You can always buy an external drive separately. 6X, 10X, etc. If you use CDs primarily to install software, you'll be fine with whatever CD-ROM comes with your notebook. But it's a different story if you're into multi- media. If games, music, videos or movies are important, you'll need 32X, or higher speeds.
Notebooks can include many ports, or connections.
USB, or Universal Serial Bus, is a newer and much faster version of the serial port. It lets the notebook connect to a wide variety of devices, such as digital cameras, speakers, external hard disks, scanners, printers, etc. S, or Serial port , is used to attach external mice, keyboards, or other devices. Most notebooks have a serial port. P, or Parallel port , is used by most printers and many network connections.