Pros: Smaller than I thought it to be. USB powered and works fine even with one USB end connected. Good length cord. Nice finish. Lightweight. Has an optional plug for external power. Quickly detected by OS.

Cons: Would have been nice with an included case or sleeve of some kind. None otherwise.

Other Thoughts: If your PC doesn't automatically 'find the corret drivers' upon plugging it in, it could be the USB ports are not supplying enough power. I've seen this with a few older PC's. It's not the drive's fault. I've gotten around this by unplugging it and plugging it back in and it usually picks it up. This drive will easily read CD/DVD's for playback and its slower read/write speeds are not really a major issue. For DVD decoding, read speeds are not optimal and neither are write speeds for disc burning, however, they are not turtle slow either. If someone is looking for high end optical drive performance, you would not get this product anyways, this is for portability, which is where it really shines. It gives the option for you to purchase a 5V, 2A power supply (IE cheap switcheable transformers) which you can easily get from most any electronics outlet to power this should you need it. Great product overall!!

Pros: -Works perfectly with Windows 7(all), Windows Vista(all), windows XP, and (drum roll) Fedora 10 (no drivers needed)!
-Fast & Reliable
-Also (this is most likely what you want to know) it works 100% with Asus Eee PC 1002ha. Only needs one of the USB ports to work!

Cons: A bit fragile feeling, but still really strong.

Other Thoughts: -Vista 64bit Ultimate
3.36ghz AMD 64 X2 (overclocked)
8GB DDR2 800 (overclocked)
(2)Nvidia 8800GTs 640MB (overclocked)
1.15TB HDD Space @ 10,000rpm
- Asus Eee PC 1002ha

Pros: I use this drive with my EEE PC 900HA and I have to say that it has done everything and more that I have asked of it. Affordable drive that does it all.

Cons: Need two free usb ports that are side by side. That is not a problem with my Asus as it has two ports on the right side and works perfectly with my computer.

Other Thoughts: I have installed software and ripped dvds with this little drive with zero problems. I just connect everything turn on the computer and it's ready to do my bidding. I have also connected it with the computer on without any problems also.

Pros: Seems to work just fine even without using the Y cable

Cons: A little slow but what do you expect

Other Thoughts: Burned 1 dvd with both terminals on the Y cable plugged in and 1 dvd with only one of them plugged in and both worked fine, no coasters (using CDBurnerXP). So it seems to work perfectly without using the included Y cable, however you do need them both plugged in for initial setup/installation. Works great with my Lenovo s10e netbook

Pros: Works perfectly, everything is running as expected plug and play! Came with free 4GB USB from Intel, plugged it into Windows 7 and I have 4GB of readyboost RAM for free!! This item also came with free shipping.. what more could you want for the price?

Cons: none! :-)

Other Thoughts: Just something netbook owners in particular the MSI Wind U100 users may want to take note of. I noticed my netbook wouldn’t boot from USB also it didn’t pickup new discs in windows. I tracked the problem down to an issue with the USB ports, corrected by setting USB to “Auto” in the BIOS of the Wind. After that everything ran perfectly!

Pros: I have used this device on my ASUS Netbook, running XP pro, with 2GB Ram. I have also used it on my HP Desktop, and no issues at all. One of my home built PC's has a set of secondary USB ports that do not provide enough power, but the ports attached to the MB work flawlessly.
Be aware it is not as fast as an internal, but neither are most Hard Drives. I have copied DVD --> DVD, DVD --> Hard drive, Audio CD --> Audio CD. I have used various CD and DVD copy software and so far everything worked. I have connected it via one and both of the USB connectors and have not noticed any difference. It is small, compact and very robust for the connectivity.

Understand, some USB ports are underpowered, thus you may require an additioal power source. the size and portability are just as advertised.

Cons: So far none

Other Thoughts: I would purchase this device again

Pros: Very good and fast u plug and play thats all no need to installl the nero that comes with it just use itunes. i have a netbook samsung nc10 and it works perfectly!!!

Cons: none really

Other Thoughts: great if u need one very fair price

Pros: Bootable! Small. Bootable! Portable. Bootable!

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: I was looking for a small, inexpensive, bootable CDRom drive for booting my severs off of, instead of buying expensive specialized drives for just installing the OS. This drive is perfect!

Pros: at first i was skeptical about trying rosewill products, but not any more. I usually stick with name brands that i trust, LG and lite on .... this product was easy to install and burns dvds quite and at a reasonable rate. did not install the nero software, used dvd flick instead,small compact and lite burner.rosewill rocks

Cons: none so far............

Pros: Slim DVD size, no wall wart, includes basic DVD burning software.

Cons: Isn't always recognized immediately by OS

Other Thoughts: I was using this to OSX a mini. It worked for the most part. I had to unplug and re-plug the unit to get it to install the OS initially. It isn't the fastest but surely is good enough for the task.

There is a 'dual' usb plug to provide enough power for the unit but there is also a port if you did want to use external power. I prefer the 'dual' usb as it packs up easier.

All in all it is a drive that does the job and does it just fine.

Pros: It does what it`s supposed to do, and more importantly it does it good.
Great writing speeds, no errors, out of a 70 or so discs not one was ripped badly.
Great for booting system, when you need to reinstall it.
I use it with conjunction with my EeePc 1000HE and they work perfectly together.

Cons: None so far.
It`s a great little drive.

Other Thoughts: Fast shipping and the best price.
Newegg, as always, rules.

Pros: Fast burner, easy set-up. So easy, all I did was plug it in and Windows XP did the rest, and I'm running it off a cheap-o netbook with a Celeron processor. I've used it to watch movies (see other thoughts) and read and burn videos to DVD+DL.

Cons: What is up with the software bundle? Nero 8 "Essentials"? More like a bunch of extra stuff I'll never use, without what I call essential: being able to use this drive to "simply" watch a movie! See below for my fix...

Other Thoughts: Just go to CNet and download the freeware "The KM Player." Then you can use this thing to actually watch movies without forking over $29.95 to Ahead for their Nero plug-in.

The drive is faster than the unit in my desktop, which must be going out. This one rocks.

Pros: Works perfectly. Used it in Windows Vista to create a Windows 7 install disk. Boots DVD using my laptop. Installed Windows 7 on my Acer Timeline 3810T without a problem. Had a problem reading disks once the OS was up and running but a chipset driver update fixed it.

Cons: None. Does what it's supposed to.

Other Thoughts: Would buy again

Pros: Small and lightweight

Cons: None so far

Other Thoughts: I bought two drives, one for me and one for my niece. We both own a netbook and these are pretty great for the occasional need for loading software.

Pros: Works great!

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: Running XP Pro

Pros: Excellent-light-no power supply-does not even need to doubled the usb for power.

Cons: none

Pros: -works great
-powered by USB
-slim

Cons: -tray loading (bit flimy, seems easy to break)

Other Thoughts: used it to burn dvd's, worked with NO problems
reads cd/dvd's fine
works great on my asus eee
good price, another great rosewill product

Pros: FOLLOWUP TO MY PREVIOUS REVIEW:

Here's what you're all wanting to know; yes, it works great with my EEE PC 1000H whether the laptop is on wall power, or on battery power.

The two ports on the right hand side of the laptop are perfect for the Y cable included with the drive.

I restored my HDD from this drive and used GPART LIVE cd via this drive to expand my partition because the ASUS HDD image includes two partitions for some unknown reason.

Cons: none.

Other Thoughts: none

Pros: Boots my Asus Eee 4G without external power, read the other reviews for DVD burning Freeware that works great. Had to update my XP Pro .NET to Ver. 3.5 Framework for burner software, but my Asus Eee PC installed no problem. Have made 1 CD, DVD copy, made Bart boot for iso. Amazed technology has shrunk to a laptop & DVD under 3 LBs that works better than my 5 year old Dell Inspiron.

Cons: Rosewill included Nero 7 (old) with no CD Key

Other Thoughts: Newegg rocks

Pros: No power supply needed, small form factor, works like it should.

Cons: You have to connect the usb adapters first, then connect the dvd drive. Just a heads up!

Other Thoughts: I tryed this on two computers while it was plugged into the dvd drive and it messed up on me, tryed it on two more computers by connecting the usb dongle's first then the dvd drive and all is well works great with my asus n10j!

Pros: Nice black color. Quiet. Works good. Detected by computer with no problems.

Cons: None

Pros: -Small
-Lightweight
-No power supply needed
-Burns at a decent speed for being so small

Cons: -None so far

Other Thoughts: Make sure your USB ports output enough amperage to support this drive. I have heard that some laptops don't have enough 'juice'/amps.

Pros: It's a small drive and does not require an external power supply like some of the larger externals. This thing is the size of a notebook disc drive in a case, and has a comparable speed to the drive in my Toshiba Notebook.

I purchased this drive to have an optical on my Aspire One Netbook, Hooked right on up and was recognized quickly(with both Vista and XP). It will read on both of my notebooks without the Y cable, but needs it to write on one.

Cable is nice and long, you can set it on either side of you're computer and still reach the ports on the other side. Had about two months so far with no issues.

Cons: Electronic drive eject won't eject without power, I've forgotten the disc a few times and had to power the computer back up to get the disc out, though that's true of all the ejectable drives I've used.

Power drain is pretty major, on my netbook, it will half the battery life if you use it constantly, then again, that's why they don't include optical drives :P If you need to use an external a lot, I'd recommend getting a bigger battery.

Other Thoughts: Would be nice if it had a paded case or sleeve like many HDD's do, it's a bit scuffed from riding in the bag with my computer, but no problems thus far. I can watch movies and play games with it. Even burn an occasional disc with it.

Pros: Used it to install Windows on two systems flawlessly. Bootable and worked great.

Cons: None

Pros: Light, compact and no external power. Works well for the most part

Cons: Occasional issues with not being recognized

Other Thoughts: Good unit, works pretty well overall.

Pros: Works and it's bootable! I needed a CD drive to re-image my Acer Aspire One and this is what I bought. It's basically a laptop drive in a case w/ usb. It works w/ only 1 plug inserted and it was plenty fast to re-image my netbook. USB powered!

Cons: Can't make coffee and does not come w/ double coupons.

Other Thoughts: Bought this w/ free shipping so it was cheaper than the cheaper usb powered drive from samsung.

Pros: super thin and light, runs great on acer aspire one under linpus linux, only one usb connection necessary.

Cons: none

Pros: Decent burner

Cons: Does not work with Windows 7! Major flaw.

Other Thoughts: Update the software Rosewill.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,
Thank you very much for purchase the ROD-EX001. There is a problem with the drivers in Windows 7. Please kindly follow the link below for a solution to help fix the issue. If you have any questions or concerns, please kindly contact Rosewill support team either via phone at 800-575-9885 or via email at rma@rosewill.com so we may assist you. We are eager to assist you in any possible way. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thanks,
Rosewill Customer Care

External Link(s):

Rosewill ROD-EX001 Winows 7|

Pros: - Cheap
- Slim design, lightweight
- Draws power from USB connectors (if you don't like that, you can just buy an AC adapter very cheap).
- No drivers needed, detected right away.

Cons: - Slow

Other Thoughts: This was a good addition to my netbook (if you really need a DVD reader/burner for that). Easy to carry, easy to connect, and cheap. Only issue I have had so far is file transfer speed, it takes forever to install some programs from DVD (however it burns very well).

Pros: Cheap, easy, dumb-proof. Tested with Dell latitude 2100 netbook and Asus EeePC and Acer netbook for booting DVD image and it works flawlessly. Prefer this models USB B cable over the EX002's mini connector because I think this one's connector is a little more robust.

Cons: It doesn't make pie.

Pros: Perfectly portable and affordable. Works great on an XP machine.

Cons: I took a chance that this device would work under Win 7 after reading some of the reviews that stated it would. The driver's loaded fine and there was no error; however, any attempt to read a disk caused the initiating program to lock up. Specifications stated: Windows 2000/ME/XP/Vista, and Linux Operating System compatibility so I can't put the blame on the device.

Other Thoughts: I really like this device; I just can't use it with my new Win 7 machine. I'm hoping Microsoft or Rosewill comes up with a fix. :(

Pros: Sometimes it works, for a while. I might use it for reading CDs if someone gave it to me for free.

Cons: Junk, do not buy.

Periodically shuts itself off, both when reading and writing CDs. Unplugging and replugging the USB cable then seems to reset it back to normal operation for a while. I have never managed to write an entire CD-R disk without the unit powering itself off in the middle.

I've only used it with my Lenovo Thinkpad X61 laptop running Ubuntu (Linux) 9.04, but other portable DVD drives work fine, so I it's probably the drive.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,
Thank you very much for purchase the ROD-EX001. The problem might be due to a defective unit. Please kindly contact Rosewill support team either via phone at 800-575-9885 or via email at rma@rosewill.com so we may assist you with a replacement. We are eager to assist you in any possible way. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thanks,
Rosewill Customer Care

Pros: Small, lightweight, includes Y-cable if you need it, works very well in Linux. Works well with my powered USB hub.

Cons: Not really much of a con, but it can be a bit noisy reading CDs.

Other Thoughts: This is a Teac laptop SATA burner in an external USB case, if you want a better listing of specs, google teac dv-w28s-r. The Newegg specs don't mention dual layer, but it is DL compatable. Before purchasing this burner, I bought a similar one from staples that cost much more, after 4 days of major headachs, I returned it, it didn't even come with a Y-cable, that was another 20 bucks.
I have always had good luck with Rosewill products, and the one time I had a problem, they were very quick to resolve it.

Pros: plug and play in windows 7, worked right away and easy as plugging it up and burning a dvd, I already had Nero, but it came with Nero 8, nice setup

Cons: needs two usb ports to provide adequate power and it did not come with ac power adapter (there is a plug for it)( I knew it used 2 ports and it hasn't been a problem, I'm just warning others), slightly loud and of course it's only 4x which is kind of slow

Other Thoughts: weighs next to nothing, nice black color, I use it with my 8.9" acer netbook and have had no problems burning or playing DVDs

Pros: nice slim drive, works well, im glad xp recognized it long enough to get my netbook restored, purrs like a kitten , quiet

Cons: a bit slow on a cd but i had help ordering it from someone who isnt as computer literate so yeah..not her fault ..probably mine

Other Thoughts: USB cable has two end, one facing in, not sure what thats for, can u hook this up twice?jk

Pros: Works well under Ubuntu 9.04, Linux. Works well with one usb connection.

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: The top cover indents as you rest your hand on it to press the eject button

Pros: purchased this to install software and play movies on my wifes netbook. It works great for that purpose. It is small so it fits about anywhre when traveling.

Cons: none yet

Pros: - Works properly with my asus n10j-a1 in order to install operating systems (xp, linux).
- Doesn't seem to get very hot.
- Can take external power but seems to do just fine with the 2 usb connectors (1 for power and data, 1 for power) on the included cable.

Cons: - Alittle cheaper feeling than i thought it would be.
- Tray feels kinda flimsy when its open.
- Not the fastest external cdrom/dvd drive in the world.

Other Thoughts: This gets the job done for me on my netbook. I probably wont use it very much however because the only reason i got this was to install xp :)

Pros: Portable. Runs on USB power. Fast. Operating system independent.

Cons: Cheap construction. Tray latch loose.

Other Thoughts: I am very happy with this drive overall. I've used this drive for ripping my CD collection, watching DVD movies and burning data to DVDs. I love the portability. It works well with my ASUS Eee PC 901. I have an ASUS Eee Box on the way, and plan on using it with that as well.

The only problem I have is, when inserting a disk to be read, the tray latch doesn't always seem to catch or the tray is a bit loose. Simply pressing in on the tray a bit and then letting go allows the drive to spin up and everything is fine from there. If you can put up with that, this drive is awesome.

Pros: Does the job, reasonable price, nice speed. Optional external power supply (don't know where to find it, but there's a port for it).

Cons: Case feels like cheap plastic, so I wouldn't be to rough with it.

Pros: I've become a real fan of Rosewill products over the last year. They seem, in my humble opinion to be producing the finest quality items you'll ever find and they seem to do it at the lowest price than anyone else. For items like this, it seems like big brand names aren't getting great reviews.. take a look anywhere here on newegg and whenever you see the Rosewill name you'll see lots and lots of 4 or 5 star reviews. They are a solid company and they are in touch with the reality of their market. Very rare these days. I own several Rosewill products. a wi-fi adapter pci card.. (i've actually purchased about 5 of them so far) and a Rosewill external USB hard drive case. This particular external dvd writer unit is another great purchase. It looks great and works great too. I got it to go with my new netbook computer which has no cd/dvd drive of it's own.

Cons: it has no external power supply or even a socket for one.. this runs only on usb power. If you have a powerless hub, it simply won't work.. I hardly see this as a con though.. I don't need any more wal-warts in my collection. If you're using a netbook, you'll have to have it plugged in to the wall power when writing a dvd or a cd-r. you won't need it plugged in when reading cd's though, unless you're installing an OS.

Other Thoughts: All and all it's a great drive and works perfect with Netbooks.. It's tiny and weighs almost nothing, yet it will write to any ordinary dvd or cd-r media.. it will even write dual layer dvd's. It's essentially a dvd writer that you find in any ordinary new laptop thats been tossed into a tiny little external case.. it's really nothing special or cutting edge.. all the technology here is dated and proven over time. You can't go wrong.

Pros: I looked high and low for a portable DVD burner that didn't require an external power supply. This one uses a USB cord with two plugs to get the extra power it needs. It also works great with the eee pc. Also, installation is quick and no software is required. While some say it seems flimsy, the slide tray seemed precision and durable to me...more so than a number of built-in laptop drives I've dealt with. I believe it will last a long time with reasonable care.

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: There is a power supply/jack plugin next to the USB port which is basically useless since the drive doesn't ship with an external power supply. Rosewell would do well to mention in the User Manual that it isn't required with the special USB cable, and also give a part number for the power supply in case someone wanted one. Rosewell might also consider a second USB port in case the special two-plug USB cable needed gets lost or left behind...then the user could improvise with two standard USB cables.

Pros: I was surprised how small the drive was when I unpacked it. It only needs a single USB port when using USB 2.0. The provided cable will allow use of USB 1.0 using 2 USB ports. No external wall-wart power supply is one of the big pluses for me. I have burned CD-R's and DVD-R's with it with no failures, yet. Not covered in silly logos.

Cons: Nothing yet, it burns and reads just as stated.

Other Thoughts: One of the reasons I bought it is that it didn't have obnoxious company logos all over it. Just one white logo that is nearly eliminated with a black Sharpie(TM) marker; nothing against the companies, I am just not a fan of billboards in my face.

Pros: Excellent build quality and finish...top notch.
Powered by single USB connector (for most computers) but connecting two USB connectors supplied will increase current for extra safety. Looks extremely professional. With free shipping for 70 dollars it is a good deal.

Cons: Flimsy tray rails but once the tray closes it's nice and tight and looks very professional...better than other name brands.
Another small gripe is that rubber feet need to be softer--the rubber is too hard and if you push drive on glass surface it tends to slide a little...a softer rubber feet would hold it better.

Other Thoughts: You can stack these drives one over another. Say you wanted ten of them stacked and CDs put into each one of them so you would not have to open and close one drive but have all CDs available at the same time...you could put 10 of these babies one over another and put a rubber band around them.

Pros: This is an outstanding purchase

Cons: None

Pros: Slim, lightweight, USB powered.

Cons: Slow due to interface

Other Thoughts: 2nd connector on the Y cable is only needed for USB 1.0 ports. The device draws nearly 2amp which usb 2.0 meets, but 1.0 needs to draw power from 2 ports to meet the amp draw.

Pros: LINUX compatible :)
Boot able :)
Fast enough :P
Looks good, All black no bull fancy stuff :)
Has DC in jack if you would like to go to buy one for it. Though the USB supply's enugh power no problem.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: "Linux" "compatible" "bootable" "external" "Ubuntu" "dvd burner" site:newegg.com

Ubuntu dose through an error when it is done burning but I think it is just that it can't kick out the cd/dvd. Everything I have burned works just fine.

Pros: This Rosewill drive is perfect. When I saw the black box, exquisite packaging and the device itself, I knew it was going to be great. Slick, clean looking with a great feel. Plug n play is flawless. Whisper quiet. No reason to choose any other , (except if you want Lightscribe or a very compact drive. I'd literally ripped my optical drive out of my laptop due to frustration of one too many skipping/freezing disks, and even with that, this Rosewill is recognized and works as if it's got it's own intuitive brain. More specs available on the Rosewill website are helpful and informative.

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: Rosewill has great customer service, a tech called me within 5 mintues to answer a few questions I had before purchase. Newegg is also the best.

Pros: Cheap.

Cons: None here.

Other Thoughts: Works on my XP SP3 Acer Netbook, and my Homebrew Desktop, running Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit. No driver or other issues noted, as previous reviewers observed.

It works on any computer I've tried.

Expecting a full-monty Nero software package with this inexpensive optical drive, is a stretch, methinks.

Pros: Excellent seek time, Durable without being bulky. Readily identifiable with XP, Vista, Win7, and my Ubuntu netbook. SUSE had a small glitch but solved it fairly quickly in forums. Low heat and no disturbing bright LED's in the front.

Cons: None after 2 months of varied use.

Other Thoughts: slightly larger rubber feet on the bottom might be a desire for future products of this ilk.

Pros: Compact size

Cons: I too am having problems getting a netbook running Windows7 to load the drivers for the underlying TEAC drive. The link posted by a Rosewill rep below further leads to a stale link on windowsvistaplace.com

Pros: Plug & play; no setup required! Works great on all computers I've tried so far, including my netbook (eee 1005HE).

Cons: Requires USB ports that supply enough power to run it. It would not work on the front USB ports on my desktop, which do not supply much power; which I expected, as my ext. HDD also does not work on those ports. Not a big problem, I just use my USB hub or back ports.

Other Thoughts: Very portable and easy to use - great for a drive for a netbook or any other use of an ext. cd drive.

Pros: Small Size
No need for external power

Cons: Cheap build quality

Other Thoughts: Bought this for a car pc, and is working great. It's small footprint allowed me to put it exactly where I wanted. My only issue is that the drawer feels very flimsy.

Pros: no s/w needed

Cons: Can not burn CD-R, although burned DVD-RW and DVD-R just fine.

Tried on two systems, XP Pro and Win 7 Starter.

Media is not an issue here, as the CD-R blanks that failed in Rosewill were burned in my Lite-On without any issue.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
- Mi

Pros: Compact, feels sturdy, and looks good. Works fine with DVD-RAM.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: The only thing special about this drive is it's ability to acess DVD-RAM. It works fine and does what it is supposed to do which is all I want from it. BTW, it opens fine with power off using a paper clip like all othe drives I've had.

Pros: Small and light weight - Length and width is not much bigger than the size of a cd/dvd. I actually ordered the ROD-EX002 model which is aluminum cased- not sure if this one is also but it is very sturdy and feels very tough. Definitely not afraid to carry it around. Speeds are pretty good for a slim external drive plus the 2mb cache. Draws power from USB and comes with little foam "feet" to stick to the bottom and included Nero 8 Essentials(great program for all your burning needs)

Cons: No major cons - all around great drive and decent price tag
(see other thoughts)

Other Thoughts: I bought this after a couple weeks of shopping around. Most similar products I have looked at were almost DOUBLE the price. Uses a Y USB cable which is included in the box. Both ends must be plugged into the computer as one draws power and the other transfers data. On a couple of occasions it seemed the drive was spinning and reading the disk but wasn't responding to the computer. Not really a con, just a bit odd. I have used this drive alot since I got it and have no complaints. Never really trusted Rosewill over other brands, but a few Rosewill products later and I definitely recommend their products - great value, quality and performance

Pros: Small, compact installed very easily and inexpensive. I like the fact you don't need an external power supply.

Cons: None

Pros: Works most of the time.

Cons: When trying to play a DVD on my HTPC (ZOTAC IONITX-D-E) running Windows 7 Media Center, the DVD drive keeps connecting and disconnecting during play.

Other Thoughts: Google shows that there are Windows 7 compatibility problems with this model. AFAIK, neither Rosewill nor TEAC has any solution to this issue. However, it's worked for all tested purposes other than playing a DVD in Media Center.

Pros: Small, good value and fast. I was a little worried about the Y connector since my S10 only has 2 USB ports, one on each side and if it couldn't get enough power, I would need an extension. But I plugged the drive in to just one USB, powered up and it recognized and installed the supplied software without issue. Within minutes I was watching a DVD. No lag, jerks, jitters. Very nice little drive. I haven't attempted to write to it yet.

Cons: A slim case or cloth pocket would be nice to save it getting scuffed on the move.

Other Thoughts: I wanted a portable drive to take around with me to work with my Netbook and got exactly what I wanted.

Pros: * Works with Mac OS X (10.5.8 Build 9L31a) and Windows XP SP3 (via Parallels version 4.0.3844).
* Did not require drivers. Plug (twice) and play - see cons below.
* Comes with USB cable.

Cons: * The included USB cable is split into two standard male A-type connectors on the PC end of the cable, and a single male B-type connector on the drive end of the cable. I had hoped to use this drive on a MacBook Pro (model MacBookPro2,1), using just 1 of the 2 male A-type connectors. Unfortunately, this did not provide enough power to the drive for the OS (and thus, VLC) to recognize the disk. (I used the single USB port on the right side of the MacBook Pro.)

This necessitated moving the drive to the left side of the laptop, using both USB ports there, and moving the devices that were plugged in on the left side to a USB hub that now plugs in on the right side.

This was an inconvenience. The drive has a port for an external AC adapter (a "wall wart"), but doesn't ship with one. Such adapters are extremely cheap, so why not include it with the drive? Perhaps excluding it was a cost cutting measure, but it's inconvenienced me as a customer, and thus resulted in 4 stars instead of 5

Other Thoughts: Since I don't want to devote two USB ports to the drive just to be able to use it, I've purchased the following AC Adapter:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812270002

A sticker on the bottom of the drive states that it accepts an alternating current of 5 Volts at 2 Amps, with the center of the barrel plug being positive.

While the above product is in fact a 5V 2A adapter, it's unclear whether or not the center is positive. Since center positive is the most commonly found orientation for these kinds of adapters, I'm going to assume that's the case.

I've ordered the above AC adapter with the hope that it'll free up one of the two USB ports currently needed to power the drive. This being a laptop, I only have three USB ports in total to work with, so USB port real estate is at a premium.

Once it arrives, I'll report back on whether it works or not.

Pros: This is a really nice looking and performing drive. Currently using this with a netbook that did not come with an optical drive and it really is worth it.

Cons: It would have been nice if a regular mini USB port was used as most people already carry one of those cables for their cell phones or web cams.

Other Thoughts: Great little item no external power needed just your normal USB ports, a real plus for those that need an external drive, but also lack space for unnecessary accessories.

Pros: Small, Lightweight, Reads better than my desktop drives.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Inexpensive, especially for when I bought it & came with a free flash drive. The read capability has helped with some scuffed discs that the standard desktop drives would not read.

Pros: takes up minimum space and makes no sound. i like this thing! works like it should!

Cons: NOT COMPATIBLE WITH W7 as false statements claim. i would like to have this with it's own power-supply. did not like the NERO 9: ESSENTIALS software that was provided with it. just a way to try and coax me out of my money. doesn't work correctly until you purchase it. extremely long install, too for c-r-a-p trial. hardware does not work with FUJI media and i am not shocked because my internal drive doesn't either. MEMOREX not recommended either! It does an excellent job with TDK media. Use DVD FLICK with IMG BURN software. FREE download and does the job!

Other Thoughts: Needs it own power-supply! i don't like the leeching on my laptop. Other than that, nice burner!! I would buy again! My first ROSEWILL! And not my last..

Pros: Easy to hook up and use. Decent speed for USB

Cons: The eject button is a bit small, but this is the style so you don't accidentally bump it.

Pros: Purchased this drive for my netbook. The best thing about this drive is its low cost. This is about the cheapest you can get an external CD/DVD burner, and it does its job well. It's powered by a double-USB cable, so you'll need two USB ports to use it (which may put some netbook users at a disadvantage if they don't have many USB ports). Burns both CDs and DVDs, and they play without any problems.

Cons: Even though the rated spindle speed and cache of the drive are comparable to other, more expensive products, the drive is very slow. OS and program installation takes twice as long as it does with another, older external USB drive I have. Because I only bought it to increase what I can do with my netbook, this doesn't bother me too much. If you are going to be a regular user of an external CD/DVD drive, you should probably go with a more expensive option.

Other Thoughts: Construction of the drive is adequate. Doesn't feel cheap, though it isn't the most rugged thing available, and care should be taken towards storage and transport. There is also an AC adapter port on the back of the drive, so if one wanted to use a normal USB cable, a power adapter could be purchased from Radio Shack or another electronics store.

Pros: It's fast and useful for netbooks.

Cons: I've been having compatibility issues with Windows 7 sadly. I bought it for my dad after I got him a netbook to load on some work stuff and we cant seem to get it to work with 7

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,
Thank you very much for purchase the ROD-EX001. There is a problem with the way Windows 7 classifies the drivers. Please kindly follow the link below for a solution to help fix the issue. If you have any questions or concerns, please kindly contact Rosewill support team either via phone at 800-575-9885 or via email at rma@rosewill.com so we may assist you. We are eager to assist you in any possible way. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thanks,
Rosewill Customer Care

External Link(s):

Rosewill ROD-EX001 Winows 7|

Pros: Comes with Nero 8. Lightweight, so portable. Quiet. Paired with excellent software, this DVD Writer will work like a dream. Newegg's price at less than $45.00 was unbeatable.

Cons: Fragile. I'm afraid I might drop it and it would just shatter on impact. BE VERY CAREFUL.

Other Thoughts: I love Rosewill. Affordable yet quality computer accessories.

Pros: Bought it for my Bro for X-Mas, works great with his little Acer netbook.

Cons: None yet.

Other Thoughts: I am, thus far, very impressed with Rosewill products. The price and quality are top notch.

Pros: Works Great. Very small and sleek. Very quiet and has power connection so that you dont have to use up 2 usb slots. Quality product. perfect for my acer revo that i use as htpc and only requires the occasional burn. less is more.

Cons: doesnt include much in the lines of instruction manual and not that you really need it but would have liked to at least know the power demand.

Other Thoughts: vertical stand to much to ask for?

Pros: -Works great with both of my computers as a boot device
-Quiet

Cons: -It takes up two USB ports, but that's understandable

Other Thoughts: This is really handy for people with multiple computers like me, since I can forgo installing a 5.25" DVD drive in each of them.

Pros: Second usb for power is long enough to reach to the other side of a laptop if needed. Works as advertised.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Recommend plugging in the power usb first, then the data usb. If drive is not seen in my computer but installs correctly you may need to go to administrative tools in the control panel, computer management, disk management and assign an unused drive letter.

Pros: Works well with Vista and Win7.

Cons: None

Pros: It worked and worked well while it did for all of two months.

Cons: It died after two months.

Other Thoughts: Some people have had better luck with this external DVD than I have so I can't say not to buy it, but I know I wouldn't again.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,
Thank you very much for purchase the ROD-EX001. Please kindly contact Rosewill support team either via phone at 800-575-9885 or via email at rma@rosewill.com so we may assist you with a replacement. We are eager to assist you in any possible way. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thanks,
Rosewill Customer Care

Pros: Light, easy plug and play!

Works on my Dell Mini 12 inch without any issues, was able to install the windows 7 from the dvd rom without any problems.

Cons: No external power adapter provided, but its not a big deal. The Dual USB power works properly

Other Thoughts: Hope it provided a small pouch for easy storage.

Pros: Works with Linux (Ubuntu).

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: A great add-on for my netbook for the times I've needed an optical drive.

Pros: Rosewill has made yet another good product. Works as advertised. I will get more of their stuff. I did not find the 2 USB connections a disadvantage. Portability is nice. Newegg continues to combine great service with very good products.

Cons: None.

Pros: Good Drive and so far works well on my Mac. Good product for the price. Since I added a 2nd hard drive to my MacBook Pro in place of the internal DVD burner, I bought this drive to throw in my backpack with my Laptop. So far very pleased with it.

Cons: -A little slow but that isn't unexpected on slim DVD Burners.
-The case isn't as slim as some DVD burners I've seen.

Other Thoughts: Works on my MacBookPro5,1 under 10.6 Snow Leopard. Haven't had any problems reading or burning DVDs. It shows up as a TEAC DV-W28S-R drive with 2000 KB cache.

Pros: USB powered

Cons: - Does not work with Windows 7 which becomes a problem during the installation of Windows 7. Manufacturer suggests editing registry but after editing registry you lose functionality in other CD and DVD decoding software. Completely unacceptable.
- A little big larger than I would've liked it to be. Being advertised as "Slim" is most definitely misleading

Other Thoughts: I wouldn't recommend this product to anyone. It functions, if you have Vista or XP but once you upgrade you lose functionality. If you don't already have a DVD decoding software installed on your computer this will still not allow you to play DVD's. Software has to be purchased separately. I would look elsewhere to fulfill your external DVD/CD needs.

Pros: Did not use/need the included software, life is best without the Nero crapware. I like having no wall wart; and I have a powered hub for desk work if needed, with that I hope to avoid using two USB ports occasionally.

Cons: Works as well as the Samsung I bought for $10 more.

Other Thoughts: Plastic case, don't sit on any of these whether plastic or metal cased.

Pros: Works great, Small, Comes with software, Inexpensive

Cons: Not really a con, but had to restart computer for it to recognize.

Other Thoughts: Buy it

Pros: Works on my netbook. Has place for AC.

Cons: Slow and power hungry. The front ports on my desktop could not keep the drive going.

Other Thoughts: Did not have the patience to try the rear usb on my desktop. An AC adapter would have been a plus.

Pros: + This device serves its purpose to the specs!!!
+ Just works without any additional drivers on the following confirmed OSes: Mas OS X 10.5, Vista, Windows 7, plug it in and burn them those discs!
+ Size and color are OK
+ The price is sweet, this works indeed, not anymore those CDs and DVDs are dead weight for me. =)

Cons: - Cheap plastic on the outside, but not a big deal, does not affect performance in any way.

Other Thoughts: Was able to perform Windows 7 upgrade for my Acer Aspire 1410 netbook without ANY problem by plugging in this device into it and running the upgrade DVDs that Acer has sent to me.
Burns disks pretty fast.

Pros: nice form factor, fast (the one that works), black (because black is good?)

Cons: I purchased two for the office. One works great, one I am about to RMA. It worked for about a month then would stop reading or burning at about the mid-way point.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,
Thank you for purchasing the ROD-EX002. The problem you are having might be caused by a defective unit. Please contact us either via email, rma@rosewill.com, or phone, 800-575-9885, so we may assist you with a replacement. We look forward to helping you.
Thanks,
Rosewill Customer Care

Pros: None

Cons: Dvd burner didn't even recognize a dvd, or the installation cd. Seems the drive stops before it gets going. I'm very disappointed. Cheapest is not always a good idea.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,
Thank you for purchasing the ROD-EX002. The problem you are having might be caused by a driver issue. Please try updating your drivers from Microsoft's website. If you are still having prooblems, please contact us either via email, rma@rosewill.com, or phone, 800-575-9885, so we may assist you with a replacement. We look forward to helping you.
Thanks,
Rosewill Customer Care

Pros: works out of the box.
Burns reasonably fast

Cons: wish it had ac outlet

Pros: A great plug and play device. My asus net book recognized it right away. Quiet and runs great off just one usb plug. Burner works great as well, it was very fast. With free shipping and a great low price I am very pleased with my chioce.

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: none

Pros: I plugged this thing into my 5 year old XP desktop and windows recognized it immediately. My newer Vista machine likewise discovered the new hardware and installed the driver. I've burned at least 75 DVD discs with this drive and haven't made one coaster. The unit I received is actually a Teac drive in a Rosewill package.

Cons: Rosewill doesn't include DVD decoder software. It's really not a con as the software would have driven up the price. Speed is probably closer to 6x than 8x, not a really big deal. Requires two usb ports to operate so if your computer is short on ports, you'll need a powered hub.

Other Thoughts: Some here hate Nero. I don't have that problem, but folks you do not have to install it. The driver for this burner is included in your operating system, not on the Nero disc. I downloaded a codec package for Windows Media Player and am using it to play DVD discs. I have also used the free to download VLC (videolan) media player with good results.

Pros: Works well, no complaints. They use a TEAC drive inside the external device, but comeon its Rosewill, they have been doing that for awhile.

Cons: Clover Leaf, Period!

Other Thoughts: I needed something cheap for the macbook and did not want to shell out the extra money for an internal drive or taking the thing apart.

Pros: Very quick shipment, and easy to install, recognized the drive easily as well. I bought it for my wife who uses it on a netbook, and it works very well for what we do with it. Very quick spool up.

Cons: None as of yet. If any I would have it offered in pink, just cause all of my wife's components including her netbook is pink.

Other Thoughts: Very good product so far, and as always, very quick shipment. I'm also military overseas and it got to me in about 7 days.

Pros: Power through USB = no power cable; decent speeds; supports all CD/DVD formats

Cons: One of my older desktop PCs refused to recognize this.

Other Thoughts: I bought this for my Asus EEE PC 901 and its great. My old windows xp computer (from around 2002) was not able to use this device. I didn't try very hard to make it work, though.

Pros: -Sleek, attractive drive
-Fast
-Drive is bootable on my mobo, cool

Cons: -None

Pros: * No-nonsense black design
* Y-splitter USB cable included, but it worked without it for me
* BOOTABLE! Works on my ASUS EEE 701 (no optical drive, installing WinXP). Worked on a IBM eServer (didn't have a DVD drive, needed to install Win2008).
* Worked on my MacBook Pro (shows up in system profiler as a "generic burner" w/ 2KB cache, Dual-layer DVD+/-RW and -RAM burner).

Cons: If I leave it plugged in w/ a disc in the drive, it seems to spin up the disc every minute or so and then spin it down.

Other Thoughts: Newegg service rocks! I bought this drive and the next day it went on sale- all I had to do was call up and they refunded me the difference. Now THAT'S customer service.

Pros: Use on my eeePC900/Ubuntu8.04; installs an OS fine
dvds with GXINE or VLC
audio cds on Amarok or the above mediaplayers
Burns cd and dvds fine, DVD+R got to 7x towards the end (towards outer edge of disk).
Teac inside
Mass storage included
cheap price

Cons: 2 headed USB cord is kind of useless.
laptop drives are always slow.

Other Thoughts: Teac drives are usually noisy in my experience. I wonder if the external powersupply. It hasn't made me a coaster yet, although a few sessions didn't verify. Might've been because i bumped it while it was burning. I don't trust this thing for audio extraction.

Pros: Got it on sale for $49.95! Perfect for loading OS on Netbooks, as an extra drive, etc. No external power needed is a big plus too! Very handy to have around.

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: Would buy again

Pros: Price, and size. I bought this to use with my new Acer Aspire One AOD150 netbook. This thing is barely larger than the CD itself and at less than 1 inch thick, it is very portable. Not sure what a previous reviewer is referring to but this comes with a Y USB cable for connecting without any other external power. I've already burnt 3 DVD's and a ghost image using only the Y splitter cable that is included. No coasters! No problems whatsoever. It is quiet too.

Cons: None!

Other Thoughts: A little pouch would have been nice.

Pros: Reads and burns disks.

Cons: 8x is optimistic, this seems to burn at about 4x speeds. (Roughly 15 min for a full dvd.)

Other Thoughts: I got this as a shellshocker for an excellent price, and it came with what was advertised as a free 2gb flash drive that turned out to be a 4gb drive. I'm certainly not going to complain about that!

Pros: Great price point. USB Interface. Quiet. Internal SATA interface. Works on any OS. (Have tested OSX, XP, Vista, 7RC, Ubuntu)

Cons: Slow drive. 5 minutes to burn 1024mb?!

8x DVD isn't all that fast anymore. No lightscribe for those occasional family DVDs.

Other Thoughts: Well built. Sturdy plastic and only 4 screws to remove if you want to void your warranty. The SATA interface on the internals is a huge plus.

This is a great addition to the computer tool kit. I'm curious as to where I could pick up the power adapter. I don't need one, it could be nice for older machines.

Great shipping and support by Newegg.

Pros: -Everything advertised
-DOES work under Windows 7 RC (didn't have to do anything too special as I recall).

Cons: -None

Pros: Works great in Windows XP SP3 on my desktop and my Eee new Netbook that is running XP.

Cons: Does not work under Windows 7 RC1 on my test machine.

Other Thoughts: When RC1 becomes the final, maybe they will have the drivers for it.

Pros: Great burner, inexpensive, compact and easy to carry

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: Requires two usb ports so make sure you have two close to each other.