External portable DVD player?

Okay, so my dad bought a netbook to bring with him when he is in Afghanistan for 6 months.
The only thing we didn't realize is its lack of DVD player, which could be useful if he wants to watch some movies on his off time.

So I assume external portable DVD players exist? USB powered? What's the cheapest one I can possibly find?

Thank you for the help.

Also note, it just needs to play CDs and DVDs. I don't need to to be burn any CDs or DVDs.

 

Yes, they exist and are easy to find online or in brick and mortar electronics stores.

Don't think there are just readers anymore, they're all combo dvd reader/writers nowadays.

You'll want to make sure that it says fully USB bus powered in the specs, as some do require an external extra power source.

They're not particularly cheap, generally ranging from $75 to $150 for decent ones. I have an LG one that's served me well for a long time, but its the only one I've had experience with.

 

Er that's what I was afraid of...
That's 1/3 the cost of the netbook just for the DVD drive...
I'll buy yours for 30$!

 

Okay, new question.
Can I buy an enclosure for a DVD player?
My parents currently have an old desktop computer (that they use and will replace with a notebook they bought the other day). I could remove that DVD player from it.
So can I buy some enclosure (like I can do for hard drives) to make it a portable external DVD player? And would I be able to make it USB powered?

Thank you for the help!

 

If it's a desktop optical drive, you probably can't find an enclosure (unless you find something someone sourced from another external optical drive). You can definitely find a SATA or PATA to USB adapter and use it as an external ODD, but you won't be able to make it USB powered. Desktop optical drives simply draw too much power; you'd have to run it off three or four USB ports to get enough juice.

 

Any desktop DVD-ROM drive will require external power when used in an enclosure.

Your best bet is to get a USB powered external DVD drive. These things use laptop DVD drives in them. I'm not sure if you can buy enclosures separately though - at least I haven't seen any.

 

Alright that's what I needed to know.
Thank you.

 

See here for a selection of the latest slim burners. Or there are some combo drives on ebay for a bit less money.

John