I was helping a friend shop for a new laptop a few days ago. One thing I noticed is that very few laptops include an internal DVD drive. I understand this allows the laptops to get smaller, but I don’t know what I would do without a drive.

If I were to get such a laptop, I’d have to buy an external DVD drive. I may not need it often, but it is definitely a necessity for me. The good news is that external drives are very inexpensive and they are very small.

After looking around, my choice was the Samsung Ultra-Slim Optical Drive. It currently sells for less than $23 on Amazon and draws its power from the USB connection.

I’ve pictured a black one here as it has the lowest cost. You can also get it in red, white or blue for a few dollars more.

Once a final decision is made on a new laptop, I’ll write up the choice in a future post.