Review on LG Electronics Portable External GP40NB40 by Eric Stewart

For the price, this is a standard external CD/DVD drive that works. For those who use an external drive extensively, there may be a need for a higher quality end product that can withstand the wear and tear of the drive. For others who rarely (occasionally) use this LG may be suitable. It's well built. It's made of plastic, although it's quite durable, but it will break if dropped. So handle it carefully.2. It works out of the box with Windows 7, 8 and 8.1. You don't need to install a separate driver. Windows (7 and 8) recognizes the drive. This means you can read and write to CDs and DVDs. Read and write speeds are average for this price range.3. You can also play DVDs, but you can EITHER install the included software (CD) OR download and use the VLC media player. Windows Media Player does not play DVD.4. You don't need a second USB cable to power the drive. The included USB cable connects and powers the LG drive from your laptops. It also works well with netbooks. I connected an LG drive to an ASUS eee PC 1000HA (2GB RAM, Win 7, 128GB SSD) and it worked great! Also works with Linux. I double booted an eee PC 1000HA with Win 7 and Xubuntu 14.10 and Xubuntu 14.10 recognized the drive and played the DVD in the VLC.6 media player. You can also connect the drive to a TV - as long as your TV has a USB port. So you can play your DVD and watch it on your TV.7. You can read/write M disks. That's a big advantage of this drive. M-Discs can keep your files (documents, pictures and films) for 1000 years. Yes. 1000 years.8. Scope of delivery DVD drive, manual, 1 USB cable and software CD (for playing DVDs, installing drivers, etc.). But I didn't need the software CD for my purpose. But it's best to have it handy just in case. All in all, this is a basic CD/DVD drive that works well with your laptops and netbooks including Linux operating systems. If you use the drive a lot (every day) you might want something a little more durable, but if you use it occasionally then this LG model is a great one for you. Highly recommended.