USB driven optical drive?

[SteveG]

I've had 3 of the LG drives. The locking mechanism for the drawer fails. I currently have one because I spent $3 at Microcenter for the no-questions-asked replacement. (Which is good for 1 year, after that they charge you tax on the replacement.) They last about a year then fail to close.

Also, after a certain point the drive cannot read DVDs to rip them.

The Asus and the Dell ones have the same problem. It appears to be the same mechanism.