DVD drives (Digital Versatile Disc) made waves this past holiday season as one of the hottest new electronics product. But more than just a consumer toy, DVD drives have been popping up on many high-end desktop and notebook business computers, and flying off the shelves as an aftermarket PC accessory. So what is all the fuss about?

Think of a DVD as the next generation of the compact disc. DVD discs are the same size as CDs, but can hold up to 25 times as much data. This means that databases such as phone directories or clip art compendiums that previously required multiple CDs can be stored on a single DVD. In addition, large files such as full-length movies can be distributed on a single DVD.

DVD players come in two variants. Dedicated DVD players look and act much like a home CD player and are designed to play movies on a TV--most businesses will have little need for this type. DVD drives built for a computer, however, look the same as a CD-ROM drive and come in both internal and external designs.

The good news with DVD is that the latest drives are completely backwards-compatible with CD technology--any computer with a DVD drive can read CD-ROM software, as well as other CD variants such as audio CDs and recordable CDs (CD-R).

And of course, a DVD drive will also play DVD discs. Except for some large databases, however, not much DVD-based data is currently available. (This is expected to change in the next few years as the base of DVD drives grows.) DVD drives can also play DVD movies, which have exploded in number over the past year.

To make sure your drive can play DVD video, you will need a computer equipped with a MPEG decoder. This is hardware or software that translates the data on a video DVD to play on a monitor or screen. In general, hardware decoders cost more (adding about $100 to the cost of the computer), but perform better and minimize battery usage on notebooks. However, computers equipped with faster Pentium II chips or Macintosh G3s (350 MHz or better) should find software-based decoders perfectly adequate.

Like CD-ROM drives, DVD drives comes in different speeds, indicating how fast they can read data. A low-end DVD drive (about $250), will offer 2X performance, while a faster 5X DVD will set you back about $350. In either case, speed should be roughly comparable to a 24X or 32X CD-ROM drive when reading CDs.

So should you get a DVD drive? Honestly, there is so little relevant DVD business software right now that DVD is more of a fun video toy than a serious business tool. On the other hand, the cost of upgrading to DVD can be as little as $100 on most new PC systems, and you give up nothing in terms of CD-ROM performance or compatibility.

So, if watching "Good Will Hunting" on your laptop on seems like a worthy diversion on your next flight, indulge yourself with a DVD drive. I'm sure you can justify it by telling the office how much you saved on headphone rentals.