Chromebook 3100: External DVD Player Suggestions?

There are many slim portable USB optical drives (to play DVD and CD) available from Amazon, Best Buy, etc. There are many reputable sites that have reviews of such hardware. Any decent one will work on a Windows PC. Here's a Lifewire article that selected five recommended models.

If you want to play DVD movies, read on. The problem is that Chromebooks run Chrome OS, and Google does not provide codecs to play DVD movies or CD videos. It can read data disks, but not play commercial movie and music disks.

For a time, it was possible to load VLC onto Chrome to play DVD movies and music CDs. Later, changes to Chrome OS made that impossible. See this article. Note that first mention of "You can play a video CD or movie DVD" is a typo, as they meant to say "You can't play a video CD or movie DVD". Later in the article they confirm that Chrome cannot play video CD or movie DVD.

I've read that since that time, there is now VLC for Chrome OS that is supposed to be able to do what you want. Here's an article about it.  Note that you won't see a friendly player interface as you would in Windows, Mac OS, or even in Linux. Instead, due to Chrome limitations, you'll have to install the player, launch the player, and then browse to the files on the DVD and choose one of the files that makes up the movie DVD.

So, it may be possible, but probably not what you're used to.

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@bookworm29 wrote:

Hi,

I'm located in NYC and I recently borrowed a Dell Chromebook 3100 from my college to use. Now, I'm looking to purchase an external DVD player that will be compatible with the model of the chromebook that I'm using.

I was wondering if someone could help me figure this out. If you could drop product recommendation links on Amazon, then that would also be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot!

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Hey!
Sure thing! If you're looking for an external DVD player that works with your Dell Chromebook 3100, you'll want one with a USB connection, as Chromebooks typically support USB devices. You can find plenty of options on Amazon. One popular and reliable choice is the "External DVD CD Drive, Mougerk USB 3.0 Portable CD DVD +/-RW Optical Drive." It's compact, easy to use, and compatible with your Chromebook. 

Certainly, I can help you find a compatible external DVD player for your Dell Chromebook 3100. However, please note that Chromebooks typically don't have built-in DVD drives, so you'll need an external one. Here are a couple of options:

1. External DVD Drive with USB-A: If your Dell Chromebook 3100 has a USB-A port (the traditional rectangular USB port), you can consider an external DVD drive like this one: [External DVD Drive on Amazon](Amazon product link).

2. External DVD Drive with USB-C: If your Chromebook has a USB-C port, you'll need an external DVD drive that's compatible with USB-C. Here's an example: [External DVD Drive with USB-C on Amazon](Amazon product link).