Review on 📀 TS8XDVDS-K Transcend 8K Ultra-Slim Portable DVD Writer Optical Drive by Reginald Holman

Changes from 08/27/2014: I downgraded this disc to 4 stars. I have 2 of these. One of them lasted 31 days - Revain allowed me to return it even though it was a day over the 30 day limit. He just stopped reading CDs. Checked everything, cables, installation, connections etc (and since I have two it was easy to check what worked) and it was just "dead". Still, I think it's a good product for the price. The second drive has worked flawlessly so far. Next time I will add a square trade or some other guarantee. The manufacturer's warranty is 2 years, but I don't know how reliable it is. First Rating: (Four Stars) See below why I bought this CD in the first place. **First let me say that this drive requires 2 USB connections. It has a forked cable - presumably it uses one for power and the other for communications. (They don't actually tell you that and don't show it in any of the photos.) That's not a problem for me because it also works well with a powered USB extender. I haven't tried it with a passive USB extender yet. Many devices do not work with it. This drive keeps everything it promises. He is very thin. I use it on my desktop but it would be great to take a laptop with me. When plugged directly into a USB port, it's very fast. As it turns out, I'm using it on an older system. I can use it with a powered USB extender and it works great except it burns discs a bit slower. However, it works great. I ended up buying 2 of these drives - the first one worked so well and the price was so good that I figured why not? The DVD drive failed - the belt snapped - (it was hot in the computer and just wore out) - I opened the drive and the belt came loose and hit me in the nose! -- I opened the case and found that I had to disassemble the computer almost completely to get to the drive to replace it with a new one. I'm too lazy for that. Also, my theory about computers is that as they age - and the elements get hot with use - the solder and connectors become a bit brittle and will break if the computer is moved too much. I've been dealing with this "phenomenon" since I got my first IBM AT computer in 1989. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on the old system. Now that I'm retired, I can't afford to be a "pioneer” and replace the old with the new as often as I like. Hence the "repair" instead of a new installation.