Cheap CD/CDRW/DVD
DVD's have taken over as the new optical media and you'll want to have a drive that can play them. Unless you are on a really tight budget we recommend getting a DVD writer as opposed to just a DVD player. A DVD writer can play and write to both CDs and DVDs, so you are getting the best of both worlds. DVD writers allow you to backup your current DVDs or burn home movies. Since DVDs can hold more than 6 times the data of a CD, you'll be able to record longer and higher quality video and audio.
If you picking out DVD writers, pick out a writer that supports dual-layer discs. These discs have two layers on one disc that you can write to which means you get double the storage space. This is perfect to backup movies to without compressing, since many DVD movies are dual-layer.
BUSINESS/BUDGET/MULTIMEDIA/HOME THEATER/GAMING PC
You can find this drive for less than $70 and it supports all the formats we mentioned above. We recommend this drive for all types of PCs because it is really the best bang for buck you'll find. All systems will benefit having a DVD drive that can read and record, even if you don't plan on using all the features right now, it will be good to have in case you need it in the future.
Other drives come to the market all the time, so check out media drives news.