ASUS ZenDrive Ultra Slim USB 2.0 External 8X DVD Optical Drive +/-RW with M-Disc Support for Windows and Mac and Nero BackItUp for Android Devices (SDRW-08U7M-U/BLK/G/AS),Black

It wides what it’s supposed to so far, only issue is that the disc tray gets stuck when it’s opening because the frame is bent inward so you have to pry it up to get it free

I may have received a drive with problems, but I can only review the product I received. I ended up returning mine. So what was the problem? There was always a long delay / pause before the drive would begin executing and reading information, and it was enough that I did not keep the drive. I own two other external optical drives, and have used many others, and this is the first one I used that was so slow. It would come to full speed, and you could hear it spinning, but it would delay for long periods before it would read / transfer the information. The net result was the drive was much slower than I anticipated, and more than I would tolerate. At the time of review, the price was lowered to $19.99 with a $10 rebate, and in my opinion there is a reason the price was so low. The fact I returned it even though it was a net of only $10 gives you an idea how poor the transfer time was. What is to like about this drive? The size / weight is nice - it is sleek, nicely appointed and is light - which makes it nice if you want to transport it. Personally, I am not a fan of having to get an external drive for laptops, I still have a need for optical drives. But that is a separate issue, and the desire to make laptops smaller / lighter, combined with a need to provide larger batteries to power the 4K screens, then making the batteries internal is not the best end result. But others may disagree... Overall, I will search for another brand - this one did not make the cut. Thanks for reading.

It works great and Im pretty happy with my purchase. I never really care about the costs, I care about the value of my purchase and I would definitely say this was worth the money I spent.

Although they have been around for years, these external DVD writers have seen a resurgence with the popularity of laptops, ultrabook notebooks and tablets that do not possess built-in DVD drives. Matte black in color with a subtly textured finish (feels like a record album) that does not show fingerprints, the unit has an understated appearance, is a half inch thick, measures almost five and a half inches square and has a plastic housing. According to the included Quick Installation Guide, the DVD writer requires two USB 2.0 A connections in order to provide reliable power. The guide recommends not attempting to use the drive with just one connection, or a USB hub. Against the manufacturer’s recommendation, I tried playback of a DVD with just one USB connected and it played fine, but when I tried to burn a disc using just one USB port, it crashed. I tried this because many of the smaller devices that would utilize this external DVD writer do not have two USB ports, most have one and some have none. If the device being used does have two USB ports on opposite sides, a USB extension cable may solve the issue although this is a less than elegant solution, but it is a solution. The optical drive does not read or burn Blu-ray discs. It comes with a disc that contains backup and disc recording software which can be used if desired but similar software is usually built-in to operating systems or available free online. With my Windows 10 laptop I burned an image from my hard drive to a DVD+R disc in the ASUS external DVD writer and it took eleven minutes and two seconds. Then to compare speed, I burned the same image to the laptop’s internal DVD drive and it took eleven minutes and eight seconds. These are ISO image files that are the same size as a blank DVD (4.7 Gigabytes). This DVD writer also has the capability to burn M discs which are used for archival purposes. To accomplish this the laser beam within the device is five times more powerful than a normal DVD writer. The discs are expensive (around $4 each) and have no additional storage capacity than a normal DVD. I bought a pack of DVDR M discs to test the machine and successfully burned an ISO image onto the disc in 15 minutes and 40 seconds. To test playback of the M disc I put it in a different laptop and the DVD player connected to my TV and it worked fine. I also played two movies (Trainwreck and Ant-Man) using the optical drive and experienced no buffering or interruptions of any kind. Modestly priced and easily transportable, it provides DVD reading and writing capability when needed.

I love this little thing. I can carry it with me if needed. It hooks to my 2 usb ports and works. I understand why they are doing away with DVD/optical drives, but the forget that some people still use them and like them. Good thing we have this option. Good product for the price. Like I said above, it works. What more do you want?

I wasnt sure about the extra 10 bucks compared to its competitors, but it is definitely worth it - the dual plugs rolled into one make plugging it in and keeping it powered more tidy and aesthetically pleasing (and easy). The build quality is high, I have no complaints with build - it arrived beautiful and unblemished, the metal cabinet states quality and the milled lines make it look like a 100 dollar drive. As for function, it is hard to go wrong with ASUS and this is no exception. It is blistering fast and detected on 5 diff computers without the slightest delay. A very fine drive and one I would highly recommend.

My new laptop didnt come with a cd player and I had some programs I could only download from a disc. Asus is a known brand so I went with their external player. Im very pleased with this product. Easy to use and packaged well for safe shipping. Happy with my purchase.

This product has great specs, but it requires that you connect it to two powered USB ports so that it has enough power to work. It comes with a Y cable for that purpose. They dont recommend that you use it with a USB hub. This all would have been fine back when laptops had several powered USB ports on them and there were few things to hook up. These days, its an issue. Laptops have few USB ports and theres an endless number of things that connect via USB. I suppose it would be fine if you have a desktop computer with several powered USB ports available. One more thing: These powered USB ports need to be placed fairly closely together--you have to use a USB extension cable (not included) if theyre not.

Works well but a little slow to be recognized by my Asus computer. Not sure why.

Since cases dont have a slot for a dvd player this is easy to use just plug in the usb and works.