I bought 3 Acer Aspire One computers as Christmas presents this year and needed at least 1 external drive to share between them. 2 of the computers had Windows 7 Starter as the operating system ansd the other had Windows XP. The drive was basicly plug & play on the XP computer, but would not work on the Windows 7 computers at all. The disc that came with the drive had old drivers on it that didn't include Windows 7. The instruction sheet was of no use at all. There was no manufacturers name or model number on the drive, nothing I could reference any kind of a search with. I downloaded several different codec's but none would operate the drive. Fianally I called Acer for help and found out that they hadden't released any drivers for the Aspire One with Windows 7 Starter. The reason, "Windows 7 is too new, and to keep checking back with them."
The seller of the drive wasn't aware that it was not compatable with Windows 7. I gave it 3 stars overall rating because it did work fine with XP computer. I only gave it 1 star for ease of use and ease of installation because I had so much trouble with it trying to get it to work. I don't think the vender screened the product for compatibility with Windows 7. USB External CD DVD RW Burner Drive For Acer Aspire one
Ok, This is a great little CD-DVD player and burner. it does not required to install any CD it install by it self, true to the Plug and Play :D This DVD Player is able to play CD and DVD without any problems, You can view your DVD with free software like Windows Player or Real player, or with tons of freeware DVD players. It also can burn CD and DVD with free software like Windows, Itunes, Zune or any other free software. The Only bad thing is that this little monster will drain you laptop battery fast when burning a CD and DVD, it takes some power to do. Which its fine. Plus its really small and kinda hard so you can carry it with you.
I'm pleased with it, it's the best you're going to get out of USB 2.0, and it works as well as the drives twice the cost. It looks the same as the $100+ drives too.
It requires either a second USB port, or an external adapter (not included) so factor that in. It's not a criticism (it takes that much power to burn a DVD), it just may not be obvious beforehand. USB 1.x is acceptable for power, if you're using it on a machine that has both types or have a spare "charging" hub. Not surprisingly, it does not play nice with my unpowered hub -- it needs a full 500 mW to each port.
My drive was shipped with no software or drivers and it did NOT come with a DVD decoder. I installed it on an Acer Netbook with Windows XP Home Edition. Initially Windows did not recognize the drive, so I had to uninstall the device using Windows Device Manager and rebooted the computer.
Once I did that Windows successfully installed the drive and I was up and running. However I was not able to play DVDs and had to purchase a $[...] DVD decoder download to play DVDs with Windows Media Player. After that, the drive functioned normally and produced smooth video on my netbook screen. In order to burn CD's and DVD's I believe most computer users will want to buy third-party software which should be considered in the total cost. This bare-bones package includes no disks, no external power supply, no carrying case and scant documentation. More expensive drives include those extras.
To burn disks, the drive requires connections to two USB 2.0 ports to get enough power. Total travel weight of this drive with both cables is 11.6 ounces. The drive is just a fraction of an inch wider and deeper than a DVD or CD and is just thick enough for the drawer to accommodate a disk. If you're looking for one of the least expensive external DVD/CD reader/burners you can buy, this drive may be just the ticket. However if you need a complete package including movie-making software, DVD decoder, carrying case and external power supply you might want to buy a more expensive drive that includes them in a bundle. That would probably be cheaper than buying this drive and all of those other items separately.
I'm stuck using a little netbook while my desktop is in the shop. But, this little DVD reader/burner hardly makes me miss my desktop at all. It's been great for watching movies, and burning info to CDs and DVDs. It's small enough to take along for travel and road trips if need be. I have NO REGRETS at ALL with this purchase and highly recommend this product!!
I got it for my HP Mini that came with Windows 7. I plugged it in and in under a minute the pop-up said that my device was installed and ready for use.
I popped in a DVD and it wouldn't play. Yikes! one may think, but this is not the fault of the player though; I needed the codec that is easily downloaded from the internet.
The player itself gave me no issues and I would recommend it for the HP Mini w/Windows 7.
I have a netbook, so there is no optical drive. I needed to upload some software plus some music and this drive fit the bill perfectly. It worked as advertised, I plugged it on to the USB and started using it immediately.
In order to watch DVD's I did have to download a DVD decoder, it was Microsoft approved and cost $14.99. It downloaded easily and I was able to test out a few DVD's and they worked fine.
I can't comment on the burn ability, since I would use my desktop computer for that, but I found this a very inexpensive way to get software onto my netbook.
Yes, you save some bucks, some weight, and a lot of battery life by buying a Netbook over a conventional laptop or notebook. But you really need one of these drives. The good thing about getting one external burner like this is that you can bring it with you if you need it; and it can double for so many further uses. This one has no connectivity issues at all. Just plug it in, and you're working. - Acer - Netbook - External Drive - External Dvd Burner'
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