CD-RW DVD-RW

You definately need a CD -ROM to install all the software. However, be aware that you do not need a CD-ROM and a CDRW-ROM(burner). A burner can also read CD's, therefore you should carefully plan if you may want to install a burner instead. A CDRW-ROM is good to make backup with. If you of any reason need to format your hard-drive, or the hard-drive is full, a burner is good to have. Typical examples are digital pictures and video. Some people buy a CD-ROM and a CDRW-ROM to make copies of CD's more efficient. So if you are into copying stuff, you might consider both. There are three different speeds on a burner. A burner has a certain writing speed to CD's called rewritable and another called recordable. If a CD is rewritable you can burn the CD over and over again, if it is recordable, you can only burn once. If you choose to buy a CD-ROM, buy the fastest possible. The speed is identified as X, (52x). A burner has three different speeds, reading speed, writing speed (rewritable), and writing speed (recordable). Fore example, 52x/32x/52x. This means that the burner can read CD's at 52x, rewrite at 32x and record at 52x (under to minutes).

DVD-ROM

This one is not a necessity, but can be nice to have if you like to watch movies. Again, you do not need a DVD-ROM and a CD-ROM. A DVD-ROM replaces the CD-ROM with the same functions.