Gadgets definitely make some aspects of your life easier. For example, look how easy it is to communicate with other people compared with 50 years ago!

On the other hand it does create difficulties like laziness and as you rightly pointed out places strain on our resources.

I don't think it's so much making life easier or more difficult – just different.

As far as making things last longer – would it really make a difference? So many of the items people buy are bought to satisfy fashion trends or desire to have the biggest/best <insert product here>. People are used to instant gratification – why bother fixing something if you can get a new one? I don't think that attitudes would change purely because items CAN be kept for longer before breaking.

The cheapest around would be the "memorex" brand. They start out at $50 dollars —> memorex 3202 ext dvd-rw. If you don't plan on carrying it around, then it would suit you just fine. But if you are a student like I am and want to have it just in case, I suggest adding another $20 dollar to your base price and go with either a samsung or liteon brand. Both are slim and light and draws power from the usb cables where as the memorex is nearly triple in size and uses draws power using dc power cables. If weight clearly isn't the issue and you probably will leave it at the house, then I say go for the memorex. But if you have some intentions of carrying it with you half of the and is having a hard time finding power source, I would recommend you going with some other brand. Total including taxes you are looking to spend close to $80 dollars. For that price, I recommend you just by the Acer One accessory kit; which includes slim ext dvd-rw, wireless mouse and case for $100. Considering that carrying case cost nearly $20 dollars and a wireless mouse is another $20, I would just go for the Acer kit. For netbook users, I totally recommend something slim and small and that it draws power from the usb cable rather than fighting over another starbuck guy for usage of extra outlet. Comparing the disadvantages and advantages of both, it would be a smarter choice to go with the slim line series of ext dvd burner.

P.S. Because every manufacturer has its own software that is supplied with the product, I suggest you check it and be familiarize with the software being bundle with the package as some software are not user friendly and that can cause a lot of agony (going back to store for refund…complaining about not being able to use software and etc.) Because newer ext burner these days all come with lightscribe as one of their feature, it is also crucial that if you already have an existing software, that it is capable of using the feature "lightscribe". If not, then you may want to upgrade or use the bundle package that came with the product you purchased.