ZenDrive V1M External DVD Drive and Writer with Built-in Cable-Storage Design, USB-C Interface, Compatible with Win 11 and macOS, M-DISC Support (SDRW-08V1M-U)

This ASUS LITE portable USB DVD burner is a fantastic product. It’s one of the few that are plug-in. Play with Windows 11. No drivers needed. This is my second of these ASUS burners. They just work so well!

FYI I wanted a basic CD writer to use with a recent mini-computer purchase. This has been working great for that use. It is somewhat "light weight" and I use a light touch when opening and closing it. Functionally it is working fine for the simple tasks I have used it for. Haven't had any issues writing or reading discs. It has a split cable so that you can use a second usb port for extra power. However, it has been working for me with only one usb port connected. The ~24" cable is rather short. I trusted the ASUS name and am happy so far with the drive for the price paid

In this day and age most new computers don't come with an optical drive. And why should they? Programs are downloaded or sometimes stored on a thumb drive instead of a CD or DVD. But if you're anything like me you still have several programs that are on disc. Or maybe have files and photos you backed up years ago to DVD. I don't plan to use a DVD drive on a daily or even monthly basis, but I figure it's nice to have one around in case I need to reinstall an old program on a new system or if I get an album or audiobook on disc that I want to digitize. I've gone through 3 external DVD drives recently looking for the right one and this one best filled my needs. All of them did the basics well, but there was one outlier condition that (for me at least) really set this drive apart, and that's reading very full discs. For example: I've found that sometimes long audibooks will try to minimize the amount of discs they need for a book by using as much of the allotted space as possible. They'll use 73 minutes and 59 seconds of an allotted 74 minutes of play time if it means only needing 9 discs to record a book instead of 10. That totally makes sense! But of the three drives I've tested, two struggled on some tracks on those overly stuffed discs (likely when data was stored in the outer most or inner most tracks). This resulted in stutters, garbles, and static blips in the digitized files. This drive was the only one that consistently read in all the files correctly and resulted in clear, complete output. This drive is a great value. It can read and record CDs and DVDs, even the long lasting M-Disc format. Mine even came with 2 M-Disc DVDs, though I'm not sure if that's standard or just a promotion. It's got an aluminum casing so it's pretty sturdy. It's not perfect. It won't read or write Blu-Ray discs. It's also fairly slow compared to internal drives or external drives that have a dedicated power supply. If I were burning discs on a regular basis I'd probably want something a little faster. But for occasional use? It's hard to find a better inexpensive option out there.

Newer laptops don’t have disk drives anymore. Received a new Surface Pro for Christmas. I burn disks for keeping important files. After reading reviews from many reputable sources I settled on this. It works quickly, efficiently and easily. It appears cheaply made and you can definitely think it’s weak but you will be fooled as I was. Reputable manufacturer. The only thing I am not a fan of is the tiny button on the front that pops open the drawer; you still must manually open it further, then watch that you don’t hit the button by accident when you close the drawer. Other than that, it is nice and lightweight and I love the way the USB-C cord stores within the corner of the drive case. I am using Windows 11.

I have a mac book pro (silicon) and it worked right on plugin. The drive itself is a little loud, but works well. It was reasonably priced.

Love this drive. Worked flawlessly right of the box and didn't need any extra software.

Works great with my lenovo lap top. I was able to get lots of old pictures off of discs and develop them.

Unknown. I keep getting bsod. Power issue. But my pc is sensitive to changes. The asus unit seems sturdy and seems to work fine so I'm not returning it. Will use it for a future pc.

Quality burner, would buy again

Overall the product works great and worth the money. Yes for me, Id rather choose a product that has a brand on it and the seller is direct from Amazon or from the brand maker itself. Other than that its your risk.

Easy setup and works well. No issue.

Very good external DVD/CD drive. Very compact, very light (all plastic) and a kinda neat ‘pocket’ to stash the usb-c cord. Few things I’ve noticed after using it for a few days… 1) it is so light you need to hold it down firmly when closing the tray 2) I find it better to use 2 fingers/thumbs to close the tray 3) sometimes gets a bit loud as the media spins Still, I really like it and it works very well.

Great product and never had a problem with this