Upgrade Guide: Install a DVD-ROM Drive

Although predictions of software becoming widely available on DVD-ROM haven't yet come to pass, installing a DVD-ROM drive is still a popular and useful upgrade project, especially if you want to watch movies on your PC. The drives also read standard CD-ROM and CD-RW discs, and some new models double as CD-RW writers as well.

DVD movies are recorded using MPEG-2 compression, so you'll need to consider the options for decompressing the video. To get the best movie experience, you need to use hardware decompression. Some drives come with software for playing DVD movies, but unless you have a PC with a very fast CPU and oodles of RAM, the player can skip frames, causing jerky video playback.

Many advanced graphics cards have built-in hardware assistance for MPEG-2 decompression. Before you decide which DVD-ROM drive to buy, check your graphics board's manual or its manufacturer's Web site to find out if the card includes hardware-based decompression. If it does, you can save money by purchasing just the DVD drive.

For the rest of us, an all-in-one DVD-ROM drive upgrade kit is the best choice. These kits, such as the Creative Labs DVD Encore shown in this story, include a hardware-based MPEG-2 decompression board that can deliver DVD movies as effectively as stand-alone DVD players. Most boards include an S-VHS port as well--a big plus if you want to show movies on your TV.

With some variations, you should consider a DVD-ROM drive upgrade only if your PC has at minimum a Pentium II-400 processor and 32MB of RAM. A faster CPU and more RAM are even better. And don't forget that you'll need a good-quality sound card and speakers to get the most from the advanced audio of DVD movies. (See next month's column for details on upgrading your sound card.)

Note: After reading this article, watch our video, "How to Install a DVD Drive," for a visual walk-through.