USB DVD RW for PCs

[heart-of-wessex]

Hello all,

I've had a gaming PC for a while and as standard has no CD/DVD RW drive. I've asked for one for Christmas, and I've said anything would do really.

There was one found for about £20, basic, but reviews are 'works wonders on Windows 10" and others "useless, doesn't work on Windows 10"

I'm not much of a tech person, but I'm not sure whether to buy into the reviews, I'm not sure I've heard of USB devices working on some Windows 10 machines, but not working on others?

I've heard a lot of Windows 10 complaints on various reviews etc, yet I've had Win 10 in my new PC for the past 7 months and issues Ive had are related to the app or program Ive been using, nothing to do with Win 10.

Just wondering before asking them to buy it, has anyone had some USB drives, especially DVD drives, not working on Win 10?


Any help appreciated!

James.

 

[dgl]

Not that were the fault of windows, just 1 cheap DVD drive that could have been a recycled laptop drive in an enclosure and 1 USB stick that had bent connections.
I have a Lite-On super slim drive and it seems to work fine both reading and writing. My USB FDD even works fine in 10 last time I tried.

 

[D365]

Just make sure you go for a DVD drive from a known name. Lite-On, Sony, Asus etc. The amazon/ebay no-name "specials" break down so quickly.

 

[JohnMcL7]

The main issue I've come across with external optical drives is the PC not supplying enough power for the drive on one USB port and people don't realise you need to plug in the second for the drive to work. Operating system wise I've not seen any issues with external DVD drives for normal use.

 

[mikeg]

Indeed unless it uses a very weird proprietary interface (highly unlikely) I can't see why you'd have issues.. It's pretty much completely standardised so should work fine with any os that supports optical drives (pretty much any desktop OS)

 

[dgl]

Oh and all modern computers/laptops should be able to power it just fine, in the unlikely even that it doesn't then it will either come with a dual USB lead or they can be easily acquired. A dual USB lead has one USB B (usually mini B) plug and two standard USB type A plugs, one provides power and data and the other one just power so as to split the load between the two ports.

 

[Bevan Price]

There are two varieties of Windows 10 - "32 bit" and "64 bit". Some older software works with the 32-bit version, but not the 64-bit version. If the software provider (or equipment seller) does not update their software, then you have a problem. If you are lucky, you may find a third party workaround somewhere on the internet.....Otherwise --- tough luck unless you can rewrite software yourself....

 

[mikeg]

True but I'm not sure what software should be required for something that uses a standard interface. A well designed dvd drive will require no drivers as these will be the generic Windows ones

 

[Crossover]

As others have said, nothing that has been a Windows 10 issue specifically. Use one semi regularly at work (most laptops not having drives in now) and the USB drive has come forward with us from Windows 7 days. I would echo the recommendation to go with a known brand, other than that I don’t think you can go too far wrong to be honest

 

[heart-of-wessex]

Thank you very much for your assistance guys, I have mentioned about going for a branded one so will see in December what I end up with!

Thanks very much again!

 

[DB]

As others have said, pretty much anything should work, but best to go for a branded one for reliability. A reputable retailer such as ebuyer woukd also be a good idea.

Windows 10 is generally pretty good with most standard devices - it rarely has the driver issues which could afflict windows 7 and earlier.