this external dvd burner is by far the easiest to use, and the cheapest! but dont get me wrong on saying its cheap, because this a really good deal. I had no trouble at all installing it and using it. the title is a little misleading on saying it is for the asus EEE pc, but it can be used with anything that has 2 usb ports. the fact that it burns both dvd and dual layer dvds is amazing, considering other drives sell for $100+. in my opinion, the way the drive ejects (like a laptop drive) is a little annoying, but thats just me. when I got it, i was shocked on how small it actually is, about 5X5 inches and about an inch tall. External USB DVDRW DL DVD Burner Drive for ASUS EEE PC
Instantly recognized by my ASUS Netbook, which uses Windows XP. Two cables are supplied, but I found that I didn't need the second added power cable. It's good that one is included for those computers that will require the extra power boost to get the drive working. No software is included, so I used Free Easy CD Burner to burn an ISO file to DVD. I also tried playing a DVD. Again no problems. The only issue I noted, and that's being picky, is that the top of the tray would sometimes contact the case if I pushed it in too quickly. As with my ASUS USB External drive it feels a bit flimsy, but I think that is to be expected due to how lightweight these things are.
I bought this device after the DVD burner on my laptop went bad. I have a netbook as well, so I figured that getting this would give me the ability to use have DVDs on both devices while only paying for one drive. I received it, opened it up, and was surprised to see 2 USB cords (I hadn't noticed the 2 cords in the image). One cord draws power from your computer to power the device, the other transfers data. This could be a problem for someone who uses a laptop that only has 2 usb ports, as this would take up both of them, leaving none for any peripherals you wanted to connect. Since my laptop has 4, I decided this wasn't so bad and set it up.
It worked well for playing videos, etc. I am, however, a linux enthusiast, so I regularly test other distros. I figured this would be a good test. I put in a disc with an iso burned on it, rebooted my computer, and was very disappointed to see that this device, no matter what configuration I used, would not boot a DVD. I tried everything I could within the boot setup, but eventually had to give in and admit that I needed an internal DVD drive. Returned it.
IF you're just looking for a DVD writer and don't mind that it takes 2 usb ports up, this could be fore you.
I love the idea of ultra portable electronics and this item fits the bill. Having a laptop I need portable accessories to travel along and this small dvd burner works in all categories. Small, ease of use and works well. I will definitely buy another in the future.
This LG dvd burner was my best option for my HP dm3-1130us 13" laptop. A great little computer, but alas, no built in optical drive. I checked around, including the HP website, and was shocked at the prices for external optical drives! All the major retaillers (BestBuy, Walmart...and even several other Webtailers, such as Newegg and others) I was looking at prices up to and even over $100! In addition, many of those burners didn,t offer the features as this one. It is as good, no, it's even better than an optical burner that comes built into other laptops! A true great buy!
A lot of people have asked whether or not this device works well in other netbooks besides the Asus EEE PC. And specifically, the Samsung NC-20 netbook came up. Well, to put you at ease, I can say without a doubt that this will work with the Samsung NC-20 netbook. And it should work with any other netbook, so long as you have two USB ports on it.
As for my results: Plugged it in for the first time into the Samsung NC-20 netbook. Windows XP immediately recognized it as a DVD player/burner. Within seconds after plugging it into the USB port, I inserted a DVD video, and it played just fine in full-screen mode. Audio and video came through perfectly. There was no stuttering (what some people might refer to as the "herky-jerky" video that might be the result of a slow processor or something). Motion was smooth.
For a second test, I installed the Turbo Tax software from CD. It installed just fine. No problems.
It also played music CD's just fine.
And lastly, I tried burning a DVD. It works. No problems. I've not tried the dual-layer DVD burning just yet, but it should work. And note that I used the netbook's second USB port to power it while I was burning the DVD. Power was not an issue.
Probably the best part about this is the form factor and overall design. I have to say, this is the smallest, slimmest external DVD burner I've ever seen. When you have a netbook, it really does make a difference. That's because you bought a netbook due to its light weight and portability. It wouldn't make sense lugging around an external DVD drive that's as big as your netbook. Some of them are, believe it or not. Not this one.
Also, the feel of this device is really nice. The outside skin is kind of a velvety rubber. It's hard to explain. It just feels nice. The only thing I think needs improvement in this area - and this is just nitpicking - is that the edges are kind of sharp. Not that you'll get cut. That's not what I mean. I mean that they could have rounded the edges instead. That would make it more pleasing to the touch.
Now here's the thing about using two USB ports: You don't need to use two USB ports. If your device only has one USB port on it, you can still use this device. How? Well one of the USB connections is used only for power, while the other one is used to transfer data. So here's my tip: Buy a USB power adapter that you can plug into the wall socket. That will allow you to power the device using the wall socket instead of your netbook, so you don't need to have two USB ports, and you don't have to drain your netbook's battery. A typical USB wall socket adapter will cost around $10, by the way. But without a wall socket adapter, yes you will need two USB ports free on your netbook / laptop in order to use this device.
On the other hand, there are times when you're in the middle of nowhere, and you don't have a power outlet to use. That's when having this device is great. It means you can power it by just plugging in the second USB cable into your netbook or laptop. That's a great idea. Yeah, it might draw a little power from your battery, but it really does expand your options when you need it in a pinch. Awesome.
I've read some of the comments others have made about this device and other similar devices. I wanted to share my thoughts on some of their concerns:
Some people said that speed wasn't so good with this device. My feeling is that it's not much different from my current desktop PC's DVD burner. But then, that might be a few years out of date. Still, I'm not really noticing that it's overly slow. Seems good to me.
Some people have noticed that they can't play DVD video from it without going through a lot of trouble trying to download drivers and such. But that's because their netbook was designed without those drivers (I guess they figured since it didn't come with a built-in DVD drive, those drivers weren't necessary). So it's not this device's fault, in other words. I think most people won't have to worry about that, but if you do find that you can't play video, or if the video you're playing isn't perfectly smooth, you should look for a free program called VLC. You can download it at http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ . Once you have it installed, it should make for an excellent DVD video player.
One other thing I saw people saying was that they couldn't boot from this device, or maybe a similar device I saw out there. I believe their problem is that they haven't set their BIOS so that it can boot from USB port devices. Most laptops / netbooks will do it automatically, but some of them require you to go into your BIOS and enable it. Most people don't need to boot from CD/DVD, mind you. But if you do, and if you can't figure it out, try to grab a geeky friend to help you out.
Also, some have noted that it feels kind of delicate, like it won't take much abuse. I tend to agree. This is a small device, and the CD/DVD tray they used just feels fragile to me. You definitely need to take care of it and not try to shove CD's and DVD's into it very hard. It's a trade-off. Either you get a workhorse device that's bulky, heavy, and can take abuse, or you get this device and try to be a bit more careful about how much force you use to insert CD/DVD's.
For the money, it's a really compelling purchase. It's just dirt cheap (in price, not quality). I think this is one of those gadgets that everyone should have just in case they need it, since it does cost so little and is so useful.
I do have one question, though. I wonder if this can be used with the iPad or Android tablets? I'll give it a try when I have a chance and will update here with the result, probably in a couple of months when I finally decide to buy a tablet.
To conclude, I highly recommend this device. It's well worth the money, and it adds to your on-the-go capabilities if you have a netbook. - Slim External Dvd Rw - Laptop Accessories - Asus Eee - External Dvd Drive'
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