External CD/DVD Drive - Portable USB Optical Drive for Laptops & Desktop Computers

The discs did not stop mattering. The drive just left.

Laptops got thinner by throwing the optical drive overboard, and nobody asked the discs first. So the software you paid for, the wedding photos someone burned you, the camcorder DVDs, the CD collection you ripped once and never finished — all of it is still there, and the machine on your desk has nowhere to put it.

This is the small, flat box that gives the slot back. It lies beside the laptop, takes a disc, and shows up as a drive. When you are done it goes back in the bag.

A tray, a disc, and nothing to set up

Press the button on the front edge, the tray slides out, the disc drops onto the hub, and you push it closed. Your computer treats it the way it used to treat its own built-in drive: a drive appears, and you open, copy or play what is on the disc from there.

There is no power brick and no wall socket involved. The drive runs on the power the USB port already provides, which is what keeps it small enough to travel.

Two plugs is not a mistake — read this before you decide it is broken

On the Black and Silver finishes the cable runs a short way from the drive and then splits into two USB-A plugs. People unbox it, assume one is a spare, plug in a single one, and get a drive that lights up but never appears on the computer.

Both plugs are meant to go in. One carries the data; the second is there to top up power, because spinning a disc asks more of a port than a memory stick does. If the drive is not showing up, that is the first thing to fix — both plugs into the computer itself, straight into the machine rather than through a hub or an extension, and the laptop on mains power rather than running down its battery.

The Honeycomb Black finish is built differently: one cable, one plug.

Which finish you are choosing

The three options are not just colours, so it is worth ten seconds before you pick one.

What you get

• One external tray-loading optical drive that reads CDs and DVDs, in your chosen finish
• Its cable, permanently attached — two USB-A plugs on Black and Silver, one on Honeycomb Black
• No power adapter, because it does not need one
• No discs, no software disc and no carry case are included

The details

Where it will not help

Worth saying plainly, because this category is full of listings that promise everything.

• It does not read Blu-ray. A Blu-ray disc will go in and will not be recognised. This is a CD and DVD drive.
• It is a computer accessory. It is not designed for televisions, projectors, game consoles, car stereos, phones or tablets — those need a device that plays discs on its own, not one that hands files to a computer.
• Playing a DVD film on a Mac needs playback software. The drive will mount and the disc's contents will be there; what opens the film is whichever media player you use.