External DVD Drive USB 3.0 Portable CD DVD +/-RW Optical Drive Burner Writer for Windows 10/8/7 Laptop Surface notebook notepad macbook Desktop PC of all makes HP Dell LG Asus Acer LG Asus Lenove Thinkpad

I thought an external drive might-MIGHT- be useful, if nothing else for the tablet I'd just ordered, so in a move that can be unwise, I decided to try to keep costs way down, and fell on this with its mixed but more positive than negative reviews and ridiculously low price. I hate fiddling with stuff, but don't like to pay more than I have to, which sometimes works out as "Lowest price-at any cost!".When I opened the box and read what little instructions there were on Xmas day, I immediately squirmed and put it away for later consideration. It could have waited a long time, but after a week or two, I thought I'd give it a go.Now, the lead arrangements are interesting. It has sockets for a data lead (that funny square fella some printers use- and USB the other end) and a DC input for which a USB to plug lead is also provided.To save fiddling and doing a DVD to memory stick transfer, I decided to try it to load software onto a Tablet running Windows 10. To preserve the tablet, I connected the power lead on this drive to a mains adapter, plugged it in, and the tablet took it seamlessly. Could have been an internal drive. Easy enough even for me (MUCH harder than making it idiot-proof).So, I thought I should review it. Then I thought; well, I haven't tried writing to it, and that's part of what makes it look like such a bargain, so bearing in mind that the very skimpy instructions (two sub-A6 pages) say you need disc writing software like Nero (which I remember), but Windows 7 and 10 burn, so surely it's going to work? I plugged it- one lead only-into a laptop running Window 7. And guess what? Seamlessly burnt some video files using Windows explorer, and it was treated exactly as my internal disc drive would have been, which is to say, insert the disc and follow the on-screen. Swapped the disc to my internal drive, and played the files OK.Now, judging by the instructions, this is may be an old product; it talks about set up for Windows 98, but does mention plug and play for later Windows. Two later versions of Windows-7 and 10- certainly did all the work for me. I didn't have to do anything with regard to drivers or software, and apart from maybe needing an external power lead, this is just like having an(other) internal drive.And for a finale, I played a CD though my laptop with it.Brilliant, I can't fault it, especially at such a ridiculously cheap price. The price racks up a bit with what looks like a costly delivery fee, but it was quick, and overall fantastic value for money.I could say it does exactly what it says on the tin, but the tin doesn't say much. It just works, and is amazingly simple to use.Bargain!

Item is as described. This was the cheapest external drive I could find, and it serves my purpose. I won't be using it so much to burn discs, so I can't comment on how it performs there. My main purpose for this is to play discs since my laptop does not have a built-in drive for that, and it works fine.Only downside is that, for some reason, I found it does not work when I connect it to a USB hub - the drivers don't install correctly and as a result my laptop doesn't recognize the drive at all. If I plug it in directly it works fine. Fortunately, as mentioned by a previous reviewer, you don't really need to connect the two USB cables it comes with - just the data cable is fine since the drive will get power through that as well. All in all, I recommend this if you are not too particular and will be fine with a plain looking drive that does the job.

A compact USB 2 DVD Player/Reader/Writer for computer/lap top which arrived promptly and fitted through the letterbox (so no need to wait in for the postman). I have so far only used it to play dvds on my small lap top (Windows Vista), using the Windvd programme that came with the laptop, and it works very well. Remember to have your computer connected to the internet when you first plug in the USB 2 connections as the computer may need to download the drivers if you have not used something like this before - it's "Plug and Play" which means you just let the computer get on with it. Then I needed to find the drive which on my lap top is shown as the "f drive" when you click on "Computer" in the "Start Menu". Then you click on "f drive" and then choose to play it on the Wyndvd programme from the menu along the top bar.Works a treat and very good for such a low price. I bought this primarily to upgrade the lap top from Vista to Windows 7 using the DVD upgrade programme I've already got - hope to do that soon.Recommended if all you need is something low price that works ok with the player programmes you already have installed.

My built in DVD/CD drive in my Apple MacBook Pro , stopped working due to liquid damage .I was advised by the computer engineers, in a shop, to buy a USB drive if I did not want to buy a new computer .They were using this particular model.I decided to buy this one and was not disappointed . Great value, feels expensive, works well.Apple would have charged me a lot more for a similar machine. No problems with it whatsoever . Just connect all the leads and wait for it write and burn your disc.

Works OK but lead is to Small hardly anywhere to set it down

At first I was dismayed when I read in the leaflet that I would need to download a drive to burn onto a CD which was frustrating as I only bought this because my burner did not work on my laptop. However, I went ahead and connected it to my laptop, without downloading any additional software, and found I could not only burn onto a CD using the external device but, wonders upon wonders, I can now burn successfully direct from my laptop too, even when it is not connected to the external device!I'm not a very techno person but can only assume the device added some software onto my laptop that now enables me to burn. Whatever the explanation I am now very happy as I can burn onto a CD from my laptop and also have a back up external device that works well too :)