LiteOn IHDS118-04 18x SATA Internal DVDROM - Black Bare

Not quite sure what value "retail" pack has to simple drive pack as the software says it is trial and it is a very old edition of the software. (CD doesn't even define how limited the software is and suggests it is different between products it is bundled with). I didn't install it as my pc already has a paid for package I like. While the drive boasts it is quiet, I think it probably is to cheaper models of the past but the 14 year old Lightscribe HP (Toshiba-Samsung) unit it replaced was even more quiet both at burning spinning & initial boot up "I am here, got any bootable stuff" spin. This is not a game changer, it is quiet enough and the one spin at boot up is only a momentary noise. It works well, costs very little, pity ODD devices are falling out of fashion now they are so good & cheap. (This is not Lightscribe, that is a dead technology anyway, but it is M-disc compatible according to the box)

I bought this to replace the drive in my Acer Aspire E1-570 laptop, having measured the thickness of the existing drive to be sure I needed the 9.5 mm size. The LiteOn drive arrived in a cardboard box labelled "bulk" with no instructions or data, just the drive and foam packing.I removed the single screw which held my drive from the back of the laptop and pulled the drive out. I pushed the new drive in. It went in quite far at the front as the bezel is different. I couldn't get the drive to be seen by Windows 10. The reason was that even though it seemed plugged in it was not in far enough due to the bezel. So here is what I had to do:The liteOn drive was closed. It had arrived closed and now I had to open it to get it back out.There is a pinhole in the front of the bezel to enable manual opening (no power) by pushing in a pin. I did that.The bezel had to be removed. This has to be done very carefully. The main tab which holds the bezel is on the front right side underneath and you need to lift the flap under which it is locked) slightly with a small screwdriver to release it and pull it forward. There are also a few arrow shaped tabs which come out easily just by pulling.I swapped the bezel with that from my original drive.The bracket from the back of the original drive which was held on by a really tiny screw, I also transferred to the LiteOn drive. The tiny screw is so small that if you drop it you may not find it again and you will not have a spare anything like it. The small bracket accepts the screw that you put through the back of the laptop to secure the drive.Once I did the above the drive worked perfectly. It used the same driver as my original drive. Windows 10 did not find a more up to date driver.So the job of installing consists of careful fiddly removal and fitting of bezels and small securing bracket, taking care not to force or break anything or lose the tiny screw for the small securing bracket. No software installation required.

A standard drive so standard fitting no problem.It arrived in bubble wrap in an envelope but NO box. So whether it arrives in one piece will be largely down to luck! Mine arrived intact. For the money I'd expect it to be boxed in some way - maybe just a poor decision by the packer in the Amazon warehouse?I do have one other minor gripe. The drive is more like charcoal grey than black - this is very obvious against the black front of my computer case. My old, but dead, DVD drive was properly black and a good match.I also noticed that the PCB to which the connectors are attached on the back is incredibly thin and flimsy - flexes when attaching the connectors. So this is very much a low quality item built using the cheapest materials. It's going to get very little (almost zero) use, so hopefully it will stand the test of time.

i started my first ever pc build in dec last year and completed it in a few days. all that was missing was an internal dvd, however i did pick up a new usb dvd player which done he job but i still wanted to get an internal one. and i am so glad i choosed this one, i went for price really as all dvd players are the same 99% of the time. i got the bare bones one which didnt come with screws or a sata cable but i had them anyway. this works perfcetly and i love it.however a few things for newbies to note.....A) if you take out the sata cable from your hard drive (thats plugged into port 1 for example) and put it in the dvd player then put a NEW sata cable in your hard drive and plug that back into port 1, the pc MAY boot up saying "cant find operating system" even tho its plugged into the same sata port as it was. something to do with the sata cable? maybe. but i switched back to the original cable and it worked.....wonder what happens when it breaks?B) This dvd player did ot include any CD but it was a plug and play product. its like plugging in a keyboard to the pc, it just works. same here with this.I also like to add that my one DOESNT make any loud noises at all, its quiet and no louder then my pc fan spinning on my GTX 1050 graphic card, in fact the card is louder when its downloading a game from steam. I think this is a great dvd player and can recommend if your replacing an old knackered one, or building your first ever pc from scratch like i have.