Hitachi LG GP96Y Slim Portable DVD Writer Quick Review

By Nathan Kirsch

The PR team over at Hitachi – LG Data Storage, Inc. recently contacted Legit Reviews after reading our review on the Rioddas External CD/DVD optical USB drive. They too were upset and have noticed that a large number of Chinese external DVD makers are selling refurbished drives as new on Amazon. They’ve reported the issue to Amazon directly, but were told that the suppliers are not violating their policies. That means you can still buy new external drives that have used or refurbished parts inside without knowing it.

Well, the good news is the Hitachi – LG Data Storage (HLDS) makes totally new external DVD optical drives! They offered to send over the Hitachi LG GP96Y to check out and we figured it couldn’t hurt. This drive is available for $31.99 over at Amazon with free shipping in your choice or white or black. We were sent the black model.

Hitachi LG GP96Y Portable DVD Writer

This portable DVD video player was just introduced in December 2020 and works on Windows, Linux, Fire OS, Mac, Android TV, and any Android powered smartphone or tablet. It will not support iOS, so Apple iPhone users will need to sit this one out for a little bit. Hitachi-LG says that iOS support is under development and should be ready in Q3 2021.

HLDS GP96 Portable DVD for Multi OS Specifications

  • 8x DVD+/-R Write
  • 6x DVD+/-R DL Write
  • 5x DVD-RAM Write
  • 24x CD-R Write
  • Interface: USB 2.0 (3.0 compatible)
  • Dimensions: 141 mm x 14 mm x 136.5 mm
  • Weight: 200g
  • MTTF(Mean Time To Failure): 60,000 POH (Power On Hours)

Hitachi LG GP96Y Portable DVD Writer Accessories

Most computer cases don’t have any 5.25″ drive bays in them these days, so interest in USB optical drives seems to be increasing. Hitachi-LG includes everything you need to get going in the box. It comes with USB Type-A and USB Type-C cables, so you can easily connect it to a wide variety of devices. The player will play CD, CDR, CDRW, DVD, DVDR, DVDRW formats.

Hitachi LG GP96Y Portable DVD Writer USB Cables

CyberLink Media Suite 10 is also included, so you have the popular Cyberlink Power2Go app straight away for PCs. If you are wanting to install it to an Android device you’ll need to install a free app to get the best user experience. Some of the key apps that are supported are True DVD+ and DISC LINK Platinum. With these apps you’ll be able to use your TV remote control to play DVDs off this player, listen to music, and more.

Hitachi LG GP96Y Portable DVD Writer Micro USB Port

The player itself features a micro USB socket, so you’ll be easily able to replace cables should one ever get lost or broken.

Hitachi LG GP96Y Portable DVD Writer Front

The front of the HLDS GP96Y DVD player has a bright lime green button that gives it a fun splash of color. There is also the tiny hole that allows you to open the drive with a paper clip in the event that you need to manually open the disc tray. This is only needed if it gets jammed or will for some reason not open.

We had a good user experience with the HLDS GP96Y player and it worked well on our PC, TV and the tablet that we tried it out on. HLDS has a 15 minute video going over usage of the GP96Y that we embedded above that goes over setup and general usage.

At the end of the day the HLDS GP96Y is a brand new external USB DVD drive inside and out. It currently costs $31.99 over at Amazon with free shipping. You’ll be able to find other ‘new’ external drives for less, but you really won’t know if they are using used or refurbished parts inside unless you open it up. The HLDS GP96Y gives you the peace of mind that you are getting something new and it is also backed by a 1-year warranty.