Clay L wrote:
When I bought new laptops last summer I made sure I got ones with optical drives.
For two reasons:
I have a lot of legacy programs that install from DVDs or CDs.
Downloading software with file sizes of 2 GB or more is a problem if you don't have a fast Internet connection. I don't. Even 100 or 200 MB takes quite a while. Also it uses a lot of data bytes.
I have a Verizon 3G aircard and it took 6 hours or so download Office 2013 Home and Student. I didn't realize when I bought it that what I assumed was a DVD was actually a scrape off card with a key number. The program had to be downloaded from a Microsoft web site.
More and more Laptops are NOT being offered with optical drives. This is due to several factors..
One is COST, manufacturer cuts off $40 in materials and some time in labor. Helps keep the manufacturer in the black.. Consumer gets a laptop a few bucks cheaper and they feel they got a great deal.
Two is SIZE, everyone wants the smallest and most lightweight PCs so trimming a bit of weight and size helps.
Three, less software is being delivered via physical media, future holds less and less physical delivery and more "cloud" type stuff. This allows the software vendors to track and crack down on piracy issues..
