<p>I'll be attending NEU this fall and was wondering what type of laptop I should get.</p>
<p>On NEU's website, it says that I would need a laptop with a CD drive but the laptops I'm thinking of getting--ultrabooks--usually don't come with optical drives.</p>
<p>Would I absolutely NEED to have an optical drive or would I be able to get by without one?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>NEU recommended Dell and Apple. There is a link on myneu portal (self-sevice tab) which states the minimum required configuration so you can depend on that information to choose your laptop.
Best.</p>
<p>In two years, I’ve never needed to use the optical drive on my laptop. </p>
<p>Chances are, if you ever really needed to read a disc, you could just use a computer in the library.</p>
<p>If you want an optical drive, you can buy an external model, like this one [Newegg.com</a> - ASUS USB 2.0 Black External Slim CD/DVD Writer Model SDRW-08D2S-U](<a href=“Are you a human?”>Are you a human?) or a similar model for 30 bucks or so and keep it on your desk.</p>
<p>Everyone uses USB thumb (flash) drives now. More important is that your computer is fast enough and has enough memory to run the required programs. Don’t even bother with an optical drive.</p>
<p>I had to use the CD drive… for three classes, I think. Two classes required the textbooks that come with a CD for math labs (as opposed to doing labs on programs on the school computers). Then one class required breaking up a DVD and making a presentation, which would have been a pain if I didn’t have a drive built in.</p>
<p>However I don’t think there’s anything stopping you from just using the school computers and putting a CD in, if that (worst case scenario) happens.</p>