Questions from a beginner

Well, welcome back - we missed you! j/k (we really didn't)

Anyway, as for the questions you raised:
For the 8887, you can use the 802.11b internal stuff (so you don't have a PCMCIA card sticking out of the side), but this is limited to 11Mbps max (read: slow network, just fine for web-surfing).

There are PCMCIA (also called PC Cards) that you can get for other standards like 802.11g and 802.11a - the "a" standard is 54Mbps and on the 5.8GHz frequency (less crowded, typically and for now); while "g" is almost a standard, it was supposed to be 54MBps too, but looks like it will no longer be.

Japan is fairly wired, but you need to know the SSID (wireless network name) and passkey (in hex) if there is any sort of Wireless security done (read: WEP). It's a BIG topic and it sounds like you're just scratching the surface. If you have hours to burn, check out www.practicallynetworked.com as they are a great resource for all things networking (wired or wireless).

As for DVD burners, they are nice if you have loads of crap to burn to CD but need more space (4.6GB vs. 650MB); and are great if you have a digital video camera that you want to convert videos to DVD (even older VCR tapes to DVD are possible, but not w/o headaches). I am not a big fan of internal DVD burners, as I do not always need one and they're very pricey. I went the external route (Sony 4x which does all the formats out there except DVD-RAM).

Sager laptops can have them as an option (they are not standard, as there's a $300+ pricetag for them); when you configure your system at whatever reseller you decide (pc torque is a good one), there should be an option for a DVD-R/RW in the Media Bay.

DVD's you burn are region free. In fact, you can play any region in your computer (w/ a DVD drive) through a few simple hacks (if needed)... It's also nice to watch PAL-encoded media, as my component DVD Player is NTSC (have to watch my PAL-formatted "Young Ones" collection somewhere).

Hope this helps,
-myrkat

'...there should be an option for a DVD-R/RW in the Media Bay.'

Do you mean the bay being set up for a DVD-R/RW? So we could unscrew the R/RW drive and slip in a DVD Burner??

Cool!!

I would just order the DVD-RW burner (internal) if that's what you want. It also burns CDR/RW so you wouldn't need to switch drives at all.

Or, if you feel strongly about it, the 8887 can have 2 media devices, so one could be a regular CDR/RW and the other could be the DVDR/RW but it is a bit redundant.

-myrkat

Thank You!!!

Thanks for the quick reply!

I have had a Sager 2850 for about two years and am currently awaiting my new 8886 to be shipped to me in the mideast.

Hope it gets here soon!

what kinda cd-r's are you using? I would challenge you to even find a 650mb cd-r in a store anymore.... They're all 700***


*** Note, though they say '700' Most can be overburned with nero to about 814mb