Best CD Burning Software

[meblumen]

What is the best CD authoring software for a PC. I'm running WinXP Pro right now and want a decent program to burn CDs & DVDs. Any and all suggestions welcome.

[meblumen]

Also, what is a good DVD watching program?

[pam123]

Are you creating files, home recording studio, or just copying them to disk?
Do you want freeware?

VLC and the patched Power DVD 6 are the two best players for XP (Power DVD 7 is being updated, again, so maybe and maybe not. Unless you have a Blu-Ray drive in which case it's still first choice.).
WinDVD is said to be coming out with a new version in June so that's anybody s' guess.

[not important]

For burning DVD movies......my preference is DVDFab Platinum. It is an "all-in-one" software and has a 30 day, fully functional, no limitations free trial.

[meblumen]

pam123, I will primarily be backing up files onto CD/DVDs, making audio CDs (just mixes, nothing fancy like recording) and maybe occasionally burning a movie onto DVD. I have done some research and it seems like some of the free programs like Burn Aware are slightly too simplistic but many of the commercial applications have a ton of features I would never use (audio/video editing). Anyway, I have no problem spending money as long as it is money well spent.

not important, DVDFab looks like a nice program but seems like it is somewhat limited, in that it caters more to DVDs while I need both DVD and CD-R/RW functionality.

As for DVD viewing, I was wondering, for simplicity sake would it maybe just be worth purchasing a codec for Windows Media Player? I tried searching for a free one and was surprised that I couldn't find one, any reason for that? Thanks again for everyone's help.

[doctorgonzo]

Since Nero comes with a lot of drives, I use that: http://www.nero.com/enu/index.html

When I need a free burning alternative, I use CDBurnerXP: http://cdburnerxp.se/

[pam123]

So, the basic question before you go out and buy/install anything else, what's on your PC now ?

We need your info ( specs) so we don't go off the rails.

[meblumen]

I have 2 laptops. One is a dell m1330 and the other is a dell e1705. The M1330 has 3GB of RAM, Intel Core Duo 2.5 Processor w/6mb L2 Cache, 200GB 7200rpm HD and a combo cd/dvd-r/rw drive. The E1705 has an Intel Core Duo 1.8 processor (don't know L2 or fsb), 2GB RAM, 120gb HD (don't know rpm) and a built in combo cd/dvd-r/rw drive. Both computers are running XP Pro right now but might move to Vista or atleast one might eventually dual boot.

doctorgonzo, what is the difference between nero and CDBurnerXP?

[doctorgonzo]

Besides the fact that you have to pay for Nero (or get it when you buy a retail packaged DVD burner), they do have some differences in interface and usage. Both allow you to make data discs, audio discs, and burn CD/DVD images. I haven't burned any video DVDs, but I'm pretty sure you can do it with Nero, if not both.