- Virtual CIO
The IT Due Diligence Checklist for Mergers and Acquisitions
11 Mar, 2026




£52.42 inc. VAT
AI-generated summary
If you’re buying an optical drive in 2026, you’re usually doing it for a specific job: legacy installs, old lab equipment, or loading software images from discs when the vendor can’t/won’t ship USB/ISO options. At **£43.08 ex-VAT**, this Dell-branded DVD±RW unit is a pretty sensible choice *if* you know your machine needs a drive and your setup supports it (internal SATA-style bays are the usual reality). Dell OEM parts tend to be the “just works” option in corporate environments where drivers, trays, and firmware expectations matter more than experimenting.
That said, I wouldn’t buy it “just because” if you don’t have a clear use case. For most modern business work, paying for a DVD±RW drive is wasted money—USB sticks, network boot, and download/ISO workflows have made optical media the exception, not the rule. Also, consider whether you need RW specifically—if you only ever read discs, a reader-only approach (or, better, eliminating the need for discs) is often the better long-term value.
**Who should buy:** IT teams kitting out legacy desktops/workstations, engineers maintaining older systems, anyone doing recurring disc-based media deployment. **Who shouldn’t:** teams building new setups or anyone who can handle installs via USB/ISO—optical is usually a convenience you’re paying to avoid problems, not a benefit.

Asus
ASUS ZenDrive U7M SDRW-08U7M-U - Disk drive - DVD�RW (�R DL) / DVD-RAM - 8x/8x/5x - USB 2.0 - external - silver

Asus
ASUS SDRW-08D2S-U LITE - Disk drive - DVD�RW (�R DL) / DVD-RAM - 8x/8x/5x - USB 2.0 - external - black

HP
HP 9.5mm Slim SuperMulti DVD Writer

Asus
ASUS SDRW-08U5S-U - Disk drive - DVD�RW (�R DL) / DVD-RAM - 8x/8x/5x - USB 2.0 - external - dusty rose