I've been boiling pasta in plain old sauce pans for years. As did my Mother, my Grandmother, her mother, and so on. In my personal opinion, a "special" pasta cooker offers no true additional benefits.
I normally cook pasta in a large pot. I put salt and olive oil in the pasta water, because I think it results in tastier pasta. The only special equipment I purchased was a big pasta strainer. Be sure to rinse your pasta in cold water to stop it's cooking!
