I’ve written before about the coming death of the CD/DVD’s for data storage. While that time hasn’t come yet for desktop there is one realm where CD/DVD players are no longer needed. If you’re getting ready to purchase a new laptop the one place you can really save is by shopping for a machine without a CD/DVD player. Not only will you save cash, but you’ll also save big time on weight and energy consumption.
What about Installing Software?
One of the benefits of a CD/DVD player has been for installing new software that is sold on disc format. In these days of broadband access, it’s more common to install entire applications from the web. If you’re using a home network with any other computer that has a CD/DVD then you already have one. It’s a simple process to set any CD/DVD as a shared device. It can then be mapped to your laptop so it behaves like a local device. Windows 7 makes it even easier.
What about listening to music or watching movies?
My guess is most of you have little devices called iPods, MP3-Players or Smart Phones that store plenty of music and even play movies. Why would you use all the power on your laptop to play a movie off a DVD when you can read it off an alternate digital storage device. If you don’t have one now you’ll be able to afford one by not purchasing a CD/DVD on your new laptop.
Invest the cash you save
I was asked to write an article about saving money. So, you’re saving money by not having a CD/DVD let’s spend it! 
The most expensive new option on laptops is the one I recommend the most. More than CPU speed, 64 bits or even memory I encourage folks to choose a Solid State Drive(SSD). I’m sure I’ll get some arguments and hopefully the future will bring better prices I put a high value on my data now. The cost of data restoration for a normal hard drive will be more than the cost of your laptop.
The next time you’re on a plane look up at the overheard compartments and check out how much vibration there is even on the smoothest flight. A SSD is more expensive but has no moving parts. It may hold less data but if you’re on a home network you really want to store much of your data on a single networked machine that performs regular backups.
Prices via www.lenovo.com 9/12/2010
Do you really need 500 GB on a laptop? Two years ago I could only get a 64 GB SSD on my ThinkPad X61. Even with 10 GB used for restoration data I still have 14 GB free. That’s amazing considering I have all my development tools(Visual Studios 2010), photo tools(including Photoshop), video tools and Microsoft Office Ultimate all installed on this system.
While I do store a number of photos and music on my laptop, most of my photos are saved on a network drive which can also be shared by other family members.
If you have other ideas on saving cash on a new laptop let me know.
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