In short I need a cheap external disc drive and dont want to cough up the 20$ and buy online so thrift store it is. I cant really come up with a way to test these usually usb powered drives besides somehow setting up a computer or asking the workers for help (doubt they will). Does anyone have an idea to narrow down if a drive is defective or should i just take a chance and hopefully the store has a return policy?
You can connect it to an android phone with an adapter.
bring a laptop. if you want an external one, they most of the time only need usb and if not, probably a 12V power brick
You could try to plug them into a powerbank and put in a disk. See if it spins up normally. It is a bad sign if it repeatedly spins up or down.
I did not try if this works.
Alrighty this might be plan B if the adapter idea doesnt work appreciate it
Most of them will let you take stuff back for a week, even if they’ll only give you a credit note back.
Take in an already working laptop to test with.
The majority of thrift stores I’ve been to dont even allow to bring in bags so sadly dont think this will work in my case but I’ll still ask the staff when I go for future reference thank you
You can usually go in empty handed first and ask if it’s ok for you to bring in just your laptop to see if a usb drive works, and then go get it with minimal other stuff for them to be suspicious about.
Then when you try to leave they’ll tackle you for ‘stealing’ a laptop.
That’s one reason to talk to them and ask permission first, avoiding that kind of drama.
