NEW REVIEW: After some back and forth with the Roofull folks, I can change this rating.On the whole, the customer support from Roofull is pretty good. There is sometimes some lag period, because they seem to be based in China, which means, on average, a good 12 hour time difference between when you write to them and they’re able to respond. Not a big deal, but it can stretch things out a bit as you’re getting your issues addressed.Given the nature of the problem I had with my device, I thought it was pretty obvious from drop that it was a physical issue, likely with the laser. I had, after all, already experimented with different types of software and disks to eliminate alternate explanations for the background sounds in the audio files I was ripping from CD. Still, they asked me try several more apps, and even on a different laptop, before attempting a return. I suppose I don’t blame them; that’s due diligence. But again, the problem was never that my laptop couldn’t recognize the drive, or that the apps had any trouble recognizing it or the CDs. I could play CDs and rip audio; it’s just that it consistently came with a sound that resembled someone flicking a thick wad of paper in regular intervals of less than a second. So, an obvious problem, but charitably, we could say that they’re just trying to make sure their bases are covered.The return with Amazon was surprisingly simple; I’ve never needed to do that before, so it was interesting being introduced to that process. I had just planned to bank the refunded Amazon credit and use it toward a competitor’s device.Unexpectedly though, Roofull got in touch with me, and asked my permission to send me a free replacement, even though I already had gotten a refund from Amazon. They seemed truly worried that I had left a bad review, and wanted the opportunity to make it right with a replacement that worked as advertised. Having no reason to object, I agreed, and within a week or two, the replacement arrived at my doorstep.The first thing to note is that the replacement does NOT come with the travel wallet that the Amazon version does. Hard to complain though, gift horses being what they are. (As an aside, I also noticed that if you look closely, there are competing devices on Amazon that look absolutely identical, just having different company names. I didn’t notice this similarity until I had to work with the device without that wallet. I suspect there’s a single manufacturer of these devices, and that these companies merely subcontract their own “official” devices, despite having identical designs.)But the second thing, and the one most relevant to this review, is the question of whether this replacement device fared any better than the first. And the answer is, yes, absolutely. This time, audio CDs played normally, and CD ripping. After being put through its paces even with unusual CDs (like the X-Files TV soundtrack, and its notoriously difficult-to-access hidden tracks) this drive could handle it.So I can’t really say how representative the first drive I received was. It may have been a one-in-a-million goof, or it could how one of every three turned out. I can say this much for Roofull: they went out of their way to make sure I was a satisfied customer, and seemed pretty confident that this replacement drive wouldn’t have the same issues as its predecessor. Whatever else is true, they stand by their product, and what more can you hope for in a vendor?ORIGINAL REVIEW: I should preface this review by stating that I just received this today, so it's barely out of the box. I've also contacted Roofull's tech support, so with any luck, they will be able to make this right shortly, and this review will be moot. But here's what I experienced out of the box. The packaging is nice enough, and the foam wallet it comes with isn't especially sturdy, but it's still a nice touch, something other external CD/DVD Roms lack. Though I can't help but wonder if the reason they provide it is that the drive picks up fingerprints so easily. Minor issue, but worth mentioning.The primary issue I encountered has to do with what, for me, will be this drive's primary purpose. When my old laptop gave up the ghost, I had to purchase a new laptop which lacked its own internal optical drive. The repair guy who sold me the laptop assured me I had nothing to worry about; he pointed out that we rarely need optical drives anymore anyway, but if for some reason I did, I could easily get an external one; they are cheap and easily had these days. But this was no small matter for me, in that my obsessions with music often lead me to obscure albums that can only be had on vinyl or CD. The latter requires a good optical drive for ripping. My previous laptop's internal drive reliably carried out this task with ease. This one... well, so far, it's a bust.I should say, I had no trouble getting it set up. Windows 10 immediately recognized it as a CD drive, as did my media software. So, with an obscure CD from the halcyon days of 1998 in hand, I fired it up. The media recognized the CD just fine. The problem came when I tried to play it. The sound was there, but the player adds this tapping noise to the background. I tried ripping the CD, and the sound was there in the mp3; indeed, the error correction in my software wouldn't even let me complete the process. I experimented with different CDs, and different media software. In every case, that weird sound was there.I haven't experimented with CD-ROM software or DVD playing, much less CD/DVD burning. My primary purpose was the ripping of audio CDs, and if it can't handle that function, then it's defective. Again, take this all with a grain of salt; I'm hopeful Roofull can either replace it or, if there is some (unlikely) software tweak they can recommend, we can implement that. But thus far, I cannot recommend this product.