Can I watch DVDs on a laptop with an external drive?

Can you watch DVDs on a laptop with an external drive?

If it's an external DVD drive, yes.

Unless you mean a DVD player. You can't simply connect this to a laptop.

Drive

An external DVD drive via. USB is nothing more than an internal DVD drive via SATA.

BluRays can't be played with it (if it is only a DVD drive), and they usually need a paid program anyway.
DVDs go with no problems.

If it's a DVD or Blu-ray drive, it works.
If it is a CD drive, it will not fail as it can't read DVDs.

No problem. You then only have to install the VLC player. It is also possible that a DVD player software is supplied with the drive.

If the external drive is a DVD drive and you have the appropriate playback software: Yes, of course.

So for DVDs the free VLC player works (e.g.) to play purchased films.

Only with Blurays are only films without copy protection.

A commercial playback program is then required for this.

That's exactly how it was meant, thank you.

I initially overlooked the last line of your answer.

Hence my comment on it.

I didn't have a problem with Windows 7, but Windows 10 requires you to download an app. And I'm not sure if there's any app that isn't for surveillance.