The Top 3 Best USB CD Drives
Chances are, if you purchased one of the latest netbooks such as the EEE PC or HP Mini, you notice it does not come with a CD Drive. Yet, if you want to install software, games, and other programs which come on a CD, you need some way to get it onto your computer. The simplest solution is an external CD Drive with a USB cable. You may also need an external CD drive if yours is broken and you need a cheap solution. This article discusses the three best and most economical solutions available on the market.
It’s true, you could use a USB flash drive (you know, those little sticks that plug into your computer). However, most software, such as operating systems or games will require you to use advanced computer skills which are more trouble to learn than it’s worth. With a USB CD drive, you simply insert the CD and follow the instructions when prompted. And, you’d be surprised to learn that some external CD drives are now price competitive with USB sticks.
USB 2.0 External CD-ROM by Sunvalleytek
You can find these on Amazon.com currently for $11.48. For comparison, this is about the same price as you would pay for a 4 GB flash drive. It’s plug and play which means it’s powered by the same cable which transfers information to the computer. As the least expensive and most user-friendly solution, the Sunvalleytek USB 2.0 external CD-ROM is the number one choice. Keep in mind, though, you can only read CDs with it. It doesn’t give you any options for writing (a.k.a burning) a CD.
Extra Portable Slim CD Writer by PWR+
Currently at $21.90, this nifty little drive burns to a CD as well as reads it. This give you the added benefit of being able to back up, copy, and store information onto a CD. And with the cheap price of blank CDs, it is a very economical solution. Much like the Sunvalleytek model above, it is light weight and easy to carry.
Slim Portable USB 2.0 External CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive by Sunvalleytek
If you would like to install larger software or video games, it would be worth getting an external drive which also reads DVDs as well as CDs. It will cost you more, though. The lowest priced option for a drive which reads DVDs is also made by Sunvalleytek. It can both read and burn (write) to CD like the drive above. However, it includes the ability to read DVDs (although, it does not burn to DVD). The cost is $39.95.
Conclusions
It should be stated that there is also the option of getting an external hard drive. A good size of 250 GB would start at around $50 dollars. However, it would only be able to install downloaded software from the internet (i.e. you can’t use CDs or DVDs). Another option is an external drive which both reads and burns CD and DVD. Those also start at the $50 price range so they haven’t been included in this article. If you just need to occasionally install some software, then these three USB CD drives will be your best options.
