CD/CDRW/DVD
Until recently it was not very common for computers to have DVD players, and even less common to have DVD burners, which were extremely expensive when they came out. In a few years that has all changed, and today it is very hard to find a computer without a DVD player.
Some of the newest games do not even ship on CDs any more, only on DVDs. Today it is assumed that all computers have DVD players, and probably even DVD burners. Prices of this devices have fallen so sharply, that today you can get fast DVD player for as little as $20-$30, and a decent DVD burner for as little as $50-$60 which has effectively made CD/CDRW drives obsolete, as DVD burners can also read and burn Compact Disks.
Therefore, if you are buying a new computer make sure to get a decent DVD burner. Don't forget, on one DVD you can store 4.7 GB of data, and even more, up from 700 MB on one CD. Make sure you get a DVD writer that supports dual-layer discs. These discs have two layers on one disc that you can write to which means you get double the storage space.
New technologies are also coming out, that will in the coming years replace DVD, and that will be able to pack as much as 50GB on one disk. However, this will not happen over night, as we all know how long it took DVD to replace CD, therefore a good DVD burner is today definitely a good investment. A DVD burner in the $40-$60 price range should do the job.
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Laptops