DVD recommendations for Pilates and Spanish?

Recommendations on External DVD Rom Drives for a PC?

• I have a refurbished (originally circa 2001) IBM PC desktop computer. It has Windows XP and related circa 2009 updates on basic software. There are two USB connection ports on the face, several in the back. The computer has a CD-Rom-- I can watch CD-Rom content at the most, but not DVD videos. I don't necessarily want to pay for having the internal disc drive removed/replaced. I have recently been made aware of the possibilities with an External DVD Rom. Is this a viable option for viewing DVD videos? How does this work, exactly? Is this simply an add-on, and you still put a DVD disc on the internal drive? Or does this device allow you to insert DVD discs into it directly, and plays the footage on your monitor screen? How expensive are these devices? What are the reliable brands?

• Answer:

  If the internal drive is a CD-ROM drive, it cannot read DVDs, period. If you bought an external DVD drive, you'd insert DVDs into that instead. Replacing the old CD drive with a DVD ROM isn;t difficult, but if your computer is originally 2001 era, that means you'll probably need an IDE DVD drive. That should be confirmed first. A brand-new DVD burner (which can read & write both CDs and DVDs) only costs about $25. Brands don't mean a whole lot, they're commodities. LG, Lite-On, Samsung, Sony are all good. It's hard to recommend any external drive when a screwdriver and 10 minutes is all that's usually needed to swap the CD drive for a DVD drive. At worst, bribe a tech-savvy relative or neighbor to come over and do the upgrade? Offer to buy them lunch! I recommend this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106327 It's important to remember that for computers with Windows XP you'll want a retail drive, not an OEM/bulk drive because those don't come with any software. And XP doesn't have DVD burning support built-in. External/USB DVD drives are more expensive. They're also slower (limited by USB speeds and a computer from 2001 is probably older USB 1.1 which is REALLY slow), but they work. Really slim compact models are delicate. That's the other advantage to an internal drive- not being portable means they don't get knocked out of alignment after a few months of being carried around in backpacks or purses. This will read/play DVDs: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106329 While this is a burner: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106338