I don’t know if you knew this or not, but net-books as a rule do not have an optical drive. Most software manufacturers are moving towards down-loadable software, however some of us already own software. And what happens if you know the one person in existence without a USB drive, that needs to borrow that 200Mb file? There are dozens of reasons that it would be imperative to own a USB optical drive, and for all of those and more, archgon has released the MD-9102 Mobile Optical Disk Drive.
“Mobile Optical Disk Drive MD-9102 DVD Re-Writer is designed to be Feather-Light, Ultra Slim and Compact Portable optical storage device for 9.5mm Optical Hard Drive. With Glossy Surface, Streamlines Design, USB 2.0 interface and Plug & Play ability, MD-9102 present itself as elegant and noble digital device, the best choice for read & store your favor music, movies, picture and all other digital files. Powered by USB 2.0 Y Cable and with no adaptor required, it is a compact and portable External DVD Re-Writer for you to use in living room, office, school and library or even in Starbucks!
Weighted only 133.4 (Not include ODD) and 15mm thinness, MD-9102 has earned itself rightful place as one of the lightest and slimmest DVD-RW in the world.”
When I read that I was reviewing a “9.5mm Optical Hard drive” I was really excited, I had never even seen or heard about one of them, nor did I have any Idea how I would go about testing it. While I was relieved by the fact that it was indeed an external optical disk drive, I was consoled by the fact that I finally had an optical drive small enough that I could bring it anywhere. Let’s take a look and see if the drive is worth bringing all the way to your local coffee whole.
Specifications:
| Model Number | MD-9102-U2 |
| ODD Supply | 9.5 mm Sata ODD |
| External Interface | USB 2.0 |
| Housing Material | Plastic |
| Power Source | USB Type A-Mini B Y Cable |
| Dimension | 155.5 x 144 x 15mm |
| Weight | 133.4g |
| System Compatible | Win/Mac/Linux |
Features:
This features list is from the manufacturers website, I wish they had included the drive’s disk compatibility on this page. but it does look nice. And in all honestly, the drives function and purpose are so simple they probably don’t require any advanced specification.
Packaging:
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The packaging reveals an important fact, this drive is actually manufactured by Panasonic. Archgon is simply responsible for the assembly and production of the housing. That being said, another important note, the back of this box would suggest that it will play (and potentially burn) Blu-Ray disks. It doesn’t.
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The inside packaging is just as you would expect, the drive itself is inside a simple plastic tray with the plastic sheet protecting the sleek black finish
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The package contents are minimalistic, under the plastic tray you have the Y usb cable and the Nero Essentials disk.
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The drive itself is very compact, and the sleek finish is a nice touch. This drive feels smaller than a DVD case, i’m impressed.
Testing:
Test Setup:
- MSI Wind Netbook (plugged in)
As is the standard these days this drive will handle both DVD’s and CD’s without issue, both + and – format. It will also burn either format of both DVD and CD. As mentioned above, inspection of the packaging could incorrectly give you the impression that this drive will read and write BLU-ray. I burned a cd and DVD of photos with no issues. I then used the burned DVD to test the drive.
I’m testing this drive using NERO disk speed. This utility was included with the Nero Essentials disk that was bundled with the drive.
Looking at the results of this four minute benchmark, they are very straight foraward. I tested using a 930Mb disk of photos, this did not allow the drive to reach its full speed capabilities but demonstrated the drive during every day use.
Conclusion:
This drive came from a relatively unheard manufacturer, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of product. Despite the slightly misleading packaging, the manufacturers specifications, as well as the instructions make no mention of the drives BLU-Ray compatibility, so I am willing to Ignore this oversight. The archgon drive is undoubtedly the underdog when compared with a recognized name of Lite-On, and the two drives were essentially identical. I believe the small size, and appearance conscious design set the drive apart from its competitors. It was not a hard decision to award the archgon Mobile Optical disk drive, the TechwareLabs approved hardware award.
