One of the biggest things that my friends have overlooked when using my mini notebook is its lack on a CD-ROM.  People have grown so accustomed to just having a CD-ROM drive that they don’t even look to see anymore.  Not only do they assume that it has a CD-ROM drive, but that it can play DVD’s and can burn CD’s.  You have two real options to deal with this unique problem.

• Buy an external CD-ROM – An external CD-ROM drive is the exact same drive you would have in a desktop computer or regular laptop, but it’s put inside an external enclosure and connects to your mini computer with a USB cable.  They range in price from $30.00 – $60.00 depending on if you want it to play DVD’s, burn CD’s, etc.  It’s a small investment when you consider the convenience of having one, but along with that convenience comes the annoyance of having to carry around one more thing in your bag.  Remember we are going for portability here.  So what is your other option?

• USB Flash Drive – Now I know you are thinking; how is a flash drive going to play CD’s?  Well it’s obviously not going to, but it’s going to be an amazing substitute.  90% of the software you are going to install on your mini notebook will be downloaded from the internet.  Even Microsoft Office comes preinstalled; you just need to purchase the key.  The few times you need to install something from a CD what you can do is put the CD is any computer and plug in your flash drive, then copy the CD over quick.  Flash drives are very cheap and it can double as a backup drive.  I know it sounds like a lot of extra work, but it’s worth it to maintain the portability and save a few bucks.  In my case specifically I’m always around another computer the few times I’ve purchased something that has a CD to install so there is another computer that is very accessible.

You do always have the option of buying the external CD ROM drive and just leaving it at home because that’s when you’ll most likely need it.  That’s all there is to it!  Not having a CD ROM really isn’t that big of a problem.  It’s just something you need to be aware of so it doesn’t catch you off guard when you buy your first mini notebook.