Korean public schools don't reuse textbooks. They are purchased new every year by the students. They're ridiculously cheap, too. They get filled with study notes over the course of the year. (I'm an expat teacher.)
That's interesting. What size are they. When I was in school, my text books where hundreds, approaching a thousand, pages.
You consider the lack of a built-in optical drive to be an advantage? Could you explain?
Not everyone uses an internal disc drive. I've long preferred to have that space occupied with something else or just to have a lighter computer. On my current laptop, I've used it exactly once in the past year. Unless you watch DVDs, an external will do.
interlard - vt., to intersperse; diversify -- Webster's New World Dictionary Of The American Language