Can anyone recommend me a good USB external optical drive?

[ThisBougieLife]

You know, other than Apple's own SuperDrive?

What are some alternatives? Ones that you've tested. Searching Google for this hasn't been very helpful.

I've seen some that get good reviews, but they're all from PC users and I saw some that said "even though it says it's Mac compatible, it's not!"

So what would you recommend? I use an optical drive to rip lossless audio files from my CD collection (I use XLD to rip).

 

[pastrychef]

I've purchased USB enclosures for slim optical drives and put pulled Apple optical drives in to them. They never gave me any problems but my uses were very limited.

Also, I don't know why a USB optical drive would not be Mac compatible. They just use SATA to USB (or ATA to USB for older models) bridge boards...

 

[cdcastillo]

The people at the Wire cutter recommend this as the best DVD optical drive, and for less than 30 USD.

 

[Fishrrman]

You might also consider getting BluRay and M-DISC burning capabilities as well.

These features do cost a little more.

I'm very happy with my Samsung BluRay/DVD/CD burner.

 

[satcomer]

I see the OWC Mercury Pro 16x External USB 3.0 Blu-ray to burn& rip DVDs and Blu-Rays. I got in two years ago to burn a DVD collection with some Blu-rays sprinkled in! It was well worth it!