CD and DVD drives are optical storage devices that use lasers toread and write data on disks. All PCs today come with a CD, DVD or combinationdrive (works with CD and DVD). Most newer PCs have a combination driveinstalled that can read and write CD and read DVD. This type of drive is calleda CD R/W-DVD ROM drives.
PC manufacturers may offer a PC that comes with just a CD R/W drive or aDVD-ROM drive. A CD R/W drive will let you read and write both data and musicfiles. If you want to view movies you'll need a drive that can read DVD sinceit is the only disk type that has enough space to store movies. Even a single,full-length movie is much too large to fit on a CD.
If you want to create your own movies you'll need a DVD-writer. These areavailable in a couple of types. DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW are the most popular.They can read and write DVD and CD as well. Always ask before buying becausethe features offered in drives is still emerging.
Recommendation:
At a minimum, get a combination drive that can read and write CDand read DVD. This gives you a great deal of flexibility. You will be able tostore and listen to music files, watch movies, and backup all your data on CDusing a drive that costs about $120.
For about $300 you can get a drive that can read and write CD and DVD. Thisprovides all the features of the $120 drive and adds the capability for you tomake your own movies!