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

Does the job and alright, is a bit slower than a normal built in DVD drive while reading and burning discs but again haven’t had any issues with playback. Extra props for the detachable USB cord however! Too many items like these have the cord hardwired in. My only complaint really would be the high amount of noise the device makes, make sure you have over the ear headphones while using this thing. Even then during quieter moments you’ll be hearing it whining away in the background. From what I was reading on the website it was supposed to be a lot quieter during playback of DVD movies but oh well, not enough to have me send it back.

This is a decent DVD/RW for the price. It works tested under Mac OS Catalina which is great. Its flimsy. You need to be really careful when opening the drawer, loading the disc, closing the door, etc. There is a center spindle you need to load discs on and its also flimsy. In summary, everything works on this external drive, but you have to be extra careful when you touch it because its very fragile.

Installed to a freshly built Windows 10 PC. Built in drivers found the drive without issue. I have not installed any of the software from the enclosed disc. I inserted a DVD and it opened right up in VLC Media Player. I tried a music CD and the device ejected it. Same result with a CD with photos burned to it. Everything I have read says it should play music CDs without issue. LG has no updated firmware for this device on its site. I again tried a DVD and now it ejected that as well. For some reason it was just not recognizing any type of disc as playable. I was ready to send it back to Amazon when I decided to give it another shot. I always change DVD drive letters to Z: on my machines so this may have messed something up in the system. Never had an issue before. Here are the steps I took to get it working: 1) Unplugged the USB cable from the computers port. 2) Opened Windows Device Manager. From the search bar run mmc devmgmt.msc (without the quotes) to open. 3) On the Tool Bar select View> Show Hidden Devices 4) Under DVD/CD-ROM drives select the HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GP60NB50 USB Device and delete it. 5) Once uninstalled plug the drive cable back into the computer port and let Windows find it again. The device now plays CDs and DVDs just fine and it remembered the the DVD was the Z: drive.

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...

After many drives, this is the best, I had issues with the other ones including Apple drive.

Worked out if the box with my Windows 10 PC. Unlike most external drives it does not show up until you insert a disc in the drive and it disappears as soon as the disc is ejected.

But works well. Good value.

This was perfect for what I bought it for. I basically wanted to transfer some music I had on my computer to be played on a laptop at another location.

Worked plug and play with my 2014 MacBook Pro right away, no effort. Much faster than the Apple product its replacing (besides being lighter weight). More reliable, too. Slightly flimsier build quality I guess, but with its light weight it seems fine. Has a physical eject button which is nice. A fraction of the cost of the Apple product, though not quite as cheap as some unheard-of brands on Amazon. Close enough to be worth it for reliable LG product – read the reviews on the cheaper ones and youll be convinced to come to the name brands. Looks nice, though admittedly doesnt quite fit the Apple aesthetic. Wish Id bought this years ago.

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.