Asus has announced a new external DVD burner that is only 13 mm thick. The SDRW-08U5S-U has a design that matches the Ultrabooks from Asus, the Asus Zenbooks. Most Ultrabooks don't come with optical drives as they are too thick and the development of thinner drives is too expensive. Asus claims that the 13 mm thin DVD burners are the thinnest currently available but Pioneer announced a similar12 mm thin burner two weeks ago.
The SDRW-08U5S-U can be used in both a horizontal and vertical position and is available in three different colors, Mellow Metallic, Dusty Rose and Bright Berry. They also feature Disc Encryption II technology which makes it possible to encrypt data on CD or DVD recorable. The drives should become available within in a month in the United States and should cost around $65-70.