I recently wrote in My Experience Upgrading to Windows 11 that my portable CD/DVD player wouldn’t work in Windows 11. That means I need to find an alternative that is compatible if I want to be able to use CDs or DVDs with my laptop. I found one with that support and much more and I’ll tell you about it. There will be an Amazon link provided if you want to order one that earns me a tiny commission. Nothing else was provided to me.

Since I already had a portable CD/DVD that works well, my first criteria in finding a replacement was a drive that is supported by Windows 11. As you can see from the image above, the ROOFULL External CD/DVD +/-RW Drive is supported by numerous versions of Windows as well as MacOS and Linux. Therefore it should work well for my needs. Yes, USB 3.0 supported is a great thing as data can transfer faster. Speeds of the reading and writing are good, but not something that factored a lot into my decision.

There are other really nice features included in the drive. Most computers will be able to supply enough power with the data cable. But if it isn’t enough, you can plug in the extra power supply cord to give it some extra juice. There are also two USB ports on the back of the drive if you want to use it as a hub. As most laptops only have two USB ports, this could occasionally come in handy. Lastly, there is a slot for an SD/Micro-SD card. That eliminates the need for a separate card reader if you get data on one of those cards.

The ROOFUL drive meets my main need, Windows 11 support, and provides several other useful features. That makes it well worth the small investment!