LG Electronics 8X USB 2.0 Super Multi Ultra Slim Portable DVD+/-RW External Drive with M-DISC Support, Retail (Silver) GP60NS50

Attached to the USB port on the back of an Apple Cinema Display which is, in turn, attached to a Mac Pro desktop machine (running 10.14.6 at the time of this review). This drive works as it should for playing both audio CDs & video DVDs with no additional software required (uses native Apple apps). Burning to disc for data archives, audio playback, and playback in dvd movie players works as it should. Was a good purchase, would recommend this over the Apple Superdrive, for price, ease of connection (doesnt need to be on the mainboard USB hub) and for the m-disc compatibility. [Users on Mac should be aware that external optical drives (all of them, not just this one) dont mount to the desktop when there is no disc - or a blank disc - in the drive. Its not until a readable disc (prerecorded or one have just created) that it shows on the desktop or device list. Your burning software will find the blank media as needed.]

This is an extremely bare bones usb drive. It feels so light and so cheap -- it doesnt exactly inspire feelings of confidence. My kids arent going to be burying me with this dive when I die. Honestly, your best bet is probably to view this thing as disposable. For $25 if I get a year out of it Ill be impressed. I mean, sometimes you get lucky with cheap hardware, but Im not expecting much. Nonetheless, it works. It works with both of my MacBooks without any hassle, as well as my Surface Pro 3. I had to download some drivers from the LG site to get it to work with my SP3, but I can play cds now.

My laptops no longer have optical drives, but occasionally, I need to show a DVD in class or load software from a DVD or add music to iTunes. This works perfectly on both my Mac and my Windows laptops.

I will say this device works flawlessly and the finish is nice. Worth the money for sure. I have no complaint with the device. They could be clearer in the description about Windows 8 not natively having DVD movie support and this drive not coming with any DVD player software. You will be required to either pay Microsoft around $100 (unless you have 8 pro..then its only $10), or pay a 3rd party $50-80 if you want to watch DVD movies on your windows 8 machine legally, unless your computer came with extra software already, or you already paid extra to own windows 8 with Windows Media Center Pro Pack or the Pro Pack Upgrade or bought the upgrade beforehand. If you have 8.1 RT, youll have even more hoops to jump through. Windows 7 home basic or starter put you in the same boat...but 7 Home premium, 7Pro, or 7Ultimate do support DVD movies and you wont need anything else.. It is not LGs fault..again, this is a nice drive, and i assign no blame to them at all. Its just another example of Microsoft cutting corners (and in this case trying to make a dollar) at your expense. Too bad the DVD movie software is so expensive... there are free options, but they are shareware and may not be legal...

If the USB cord was longer would be much better. You dont dare move your puter too much while connected. Software bundle Is adequate. Nothing fancy, pretty basic. I purchased this too burn audio so have no Idea or comment about burning Videos. Actually using this as I would a Reel to Reel. Hope that makes sense.

Not all DVD drives will work with M-Discs (the archival long-life discs), but this is one that works well. My new Dell computer does not support M-Discs, and I didnt want to keep my old (slow) Windows 7 computer simply for use with M-Discs (also an LG drive), so at this price I decided to go ahead and purchase it. It works very well. Note that its not the highest speed, and it uses an older (slightly larger) USB plug (the older USB mini, not micro plug), but the main USB plug (standard full size) will work with virtually any computer, so this is highly functional. And my wifes new laptop doesnt have an optical drive (many dont anymore), so she now also has DVD/CD capability for her laptop since this is so easily portable. Reviews on this particular drive at tech sites are excellent, specifically for use with M-Discs, which was my main purpose in buying it. But its great for general DVD/CD use for any computer that doesnt have an optical drive.

I originally planned on getting a Dell, but after reading terrible reviews, I chose this one. Glad I did! Comes with a disc that contains 3 types of editing programs you can install on your computer (photos, videos, etc.). Havent tried those out yet but appreciated that it was included. This does its job well, and thats all I could really ask for.

Okay I literally just received this in the mail. Before I continue... if you are wanting to know anything about the dvd WRITER part, I will have no information for you, since thats not at all why I bought it :( I will post an update after using it more but for now, let me just say this: -I bought this for my new MacBook Air, which obviously doesnt have a built-in optical drive. -I REALLY only wanted this in order to export songs from cds onto my iTunes, since Im one of those people who STILL buys cds to support certain artists. And also to maybe watch a dvd here and there in my bedroom since I only have a tv in my living room. (But probably not often.) -This one in particular had the highest rating over all the other drives for this price range, including the ones that mentioned nothing about being a dvd writer and were just plain ol external cd/dvd drives. -I went through allllllll the reviews, like I usually do, and noticed that people said I could do the things I wanted to with it, so I went ahead and just got it despite a lot of the negative or mixed reviews. -I literally opened the box, took it out of its packaging, plugged it into my computer, and loaded a cd in it..... it IMMEDIATELY popped up in my iTunes with a pop-up that asked me if I wanted to import the songs. I did and a few minutes later, my songs were on iTunes :) Yay! -I did notice how loud it is during the importing part, but since this is all I am really using it for, I could care less. It just sounds like a computer thats working. The sound went away completely once it was done importing and was just sitting in the drive. -After that, I switched the cd with a dvd.... Once again, the movie literally just popped up and started playing right away. The sound from the movie COMPLETELY drowned out the loud sound the driver makes. I couldnt hear it at all and it was just the MGM Lion roaring and whatever other sounds come after that part at the beginning of a movie. -I am not that tech savvy so I didnt do a dang thing prior to this. I actually have hardly anything installed on my MacBook since its still very new. So thats genuinely all it took to get my cds on iTunes and to play a dvd. Im not even sure what program it used to play the dvd, but obviously something that is already on the MacBook. Once again, Ill post an update after Ive used it a few times or more time has passed by, but so far its EXACTLY what I was looking for. SO glad I didnt get discouraged by the negative reviews!!

when I first unpacked this I thought it was too flimsy to be any good. while it is certainly lightweight, it is certainly a workhorse. PROS: it works like a champ, for many hours at a stretch, never stumbles or overheats, just steadily works away perfectly in the background. not a single complaint about its performance, which I consider to be stellar CONS: a bit hard to set up, its not plug and play. if you are using a mac it requires some minor fiddling, nothing major, but if you dont know your way around a mac you might run into some frustration. this is LGs fault as the disc included manual does not cover macs. Im assuming windows users will be just fine. dont know. this thing is a lightweight and requires some holding to get discs in and out. not a big problem. I dont think heftier ones are available except for a much heftier price tag, but they couldnt perform any better than this unit in short, I am very pleased with my purchase and the price was great! FYI: I did not receive anything for writing this review.

Works great, but I made the mistake of overlooking the fact that since my laptop has no internal disc drive, it also does not have the corresponding (and very necessary) software. This one came with a trial version (try everything but the part you need version) that runs $60 - $99, depending upon the package you buy. I wanted a device to load DVD movies into the hard drive of my laptop and thats what I got--minus the software. So, if your goal is similar, know that youll need to invest in the software upgrade or some other package before youll be able to accomplish your task. Otherwise, its a good player with very little noticeable noise.