A friend has a need for a high speed external drive to read CD's as fast
as possible. It plugs into a Raspberry Pi based device and we are not
confident of the usb power available.

He bought a non-usb powered LG GE24NU40 from Amazon UK, which was
shipped from the USA. After about 2 weeks it has failed. He called
Amazon, who said it would have to be posted back to Kentucky at his
cost. If they agreed it was faulty, his costs would be refunded.
The Post Office have told him the postage cost would be over £20, so he
is now considering his options.

He has tried an external usb powered drive, but that is nowhere the same
speed and looking at the drive in it, it is the same model as in my
ancient Lenovo T410 laptop. The LG drive is rated at 48x for CD's.

I have had him check the psu that came with the drive, and it is rated
for 110 to 240 volts. The drawer opens and closes, but no CD's are
detected. I have got him looking for his CD cleaning disk.

I suggested he looked for a UK source of a similar drive, but no-one
seems to sell anything but usb powered ones now.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a decent high speed non-usb powered
external drive? I don't want to suggest buying a case and internal
drive, as I'd have to drive over to him to assemble it.
--
Bill