Yeah, I hear the quality is all over the map with DVD player programs. If there's no trialware available, shop elsewhere. Some ISP providers give connection speed up to 52Kbps while the others only has 49Kbps. But such is the way of the tech world. If you don't plan on printing anything bigger than a 4x6 print, one megapixel should do .
Cable modem is great.
I'm with comcast-home and have had no trouble. A nice thing about linux is that it comes with all sorts of security tools. Admittedly, it takes some technical savvy to configure everything, but beats heck out of windows security. Someday someone will be sued for allowing their always on and networked computer to be cracked and used in an attack. It could be argued that a home user on an always on connection is not exercising due diligence if they haven't done everything possible to secure their system.