Glossary of Drive Types

Hard drive

The fundamental drive. It is magnetic and non-removable.

Zip, Jaz, Superdisk

Magnetic drives made by Iomega. Each type stores different amount of data on a different type of media. Any could be appropriate for a variety of uses.

CD-ROM

An optical drive that can read CD and CD-R media. It cannot write to anything, nor can it typically read CD-RW, DVD, or DVD-R

CD-R

An optical drive that can burn CD-R media. It cannot read or write CD-RW or DVD/DVD-R. CD-R can be recorded in one or many sessions.

CD-RW

An optical drive that can burn CD-R media in single or multiple sessions using Roxio's Toast software or iTunes software from Apple. In addition, this drive can re-write to CD-RW media using Roxio's Toast software or Apple's Disk Burner software. In the new OS 10.1, you can burn right from the finder! This drive will also read regular CD's for software installation, music, games, etc. This drive will not play DVD movies or burn DVD movies onto DVD disks.

DVD-ROM

An optical drive that can read DVD disks and play DVD movies through Quicktime or iMovie. Can not write to any type of disk, but can read CD or CD-R.

DVD-RAM

An optical drive that uses a special type of DVD technology that is usually held in a specail diskette like case. May be rewritable. Cannot write DVD-R or CD-R/CD-RW, but can usually read all of these formats.

DVD-R

An optical drive that can read DVD disks and play DVD movies as ell as CD and CD-R. It can also record to a DVD-R disk.

Combo-drive

An optical drive that can read DVD and CD disks, as well as burning CD-R and CD-RW media.

Superdrive

An optical drive that can read DVD and CD disks, as well as burning CD-R, CD-RW, and DVD-R media.

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