ok..call me thick....but ....where computers are concerned im thick as mince...all i know is what i need..speed and all the other specifications mean nothing to me... :( ..from what i understand of what you are saying..you are saying that it is better to get a drive which plays dvds,,cds,,and writes/rewrites on both..is that right?..right..if i have that right.....would that not make the dvd rom drive i have already redundant? to back up my pc..do i need to do it to dvd discs or can i do it to cdrom discs?... ..i will take heed of your advice..once i can understand it! :( just direct me to one thing...that i can pay via paypal and ill be happy....i think.. :o I have been looking at ebay..but they just confuse me with all the different ones..speed etc....i aint got a clue what it all means..