Looking for windows 8 compatible external dvd drive

Hi everyone,

I just purchased the Samsung USB 2.0 Ultra Portable External DVD Writer Model SE-218 for my hp laptop to play DVD's on it, but after two attempts of trying to get it to work I am returning it to amazon. The first time it took me an hour to try and get it to work and I downloaded two different DVD player programs. The first time it played it went extremely slow, but then the second program worked perfect. However I just tried playing it again tonight with the PowerDVD program and it won't read the disc now and won't stop freezing. Also my VLC player won't read it either. Do I really have to pay and upgrade to Windows 8.1 just to play a DVD? Does anyone have any suggestions for a compatible, good external DVD drive? I know everyone can download movies and watch them directly on their computer now but I would prefer to not re-purchase any movies I already own, etc. just to watch them directly on my laptop. Thank you.

jsnyder29 said:

... Do I really have to pay and upgrade to Windows 8.1 just to play a DVD? Does anyone have any suggestions for a compatible, good external DVD drive? I know everyone can download movies and watch them directly on their computer now but I would prefer to not re-purchase any movies I already own, etc. just to watch them directly on my laptop. Thank you.

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Why would you have to pay to upgrade to 8.1? The upgrade is free.

I think you may really be asking if you need to pay to add Media Center. The answer to that is no, I have this external DVD drive LG GP60NB50 | LG USA and I am able to play DVDs from my MS Surface Pro running Win 8.1 using either Windows Media Player or VLC.

It could be that your DVD drive is defective. Does it work on a different machine?

Strollin is correct. VLC will play DVD fine assuming your drive works. "Windows Media Centre" which you could pay for if you wanted (I got it free) will add exactly zero functionality in this regard. 8.1 is free and also irrelevant.

What you may want to do is convert all of your DVD to MKV (or some other format) and store them on a disk. I did that with mine and then sold them for €0.50 each and made a few bob.

Up to you but your problem is your drive doesn't work.