There are two issues you need to consider: (1) connecting to the television and (2) connecting the unit to the Internet. (1) To connect the player to the TV, you need a composite connection - the yellow RCA jack (video) plus red and white for audio. Down the road, when she gets a new TV, you'll disconnect the three wires (yellow, red, white) and replace it with a single HDMI cable which will handle digital video and audio. At that point she'll go "wow" and probably wonder why she waited so long to get a new TV. ;-) There's two reasons to connect to the Internet. The first is that the player needs periodic updates. The second is to use the advanced features of the player for things like streaming video. (2) To connect to the Internet the player is going to use either a wired connection (via an Ethernet cable) from the player to the router or wirelessly via WiFi. Frankly, if you want to go the wireless route, investing in a player with built in WiFi is going to eliminate a layer of technology and agnst. How she wants to use the player is going to effect how you connect to the Internet and the cost of the player. If she does not plan on using the advanced features, then a cheaper player, without built-in WiFi, and a length of Ethernet cable will be the cheapest solution. At update time, connect the player to the router via the Ethernet cable, allow the unit to update, and put the cable back in the closet. If she want to use the advanced features (and there is lots of good, free stuff out there) then WiFi is the way to go. Setting up WiFi is much like any other wireless device, you'll select the name of the network from a list and enter the password. Remember that password is not the same as PASSWORD. I hope this clarifies everything for you.

If you place a music or data DVD or CD in the drawer does it play the music or offer to display the data? If the DVD burner is shot you would probably be better to buy an external DVD player/burner rather than replace the internal one.

You do have a DVDRW? Just a DVD drive will not burn disks. You can check in your Device Manager if you are not sure. A Ripper is software that will copy data from a DVD (or CD) to your hard drive.

DVD recorders and DVD Burners both create DVDs buy "burning" via a laser to a blank DVD disk. However, A DVD recorder typically refers to a standalone unit that resembles and functions very much like a VCR. All DVD recorders can record from any analog video source (most can also record video from digital camcorders via firewire). Like a VCR, DVD recorders all have AV inputs as well as onboard TV tuner for recording TV shows. DVD Recorders come in several configurations: Standalone, DVD Recorder/VCR Combo, or DVD Recorder/Hard Drive combo units. Might work then you have a pc without a burner, sound like the laser in the DVD recorder mey be bad that's what recognizes the disks