External CDrom

I recently got a CD full of pictures. However my laptop doesn't have a CD rom . Does anyone use an external one? If so what are some good brands? I am going to have to buy one in order to view the pictures.

 

Before you decide, is it a one off purchase just to transfer this one cd.

Will you require the need to write some in the future if so it would be advisable
to obtain a dvd writer and not just a cd writer.

Some drives will have a cd writer and only a dvd reader ( rom ).

Terms to search for

cd reader ( rom, just to read from )

cd rw ( rewriter )

dvd rom ( read only memory )

dvd rw (rewriter )

Amazon & Ebay HAVE SOME CHEAP DRIVES on offer.

 

I am also on the look out to buy an external DVD for my Macbook in order to play and maybe write. I need to transfer some photos to a DVD to free up space on my laptop. I usually look for brand name ones since I rather buy one good one rather than one cheap one that I have to replace later. Will do an extensive search after the New Year. Let me know what you decide on @KimmyMarkks

 

Thank you! This information is very useful. I've done some research online but always like to talk to a knowledgeable sales associate. I think I will hold off for a little while then go to the store and talk to someone. I will let you know what I end up buying!

 

I picked up a Blu Ray external device for next to nothing. The only downside is that it takes up two USB slots to burn a disc. For reading, though, it can work with pretty much any modern optical media (e.g., CD, CD-R, DVD, DVD-R, DVD+R, and, naturally, Blu Ray). I forget if I bought it from TigerDirect or Quill (the office supply firm), but it wasn't much cost wise. I rarely use it these days, but for those few times I need to use a disc, it is there and it packs easy.

 

I have a Sony external DVD burner and it's okay. No problems at all so far. Like something_back said, are you planning on reading and burning more cds/dvds? If not, I don't think it's pertinent to buy one for just a cd. They are relatively cheap, though!

 

A normal external DVD reader/writer today will probably run you 30-40 dollars so it might not be a wise investment if one CD is all you're going to use it for. However, if you still want to buy one, I'd suggest Samsung or LiteOn for DVD writer. Or you can go all out and buy a Blu Ray writer, which will cost about $70-100 depending on the brand. Either way, it's probably best to just take the CD to a shop and ask them to transfer the content to a USB stick for you.

 

My cd drive is not working on my laptop. I have two options whether to get an external cd drive or replace internal hard drive. Based on pricing, I am thinking to get external hard drive.

 

One of the best investments I ever made for my netbook years ago was to get an external Samsung DVD writer. Like the Blu-ray burner mentioned above, the external DVD RW drive uses and needs 2 usb ports for the extra power to burn DVDs, but it only needs 1 usb port and the power from it to be able to read DVDs and write CDs.

I've used it for hundreds of burns, thousands of reads, and 8 years later it still works just as well as the day that I bought it in 2008.

I've been able to use it to rescue systems where the built-in CD or DVD drive wasn't available any longer and on every netbook and laptop I've ever plugged it into.

So it's been a wonderful device to extend multimedia to various systems, and it was a perfect investment. It was about $60 back then, but worth every penny.

If I were to buy an external usb drive of any kind again, I would definitely get a samsung drive like this one without even having to give it a second thought. Being able to get 8 years of use out of the product, I might just get another one to replace this one if anything ever happens so that I can get another 8 more.

 

I chose the cheap skate METHOD

Given I have dismantled so many laptops I chose to use an old laptop
dvdrw as my external dvd device, all you need I a very cheap USB 2.0 Adapter cable for SATA Laptop Optical Drive. You can find them very cheap on ebay.