IDE is commonly used for CD-ROM's in standard computers today. The interface is usually part of a sound card. The Panasonic interface does not require and IRQ but communicates directly through the port address. These interfaces do require an IRQ . The transfer rate tends to be slower than other interfacing methods.
Biggest advantage is the portability between systems including notebooks.
This is good for portability and provides faster access then the Parallel port would. Drive which you are able to write to once. Once the drive is written to it cannot be erased. CD-RW has the capability of being written to at least one thousand times. The drawback with CD-RW diskettes is with the lower reflectivity of the disc itself can limit the readability.