HP 9.5mm Slim DVD-ROM Optical Drive

Product Overview

AI-generated summary

At £60.47 ex-VAT, this kind of slim HP DVD-ROM drive is a “do you actually need a disc drive?” purchase. For basic read-only needs—installing older software from DVD, running legacy imaging/diagnostic tools, or occasional media—it's perfectly fine. The slim form factor also matters if you’re fitting it into a tighter chassis or you’re retrofitting a fleet of devices that still depend on optical media. In day-to-day IT support, reliability is usually more about the laptop/bay compatibility and cable/fit than the drive itself, and HP’s generally boring (in a good way) here.

I wouldn’t buy it if you’re expecting anything more than reading discs. If you’re replacing a DVD±RW that users actually burn/update media with, you’ll feel the pain pretty quickly. Also, if you’re equipping newer users or projects that rely on downloads/USB provisioning, you may be better spending that money elsewhere—opticals are increasingly a “last resort” capability. Overall: buy it if you’ve got a concrete legacy requirement and want a sensible, low-drama read-only drive; skip it if optical writing or modern deployment workflows are the real goal.