ZenDrive V1M External DVD Drive and Writer with Built-in Cable-Storage Design, USB-C Interface, Compatible with Win 11 and macOS, M-DISC Support, SDRW-08V1M-U, 1 Year Warranty

Low profile portable Optical Drive appears to be a perfect companion to my hardware. It has a USB-C connector for the latest hardware and supports 8x CDROM and DVDROM during in addition to Millenidata DVD Discs which are a new version of media that is more expensive but is said to last much longer in storage than anything else other than factory DVDs. Very lightweight and appears to be a great value for the money!

It works! I downsized the case when building a Windows 11 machine to replace my 10-year-old Windows 10 machine. Consequently, I lost the ability to have an internal DVD-ROM drive. This plugged in via USB-C (slick internal cord storage) and worked without any software needing to be installed. I'm not sure that the ability to write M-discs for backup is useful given that this handles only the smallest capacity M-discs (less than 5 GB; you'd need 200 of them to back up today's smallest SSDs). It is nice that this is so slim because I keep this in a lateral filing cabinet in a file folder.

Newer laptops don’t have disk drives anymore. Received a new Surface Pro for Christmas. I burn disks for keeping important files. After reading reviews from many reputable sources I settled on this. It works quickly, efficiently and easily. It appears cheaply made and you can definitely think it’s weak but you will be fooled as I was. Reputable manufacturer. The only thing I am not a fan of is the tiny button on the front that pops open the drawer; you still must manually open it further, then watch that you don’t hit the button by accident when you close the drawer. Other than that, it is nice and lightweight and I love the way the USB-C cord stores within the corner of the drive case. I am using Windows 11.

I wanted/needed a peripheral DVD/CD player for my Windows 11 laptops in order to rip and/or burn audio CDs. So far I've set this player up with two separate laptops running Win 11 and it's working perfectly. There is no setup wizard, or software you have to load. (The software included on the accompanying CD-ROM is just bloatware and should be avoided.) Another reviewer had a very helpful comment, namely that when you first connect the player via USB-C and absolutely nothing happens, don't worry. It comes to life once you insert a CD. From there, via File -> Open Audio CD, you can choose to play or rip audio. For the rip selection it gives you an option to specify settings for the rip. Really handy. So far the ripping has worked flawlessly with both laptops. I haven't yet attempted to burn any CDs, but I don't have reason to believe it will be an issue considering its performance so far. I'll probably update this review when I do, but so far a full five stars. BTW - the title of this review might leave the reader wondering if the unit works with Windows 10. The answer is I don't know as I no longer have any Windows 10 machines. I've read in the past that Windows 10 was not so compatible with external DVD/CD drives, thus I never bothered trying on those. Your mileage may vary with this unit on Win 10. One last comment. . . The unit is light and seems a little delicate. I'm not knocking it for that. Just don't drop it or bang it around as it's not built like a tank. If you treat it well, it will treat you well. ===================================== Feb 2026 Update. I switched to Linux after Windows 11 imploded with bloatware and privacy concerns. The great news is that this drive works extremely well with Linux Mint. I've probably burned about 20 CDs with this drive on Mint, and all but one were flawless. I had one problem finalizing a disc (using k3b software for all of them) and I'm not sure if it was the software or hardware. Some permission issue. I resolved it and it finally worked on that one too. Point is, every CD that was burned was absolutely perfect - no glitches, skips or other problems during playback. I actually bought a second drive as a backup as this thing is too good to be true. Highly recommended!

Like this easy too use, like the built in cable storage, nothing to download onto the computer, easy to convert CD to digital and perfect for use on Mac laptops

As other reviewers noted, disks won’t show up on Mac out of the box. I have an M1 MacBook Pro. But as long as you have a Windows computer, the manufacturer has a firmware update on their site for this model. Update takes 10 seconds. Then it worked perfectly on my Mac. I only plan to use this drive to read data, not write, so I can only speak to that — but so far flawless.

This is not reading or being recognized by my MacBook Pro M1. I've tried it directly plugged in, and via a powered hub - not working. The description reads like this is MacOS compatible, but my research online indicates that it may only work with select Macs. I'm disappointed and will be returning. Description should clearly indicate Mac compatible systems. Also, instructions are trash, not mentioning any compatibility requirements.

This mostly does what it says it will do - it's a good DVD writer that seems to write good disks, but the gimmick of the retractable cord is bogus. The cord on mine will not retract once extended, and it's also not long enough to be practical in most situations. TLDR; The drive is fine but the cord sucks.

Very good external DVD/CD drive. Very compact, very light (all plastic) and a kinda neat ‘pocket’ to stash the usb-c cord. Few things I’ve noticed after using it for a few days… 1) it is so light you need to hold it down firmly when closing the tray 2) I find it better to use 2 fingers/thumbs to close the tray 3) sometimes gets a bit loud as the media spins Still, I really like it and it works very well.

I bought it for mac but there is no software for mac not on disk or online.

Excellent product

The unit was delivered quickly. It was easy to set up via USB-C connection using the supplied disk. Windows 11 compatible.

En excelente estado físico y muy útil para grabar clases y guardar en discos, audiencias de juicios y otros videos para liberar espacio en disco de computadoras así como para pasar la música a formato digital. Contento hasta ahorita con la compra a reservas de futuras experiencias esperando que tenga largs vida con sus respectivos cuidados.