Here, we explain

what Blu-ray is

and why it is superior to DVDs. If you know why DVDs are better than CDs, then you're pretty much on the right track.

Blu-ray discs

can

store much more data

than DVDs but require special drives to use. This makes Blu-ray discs ideal for housing

HD video

like movies and is the reason

Blu-ray drives

are becoming commonplace.

It's very important to

back up your photos

periodically to avoid the heartache of losing precious memories. Thankfully, Picasa makes it easy for you with a variety of

backup options

. We'll show you how to

create backup photo albums

using Picasa

in this episode.

In this episode, we show you how to

install an optical drive

into your computer. Whether you're installing a

reader or a writer

, whether it plays

CDs, DVDs or Blu-ray

discs, the installation process is the same. It's also quite a bit similar to the way we showed you how to install a hard drive in the last episode and is an important part of

building your own computer

.

We love netbooks for their extreme portability and light weight. We dislike them for their relative lack of storage, the lack of USB ports and to a lesser extent, their absence of an optical drive. Apricorn's NetDock answers all of these concerns and lets you dock then unlock the potential of your netbook, MacBook Air or other small form factor computer.

In working with computers you're bound to hear unusual terms like URL, SMTP, FTP, buffer and many more. You may have heard of "ripping" as well. Despite the sound of the word "ripping" actually refers to copying data. Here's a

definition of ripping in computer terms.

Some

terms used in computers and computing

are a little bit strange. Some of them, like POP and FTP, are acronyms that stand for something. Then there are terms like "ripping" or "burning," which sound like ways to destroy data. Far from it. Here's a tech

definition of "burning."

Cheryl Poirier, AKA Miss Download went on the hunt for fast, simple and effective

CD and DVD burning software

and found the answer to her disc-authoring woes with Ashampoo Burning Studio. This powerful and streamlined

CD and DVD authoring software

is simple and does everything you need to do with discs! Plus, if you're rocking a

Blu-ray burner

, Ashampoo has you covered as it even lets you

burn Blu-ray discs

.

The

Intelliscanner Mini

is the easiest way to create a home inventory, organize your wine collection, comic books, DVDs, music, books and even shopping lists. Just hit the button to

scan a UPC barcode, connect to your PC

and voila.

How do you get massive video files to fit on your portable video player? Easy: DivX! Cheryl Poirier looks at the easiest way to watch videos on your computer, on your portable player or on your TV. Thanks to the ubiquity of DivX video compression technology, chances are you'll run across a DivX format video before too long, if you haven't already. In fact, Cheryl loves DivX Player so much, she wrote a song about it.

At a recent Panasonic showcase, Sean Carruthers finds the world's first portable Blu-Ray player, a full-featured Blu-Ray home entertainment package with iPod dock and even a Blu-Ray / VHS combo player that's cutting edge on the right-hand side and decidedly old school on the left.

Have a video file that won't play on your computer? Or do you want to convert a video file or DVD into a format that will play on your iPod, iPhone, PSP, PS3, Xbox 360 and so on? It's easy to do with Handbrake!

The whole idea behind iTunes is that it acts as your one-stop media library. All your music, movies, TV shows you've downloaded, iPhone apps you've grabbed, podcasts you subscribe to and more are all there. To avoid information overload, Molly McDonald has some practical tips for navigating your ever-growing iTunes library.

You probably have hundreds of hours of video and music and thousands of photos on your computer. Meet Boxee. It grabs data for your movies and music to give you DVD covers, subtitles, reviews, lyrics and more. Connect with friends over Boxee to give them movie and music recommendations.

DivX emerged as the defacto standard for compressed video. And now, it's reinvented for the HD landscape. The latest version of this popular video codec is 7 and it's got full HD support. DivX 7 promises to fit a full HD movie on a standard recordable DVD.

Our ever intrepid Miss Download has been scouring the net for a simple, easy to use and user friendly movie editing and DVD authoring software... to no avail. That is until she found Nero Vision, part of the Nero 9 suite. She was so happy, she created her own Miss Download Season 1 DVD.

When you put a CD or DVD into the appropriate drive on your computer and then close the drawer, Windows will often immediately launch an application associated with that disc: An installation program if it's an install disc, or your CD player, if it's an audio CD, for example. This can be frustrating if the task that is autorun isn't what you wanted to do. There are ways to prevent your system from bringing up the autorun dialogue when you insert a disc.

Andy and Sean help you figure out what to do now the HD DVD/Blu-ray war is over.

Andy and Sean cover what gear you need to enjoy HD DVD or Blu-ray.

Andy and Sean show you how to wipe the hard drive clean and install a fresh copy of Windows.

Lab Rats grab a bag of marshmallows and fire up their blow torch and show you how optical discs work. Includes coverage of CDs, DVDs and blu-ray and HD DVD.