ASUS SDRW-08D2S-U LITE external 8X DVD writer, Mac Compatible, M-DISC support, Disc Encryption, Unlimited Webstorage(12 months), NERO Backitup, E-Green, E-Media

I bought this "ASUS SDRW-08U7M-U Ultraslim" as my current 15 year old External DVD Drive has started to randomly refuse blank discs it has always accepted. At first glance it looks nice, its light, looks a bit flimsy, but it's not like I'm going to be tossing it around the place. The discs need to be pressed onto a spindle until they click securely into place (much like a PS1 Console), these are actually better as there's no chance of scratching or damaging a CD.The only downside to this DVD Drive is the included Y Cable, it is only 18 inches in length, perfectly fine if you are using a Laptop. But I am using a desktop PC and I have to use books to prop it up to reach my USB ports. There are 2 USB Connectors, the 2nd provides additional power if needed (my PC only needed me to use the one, some low power laptops may need it, so make sure you have 2 USB ports side by side or within 4 inches of one another).I installed Power2Go 8 from the bundled Software disc as I had previously used a Trial and liked its functionality, its a quick no fuss burning Software but has advanced options if needed.Also I liked the inclusion of 2 Verbatim DVDR ''M-Discs'', will be the only time that I will use these as the DVDR M-Discs are hard to purchase and have little use to me, standard blank DVDs are fine. I have a collection of family photos going back to the 1920's so will use them for that as there supposed to last a lifetime. I ripped a CD and extraction speed was slower than my older drive, but its what it is, but track quality was 100% and that's the main thing. Burning DVDs was quick though and it accepted all the discs, disc verification afterwards gave a 100% pass. My copying and burning was silent enough, all depends on surface you have it on.

Bought for the sole purpose of ripping karaoke CD+G disks to computer files which it does a treat. One of the few optical drives that will read and rip CD+G format.

So I really like this drive.The fit/finish (probably the least important aspect) a very nice, but what really struck me when I first plugged it in and opened it up was the sound of the tray mechanism-- it had a really nice metal-on-metal, precision sound, unlike all the plastic parts on my last external optical, and the action of the tray felt very smooth and precise. It just felt like a much more accurately machined device than my old Samsung. There were also more visible metal parts in the tray, which I find somehow reassuring that it's a more rugged device.It's also very quiet in operation. I'm ripping the entire CD collection so the drive is getting a real workout, and it's not only quieter than the drive it's replacing, but it's also quieter than the internal drive that I'm using side by side with it. It's been a real pleasure to use.One odd thing that also happened is that this drive has been able to read discs that the internal optical drive couldn't make sense of.A few minor things to be aware of (that kept it from getting 5 stars):- A minor point is the top of the drive is kind of flexible, and it's actually easy to accidentally flex it inward enough when you're pushing the tray closed that the tray won't go in. This is somewhat of a natural action, holding the drive down with one hand while pushing the tray in with the other, so it's just a teeny bit awkward to remember to hold the drive by the sides or the back when closing the tray.- While I'm only using a single USB port to power the drive for ripping (and it seems to be happy), the instructions actually say that the Y cable is so that you can plug the drive into two different USB ports to ensure there's enough power. I suppose that will be more of an issue if you're trying to write an M-DISC as I understand the laser is more powerful and hence demands more power. But given that the number of USB ports on laptops seems to be trending downwards, you may find yourself short of USB ports if you want to use this for M-DISC creation.- The eject button is towards the centre of the drive on the front of the tray, which means you can push it accidentally as you close the drive. Pushing the tray in around the edge gives you the sense that the tray may go in crookedly and even jam, which is probably the reason the button is located just off-centre on the front of the tray. Given all of this, it would have been nicer to have the button on the top somewhere, but given that it's on the front of the tray you get why it's positioned the way it is. This is another small niggle, but one that keeps me from giving 5 stars.But these issues aside, it's a really nice drive and has already ripped a couple of dozen CDs into the NAS. I'm not sure I'll ever use the M-DISC creation capability, but it's nice to have that option.

I had to make a bunch of videos very quickly in december for a christmas play. I didn't have long, so I needed to use a no nonsense editor and a no-nonsense writer.For the editor, I used kdenlive. It's pretty much the standard editor for doing videos on Linux these days. It's basic, but functional. However, it does produce very good quality MP4s. To burn the DVDs I used DeVeDeNG to make the DVD, and (I think xfburn) to write the disks.The moment I plugged in the drive, it started spinning, and then just added itself to the list of drives. No drivers needed. then, when I loaded up xfburn, it saw the drive, knew exactly what it was, its speeds etc, everything.so, I popped in a blank, and hit "write". i'd bought a pack of 10, because I remember the failures from years ago when I last had to write DVDs and CDs... But the first DVD popped out absolutely perfectly. So, I did the second movie, and sure enough, it popped out a few minutes later completely perfect.Took it to my Sony DVD player downstairs, and it booted and played first time. Took it back to the duplicators, and they were able to read and duplicate my master copy with zero issues.I've used it to back up a few more things, like photos, since then. It's worked perfectly every time. A very reliable, quite quiet, drive. Very pleased.

This is a really good bit of kit for archivists who need to store files from many different computers. Especially as most don't have CD/DVD drives any more. However... whilst for playing it only needs one USB connector for burning DVD's and especially M-Disc DVDs it needs power from TWO USB ports. Make sure you have two, that can supply power simultaneously, on the computers you want to use this with. It should be OK on most desktops and medium high end laptios.