From a practical standpoint, for someone who will spend most of their
time checking email, surfing the web, and writing the occasional Word
document, does it matter whether they have a discrete video card or if
the graphics are integrated with the motherboard?

Well, my Studio XPS 8100 desktop showed up today...with a Windows 7 disc
(among other discs.)
Some may recall that after I placed my order, I read in a Dell
knowledgebase article that Dell was no longer shipping Windows discs

Does this old Dell PC model not support bootable USB devices? I tried an
external USB 3.5" floppy disk drive, bootable USB Flash drives, etc.
BIOS' boot doesn't even show the USB device.
Thank you in advance. :)

Can any external USB DVD drive with with this laptop?  This includes the
ability to boot from a DVD to install little things - like the operating
system.
Or do I have to get a Dell proprietary drive?