great article mate you have really done your homework on this one.
I know because I've been researching a new computer since my P4 died (motherboard failure) a couple of weeks ago.

Like you I concluded it was best to go Core2 now even if I had to skimp a little on other components.

I was on a fairly tight budget so my final choice of componentsn was

Core 2 Duo E6300
Asrock 775Dual VSTA motherboard
2 x 512 mb DDR 667

and using hard drive, video card, monitor etc. from my old system. The Asrock motherboard has dual graphic slots (AGP and PCI Express).

"There are dozens of optical drives and hundreds and possibly thousands of models in manufacture. What differentiates them? Not much. Not even price or compatibility."

The first part about the many optical drive models is true. I would really have to disagree about the drives not differing from one another.

Some are much louder than others at all times. Some are much better at cd audio extraction. Others make good disc error scanners. Some generally burn CDs well but not DVDs, even though they have the capability to do both. Some can't even make images of copy protected media. Some drives have nonexistent firmware support, while others have decent manufacturer firmware support and superb 3rd party firmware support. The list goes on...

For more info on optical drive media, drives, and software go to the forums at http://www.cdfreaks.com.

Hey, thanks for that resource, I'll be sure to incorporate some of that down the road.