Play video clips. It's one thing to read about or look back on the lunar walk of Neil Armstrong. It's quite another to see it played out on your screen. CD-ROM drives can handle video clips more easily than most hard drives can because realistic-looking clips -- ones where the mouths move in time with the words -- take up a lot of storage space, and CD-ROMs have high storage capacities (750 megabytes) than floppy disks. Many of these clips aren't just for passive viewing; they can also be used for interactive games or tutorials.

Play music CDs. CD-ROM drives can play audio CDs. Fortunately, the volume level on CD-ROM drives is usually adjustable or can be managed through your systems sound driver's applications interface.

Access information. With a CD-ROM drive and disks, you don't get a trickle of information; you get a flood of it. For example, a single CD-ROM disk can hold an entire set of encyclopedias. A bonus, often times this information is cross-linked, which makes searching as easy as clicking your mouse button.

Assemble a photo album or slideshow. If you want to create a photo book or slidwshow of your child or pet for display on the computer, you can create one in just a few simple steps. You simply use any photo imaging application (which sometimes accompany digital cameras, scanners, and printers), organize your photos the way you like them, and then use your pc's or cd-drive's software to burn your images to a CD. It's that easy!

Play entire movies. Use your computer as a second DVD player! Play full-length motion pictures right on your computer just as you would on your television! Some of today's motion picture DVD's come with bonus material that include sneak peaks, interactive games, and special features that can only be accessed on a DVD device on a computer.