DVD Separate player for laptop

roddydogs

Bought a new laptop, but of course they don't have optical drives nowadays, no problem just get a cheepie fom e-bay, which I did. Dont need to burn stuff, or play Dvds, just to load all my old photos. However it just will not play, just showing "not recognised",  is it just pot luck with these chinese cheepies, or is there a solution? Thanks.

Browntoa

Usb connection ? 

If you still have access to a pc with a drive then if both are networked you can share the pcs dvd drive and access it on the laptop 

lukew1985

I'd probably get a branded one it's only 26 quid at Argos. Can't post links but it's an Asus one 

Frozen_up_north

I bought one from eBay some time ago and it works fine. It looks the same as eBay item number 143480432003

Neil_Jones

roddydogs said:

Bought a new laptop, but of course they don't have optical drives nowadays, no problem just get a cheepie fom e-bay, which I did. Dont need to burn stuff, or play Dvds, just to load all my old photos. However it just will not play, just showing "not recognised",  is it just pot luck with these chinese cheepies, or is there a solution? Thanks.

That implies its not getting enough power.  9 times out of 10 issues with USB devices that are designed to run off the USB power that Windows claims it can't recognise are almost always power issues.

Did the unit you buy have one USB connector or two?  If the laptop you have doesn't have two USB ports close enough together to power a twin USB connector(such if they're on either side of the laptop) then you may have to either connect it to a powered USB hub or daisy chain some extenders together to make it work.

What laptop have you bought and what eBay DVD unit have you bought?

roddydogs

Hi, tried the 2 connectors didnt make any difference. Its an hp laptop from jl exclusive to them, the player is a generic chinese one from e bay, the silver one, they all seem to be the same.

TadleyBaggie

If the cable has 2 USB connectors, have you tried connecting both at the same time? It's likely that a single USB connection cannot supply enough power to the DVD drive.

Neil_Jones

roddydogs said:

Hi, tried the 2 connectors didnt make any difference. Its an hp laptop from jl exclusive to them, the player is a generic chinese one from e bay, the silver one, they all seem to be the same.

With respect, if you don't provide any details, don't get upset if you don't get any help.  Please help us to help you.  We're not mind readers.

There are 12 "exclusive" HP John Lewis laptops on the website.  Which one have you bought?  Details will be on your invoice or confirmation email.

With regards to the DVD player - "the silver one" doesn't help.  What is the eBay item number of the item you bought?  Again that'll be on your confirmation email or you can get it from your My eBay.

dan958

If you've got a PC to test with, could you try plugging in both usbs to the back of your computer (not the front IO) and see if that works?

grumpycrab

roddydogs said:

Bought a ... cheepie [DVD separate player] fom e-bay,  just to load all my old photos. 

Does anything work in the player? e.g. CD or DVD...

roddydogs

Its an hp 15s-eq0004na, yes ive tried downloading VLC, Tried dvds, audio cds, and of course my photo cds, no joy.
Its a bog standard no make generic chinese player, loads on e bay and amazon.