would i go about finding what kind of cds to buy that burn correctly on my computer and play on stereos preferrably...
Well, generaly, stereo's or other equipment besides computers only read CD-R's(unless stated otherwise in the manual or on the product). Burning is another thing. It depends on the program. I've used the integrated burning system in Windows, although not too often. There is Burn4Free. http://www.burn4free.com/ and NERO http://www.ahead.de/us/index.html and many others. It all depends on what your wanting to burn. If it's an audio CD that you want to listen to on a walkman/stereo, you'll want to burn on a CD-R in the RedBook-Audio standard(which is what all burning software burns in if your burning an audio CD). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Book_(audio_CD_standard) If you have a MP3 compatible walkman/CD player, then you just burn the MP3's straight onto a CD-R. If it's data(pictures, compressed audio, etc), then just burn it to whatever you want,(CD-R's, CD-RW's, etc). Most modern drives can read CD-RW's, unless it's older than 2000(I think). Although, if you're backing up data, CD-RW's are more usefull. The difference between CD-R's and CD-RW's is that CD-R's actually "burn" data into pits on the CD. CD-RW's just write data as magnetic "patches" on the cd, so the writer can wipe it clean and write again. If your CD dirve says it's re-writeable, it can write CD-R's and CD-RW's. Also, to make sure you burn "right", don't burn too fast. I'd say, the fastest speed to burn on, is 4X. Anything more can lead to data loss or corrupted data. And you don't really want to churn out coasters. It's really personal preference. Hope that helps.
Go out and buy Nero if it hasn't shipped with your burning device. It's definitely the best tool out on the market.
