

---

Clarification of Answer by bookface-ga on 02 Jul 2002 19:23 PDT

I'm sorry, I kind of lost myself in giving that answer... laptop
drives (and many other things) are generally as much as two
generations behind the current desktop equivalents, though they're
catching up. Laptop CD-ROM drives suffer from the same compatibility
issues old drives would suffer from, with a few minor improvements
that a better understanding of the technology allows. The reason for
this difference is multifaceted; newer, faster components tend to draw
more power, and though power can be reduced as technology advances,
the sacrifice for drawing less power is lessened speed as well.

Sorry I left that totally open. Hope this clears things up.

Complete answer. :-)

/Lizardnation