If you use one of the small notebooks that fall into the ultraportable category, you may not have an optical drive onboard. Some cheap computers could lack a DVD burner as well. When it comes time for a new DVD drive or an upgrade, an external USB DVD burner is the way to go for many users.

Buffalo has a new external USB Super-Multi drive called the DSM-SL20U2. The drive does what you expect a DVD burner to do — like burn DVDs and read them. It also adds a feature that you don’t expect from a PC DVD drive — upscaling for DVD movies.

The drive can upscale standard definition DVD movies at 480p resolution to full HD 1080p resolution. That may well make this the perfect external DVD drive for the movie fan. The drive will be available later this summer. There is no word on if the drive will be coming to the US.

Akihabara News