Transcend 8K Extra Slim Portable DVD Writer Optical Drive (TS8XDVDS-K)

Have only used it once so far, and it worked perfectly. Connected to my iMac without any problem. I have enough USB ports, so the two required was not an inconvenience. Used to upload music files. Seemed to upload quickly for my use. Have not recorded to disc yet. It is built with quite a bit of plastic, but expect that for the price. Bang for the buck, I would recommend it.

Perfect for Lenovo ThinkCenter and laptop use. Compact, low power usage and works well. Takes 2 USB ports to use it though but expected this since it doesn't have a power adapter. There's laptops out there that only have 1 usb port so be careful.. I'm not going to dock this any stars since it's clearly stated in documentation. Thanks Transcend. Nice product.

August 27, 2014 changes: I lowered this drive to 4 stars. I have 2 of these. One of them lasted 31 days -- Amazon let me return it, even though it was one day over the 30-day limit. It simply stopped reading discs. I checked everything, cables, install, ports, etc. (and since I have two of these, it was easy to check what worked) and it was simply "dead." For the price, I still think it is a good product. The second drive is still working okay. Next time, I will add a square trade or other warranty. The manufacturer's warranty is 2 years, but I don't know how reliable it is. Original Review: (Four Stars) See below for why I bought this drive in the first place. ** Let me start by saying that this drive requires 2 USB connections. It has a split cable -- presumably it uses one for power and the other for communication. (They don't really tell you this or show you in any of the photos.) It isn't a problem for me, because it also works well with a USB extension device -- a powered one. I haven't tried it with a passive USB extender. Many devices won't work with them. This drive does everything it says it can do. It is very thin. I am using it on a desktop, but it would be great to carry around for a laptop. If it is connected directly to your USB port it is very fast. As it happens, I am using it on an older system. I am able to use it with a powered USB extender, and it works great -- except it burns discs a little bit slower. It works like a charm, however. I ended up buying 2 of these drives -- the first one worked so well and the price was so good I figured, why not? **Why I bought this drive: When my desktop's internal CD/DVD burner drive failed -- the belt snapped -- (hot inside a computer and it just wore out) -- I pried open the drive and the belt snapped out and hit me in the nose! -- I opened up the case and found that I would have to just about completely disassemble the computer to get to the drive so I could replace it with a new one. I am way too lazy to do that. Plus, my theory with computers is that as they age -- and the elements heat up with use -- the solders and connectors become somewhat brittle and will break when the computer is moved around too much. I have experienced this "phenomenon" since my first IBM AT computer in 1989. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a older system. As I am now retired, I can't afford to be an "early adopter" ore replace old with new as often as I would like. Hence, the "repair" instead of a new system.

It's small and plugs into the laptop. Comes with the cable and works great. The laptop has difficulty recognizing from time to time and I have to restart the laptop for it to see it.

My new laptop has no cd drive and I had backed up info on cd that I needed on my new machine. This drive was plug and play. Did just what I needed without a problem. I have not tried to write to it, I hope it will be just as easy.

hardware works very well....but the software it's very limited for burning your stuff. I waste a lot of time finding another software to start burning my files. It was disappointing. Maybe with a trial software i could resolve the first burned disc, but it was not the case

I was pleasantly surprised with this item! I had been searching for a portable dvd drive for my macbook air and didn't know which one to go with. I borrowed my father's a few times before (he has one by Transcend in black). The one I received is thinner than the one my father has which I love because it's not as bulky! It is extremely lightweight and looks lovely with my macbook air :) Many people mentioned the drive only works if you plug in both USB cables. Based on those reviews, I would not have made a purchase, but since I had borrowed my father's in the past, I knew this was not true. I don't know if it has to do with the macbook model, but i have the 11'' macbook air and it works perfectly when I plug in the longer usb! The only disappointment with this item was that the usb wiring is black, not white - but that's obviously not a deal breaker, just me being particular! Besides that, everything works as advertised!! I definitely recommend this product!!

This drive works as intended, and is easy to use - just plug & play. My one major gripe with it, however, is the fact that both USBs need to be plugged into your computer in order for it to work - and the cable is very short. Since I don't have two USB ports right next to each other on my laptop (one on the right, one on the left, and one in the back), I ended up having to buy a USB extension to make this drive work for me. I imagine this won't be an issue for most people as most computers have two adjacent USB ports. However, for my Acer Aspire V5, no two ports are within reaching distance of this cable. I like having the USB extension I bought as a result of this so no major loss, but had I known this would be an issue I probably would not have purchased this drive.