Does my laptop have the ability to burn dvds?

Question

I own a dell inspiron lap top and on the side where you put in the cd it has DVD on there and I was told by the people who bought it for me that i can burn dvds however when i go to do so the program says its not compatible... am i just buying the wrong discs? what discs should i buy?

Answer 1

If the drive says (on it) DVD-ROM, then you can only read DVD, you cannot burn them. If it says something like DVD-R/RW (or plus and minus) then you can record DVDs as well. If it says both plus and minus, then you can use any disc. If it says ONLY plus (DVD+R/RW), then you have to buy DVD+R/RW and minus otherwise. The R stands for recordable and the RW stands for ReWriteable. As the names describe, DVD+-R are used for one time permanent recording (usually for movies) and DVD+-RW are used for recording again and again like for data storage or for backups.

If you have a choice (between the plus and the minus), I would go with a minus (because now slowly, minus is becoming more common even though plus is slightly better quality and lasts longer) and I would go with the brands of TDK, Verbatim, or Sony. Don't go for Phillips or Nexxtech crap.

Answer 2

It might be a CDRW/DVD combo drive, the dvd is a reader only and not a burner. They also have/had the option to add a DVD player that would only pay DVD's and CD's and wouldn't burn anything.

It should say DVD RW on it for it to be able to burn DVD's.

Check out the link below enter your service tag id (on the bottom of the laptop) and there is a link to see what your computer specs were when it shipped.

Answer 3

If this is what is happening to your laptop and people say other wise, it's them who's lying, and it doesn't have anything to do with the laptop. In order to watch or burn DVD's, the optical storage needs to say DVD on it. For example: An 8x DVD/cd Burner would be able to playback DVD's, or even better if the DVD including RW (Rewritable), for example, DVD-RW in place of the DVD, than the device could also burn and playback the Rewrittable DVD's!

Answer 4

Right-click on my computer. Choose manage. Then choose device manager. Go to DVD/CD-ROM drives. It should list the drives, and tell you what it is. DVD means it PLAYS dvds. DVD -r means it burns dvds, and purchase -r dvds. DVD-RW means it burn rewritable dvds, and you can use -r or -rw dvds. Same thing for cds, except it's cd-r and cd-rw, respectively.

If it is a dell, it should have come with either roxio cd creator or sonic (if it can indeed burn things). Use one of those programs to attempt to burn; they are good ones.

Answer 5

Make sure you buy DVD -R. Those are the most fundamentally sound recordable media out. However with -R you can only burn to it once. If you need to reburn over and over on the same media (which is NOT suggested) you'd need to use a DVD R/W.

Answer 6

First, does the drive have an "RW" on it? If not then it might only read not write.

Next, what kind are you trying to write onto: DVD-R or DVD+R or DVD ROM or another type? Try one of the other types.

Also please post the exact model number of your laptop so we can check the drive type.

Answer 7

Check and see if you see a DVD + Rewriteable with RW on top of it or go o MY Computer and find your D: drive and it should say DVD-RW

Answer 8

yes ur laptop can burn cds and hold pics . Maybe u should go to a computer specialist.

Answer 9

that's attainable...there's a utility accessible that enable's you do this...i actually did it as quickly as...you may desire to open your computing device and thrash the mobo first then you definitely get your dvd burner working

Answer 10

it problably does not have a dvd burner. but you can upgade it and get one. or could be the type of blank dvds you use. you should use the ones that 8x on it see if that works.