Tech Support Pits:

From Bonnie===
Dear Webby,
Is there any real difference in using blank CD-R discs on 
my computer's CD burner that are 52X rather than 48X?  
Are those numbers just the speed to complete the burn 
or do they have anything to do with the quality?  
Both are in the stores and all I care about is the quality 
of the end result.  Thank you!
 Bonnie

Dear Bonnie
52 and 48 are playback speeds.
Burning is usually done at a much slower speed.

The burner in my machine is a 52x16
It reads at up to 52 times faster than the first generation 
of CD drives did,
and it burns at up to 16 times the speed of first 
generation burners.

If I use brand new, high quality blanks, it burns at 16x
but if I re-use old, low quality CD's, then sometimes it 
steps down as far as 4x.

The difference in 48x or 52x is only important for game 
fanatics who need very fast loading of game scenery. 
Music plays fine at 1x.

If the drive has only one number on it, like for example
52x, then it is just a reader.

Burners normally have two numbers, for example 52x16 
or 48x12, or 52x4, etc.
The second number is the theoretical maximum burn speed. 
The burning software will shift that down automatically, 
depending on the quality of the blanks.

Have FUN!
Dear Webby