2mb VS 8mb Buffer

[C44335]

Dumb first question.
Please be kind.

What does the 8mb buffer do for me vs the 2mb most drives use?

Currently I have a Phillips DVD(JUNK) and a creative CD-RW.

I was thinking of upgrading the CD-RW to the Samsung with a 8mb buffer.
The crappy Phillips IS getting replaced as soon as the new Sony's are available.

[BuddhaTB]

What does the 8mb buffer do for me vs the 2mb most drives use?

The 2MB/4MB/8MB Buffer is the amount of memory used to support the buffer underrun protection on your CD-RW drive. The buffer is also used to cache the data as its being transfered from the hard drive or another optical drive to the CD your during the data to. A bigger buffer isn't necessary when you have a fairly powerful computer and a 2MB buffer will do you just fine. Only a few companies still use the 8MB buffer as the buffer underrun technology has been steadily increasing in effectiveness and most companies have switched to a 2MB buffer.

If your wondering what Buffer Underrun Is, Check out the following FAQ thread and article
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=5152
http://www.pctechguide.com/09cdr-rw.htm ... technology