What to replace?

[cactus]

BigHap! I noticed you said "lengthen the life of your burner." Any idea how long a burner normally lasts? I had a DVD-ROM, CD-R/W, and DVD-R (Pioneer 1A04) at home. I only had one channel and had to pick the DVD-R since I couldn't write a full DVD-R if I had the CD-R or DVD-R drive on the same cord. I didn't think burners had a "life span" since I've had my Sony CD-R for close to 6 years now. Any hints at all? I don't do too much with the DVD-R, just a few games or movies a week. I'm pretty sure my motherboard only has 1 plug that fits the main connection cord to the DVD-R, otherwise I'd just add a second channel.