Portable CD burning apparatus?

[conroekid]

Hey, everybody. Thanks, for the program and forum.
My question regards a "portable CD burning apparatus". I would like to get one.
1) I hope it can fit in a backpack and is laptop-size, if possible.
2) I put a high value on having the fewest errors. And I plan on burning 100 CD-Rs, per week.
3) If it ends up being a system dedicated only to this, that is fine with me.
4) I need to be able to turn off the "apply volume leveler during burning".
5) As far as price, I naturally want to spend less than more. But I know that it is worth at least 400, to me.
Thanks, again.

[whomper]

stand alone burner or attaches to a pc ??
one copy at a time or n:1 capability?

100/week is not that many. but may take a fair amount of time.

error rate and speed are contradictory goals. ditto price.
you need to set your requirements and then make tradeoffs based on what you can actually buy.

the normalise feature is in software not the hardware.
you may want to consider a pro quality software package not the lite version that may or may not come with the hardware.

you get what you buy. $400 is feasible but may not suit your demanding needs.

try google. you can find a lot of stuff that way.

[kozikowski]

<<<And I plan on burning 100 CD-Rs, per week.>>>

You are painting a picture of someone backpacking up into the Sierra Madre mountains with a nice tent and sleeping bag and burning a couple of hundred Music CDs while you're up there.

Did I get the wrong picture? What's the show? Sometimes knowing more about the show and work can lead us to some ideas.

Koz

[steve]

My question regards a "portable CD burning apparatus". I would like to get one.
1) I hope it can fit in a backpack and is laptop-size, if possible.

What's wrong with using a laptop?

[kozikowski]

<<<What's wrong with using a laptop?>>>

That did occur to me.

Koz

[conroekid]

Hey y'all thanks, for the help.
A laptop is a great idea.
I think that my question should have been "could I get a cheap (old) laptop to do this?"
I'm sorry that I wasn't clearer.
I don't know a lot about laptops, desktops, of any other top.
But I was hoping that Moore's Law would mean that my application would be small
and computers that could handle it would be many and cheap.
I brought up the software thing because I don't know what software used computers come with.
If I'm way off, on the price, I could make more room in the budget.
I'm sorry that I didn't give y'all more to work with last time.
But does this clarify it any?

P.S. I'm not planning a rock concert for bears, or whatever you were thinking.
I'm just moving out of state, my address might not be settled for a while, and this is my first laptop.

P.P.S. I think my question should have been "what laptop can do this and how much should I pay?"

[kozikowski]

Audacity has been designed to run properly on all three computing platforms of relatively modest power. You do need an actual computer. NetBooks and smaller systems do not support Audacity without a lot more work than most people are willing to put in and even then, the results may not be so good.

I got tired of struggling with my PCs, so I use Macs now and I'm happy. I still have a couple of PCs around because there are one or two jobs that didn't cross well. There are people on the forum with hands-on experience in all three: Windows/Linux/Mac.

But nobody's going to tell you what computer to buy. That's just a little too wide open. Get friends and family to recommend units and play with them a little (the computers, not the friends). Pick the jobs first, not the computer first. "I want to edit music" will take you a long way to deciding what to buy.

Koz

[steve]

Just about any modern laptop computer will handle editing with Audacity and burning CDs.

I've no experience with Netbook computers but suspect that may may be a bit underpowered for the job, and I don't think they have built in optical drives for burning CDs. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

A second hand laptop may be a false economy - optical drives wear out, and you would have no way of knowing how much life was left in the drive. Repairing faulty laptops can be very expensive. With a new laptop you get a guarantee.

You can buy external (USB) optical drives quite cheaply, but that would make the set-up less portable.

I have a cheap (£300 new ~ $350 US) Acer laptop, running Linux and all free software and is capable of making audio CDs quickly and easily. It was supplied with Windows Vista (now removed because I prefer Linux), but I could also have just used the supplied operating system and CDBurnerXP software (free and very good) for burning the CDs.

Macs have a reputation for being well made and reliable, but are a lot more expensive than PCs. A Mac with similar specifications to my Acer would cost around £1000.

[conroekid]

Thanks, alot, for the good advice.
I'm sorry that my question was too general.
But you mentioned principles, that will support my decision, greatly.
And definitely pointed me in the right direction.
Thanks, so much.
P.S. Thanks, for informing me about the CDburnerXP. And the appox prices for Acers and Macs.
And the trade-off to measure, regarding used equipment.
If you care, it looks like I'm leaning toward a Mac, due to the reliablilty.
And I'll just have to make room in the budget for the 1150 US.
Thanks, again.

[whomper]

...
If you care, it looks like I'm leaning toward a Mac, due to the reliablilty. ....

do you have hard data done by an independent lab that shows that macs are more reliable ? which model? more reliable than what?
with which operating systems?

i lean toward pcs cause they have been fully reliable for me --- a lot more than my govt motors car has been. and i still drive that thing.
and the software choices are much bigger on pcs, and the aps cost less. toe MAY toe or toe MAAH toe - take your choice.

i notice that we went from a $400 max stand alone device to a
$1200 laptop. which *could* burn a 100/week. but do you really want to do that? one week i might. for a year i would be looking for better alternatives.