>What's the difference between 4x, 8x,....32x ? Is the 32x eight
times faster
>than the 4x ? How does it do the job more quickly ? thanks.

Hi,
   I can't answer your first question, but I can answer this.
Theoreticly, 32x is eight times faster than 4x.  Reallisticly,
it is probably at most four to five times as fast.  Older CDroms
would change the speed of the motor based on the track it was
reading.  This is called Constant Linear Velocity since it reads
each sector of track at the same speed.  The newer CDroms spin
at the same speed no matter what track it is on.  This is called
Constant Angular Velocity.  This allows the CD to read the
outside track at 32x but the inside tracks are only read at 10x
to 16x.  Also, to get the full speed, it has to be a very large
file so the motor has time to speed up to full speed.


HTH,
Donald Gaither