Samsung SE-218BB Portable 8x DVD Writer

Model: Samsung SE-218BB Portable 8x DVD Writer
Manufacturer: Samsung Electronics
Provided By: Samsung America

Samsung Electronics has been a leader in the electronics industry for more than 30 years. Since the introduction of their first television in 1970, this Korean company has grown to become one of the world's leading electronics manufacturers, offering everything from tiny semiconductors to large home appliances. Samsung is no stranger to the storage industry either. Along with an assortment of hard drive and flash based storage solutions, the company offers DVD and Blu-ray Disc drives for the the portable and desktop computer markets.

With the growing popularity of ultrabooks and tablets, Samsung has set its sights on the portable optical drive market. This spring, the company introduced its latest external slim DVD writer, the SE-218BB. While measuring a mere 14mm in height, this lightweight drive is capable of 8x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 6x DVD±R DL and 5x DVD-RAM writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 8x.  The SE-218BB is also USB powered and features support for Samsung's AV connectivity technology. When in AV connectivity mode, the drive can be plugged into a USB port on a TV, tablet or other AV device and used to play back the music, pictures and videos stored on a CD or DVD.

Needless to say, this is only a taste of what the SE-218BB has to offer. To give you an idea of what to expect from Samsung's external slim DVD writer, we'll take a look at some of  the drive's features and then put it through its paces to see how it performs. Is the SE-218BB the best choice for the person on the go? Keep reading as we find out.

What's in the box?:

• Samsung SE-218BB Portable 8x DVD Writer
• Software CD
• Quick Installation Guide
• USB Cable

Physical Features:

The drive Samsung sent us for this review was manufactured in April of 2011 and had firmware TS00. At the time of this review, this is the only firmware available for the SE-218BB.

The Samsung SE-218BB is one of the smallest DVD writers to come through the 'Labs. Measuring 148mm wide by 143mm long, its footprint is slightly larger than the Lite-On eNAU708. However with a height of only 14mm, the SE-218BB is the thinnest external optical drive on the market today.

The body of the SE-218BB is constructed out of lightweight, black plastic. The top of the drive has faux brushed metal finish with a large Samsung logo molded into it. The bottom and sides of the SE-218BB have a normal matte finish. There are also four small rubber feet on the bottom to keep it from sliding around when placed on a flat surface.

The LED and eject button are located along the front of the SE-218BB. This LED lights up orange when both reading and writing. 

Along the rear, you can see the SE-218BB's USB 2.0 interface. This connector not only transfers data but provides power for the drive.

Technical Specs:

Most of the specs below have been taken from Samsung's website and the manual that came with the drive.

AV Connectivity:

The SE-218BB is the latest DVD writer from Samsung to offer support for their exclusive AV connectivity technology. This unique feature lets you connect the drive to a TV, Android tablet or other AV device via USB and play back the music, pictures and videos stored on a CD or DVD.

To put the SE-218BB into AV connectivity mode, simply hold down the eject button for 3 seconds while the tray is open. When you do this, the drive will be recognized as a USB memory device rather than an optical drive.

Samsung's AV connectivity technology does have its limitations. It only works with CD and DVD (except DVD-RAM) media using UDF or ISO-9660 file systems. The number of files it can recognize is also limited to 3000 and they must be located in a directory no more than five levels deep. Furthermore, the number and size of the files determines the amount of time it takes the drive to recognize a disc. With a 4.3GB DVD, it can take up to two and a half minutes for the SE-218BB to read the contents and convert the file system to FAT32 so that it can be used by AV devices.

More Features:

By looking at the picture below, you can see that Samsung's new DVD writer is identified as an "TSSTcorp CDDVDW SE-218BB."

Nero also shows that the SE-218BB has a maximum CD writing speed of 24x and a 1024KB buffer. This buffer is also backed up by Super Link buffer underrun protection. According to Nero, the SE-218BB can also write CD-Text and overburn. When testing the drive's capacity, it had no problems overburning up to 99 minutes with our CompUSA media.

Using Alex Noe's Weak Sector Utility we were able to determine that the SE-218BB is a "two sheep" burner. This means that Samsung's new drive is capable of backing up titles protected by SafeDisc 2, including version 2.51.

Here is a screen shot from Erik Deppe's Opti Drive Control. Among other things, this program queries the drive to see what its reading and writing capabilities are. Opti Drive Control had no problems detecting the SE-218BB's reading and writing speeds and supported disc types.

Opti Drive Control also shows that the SE-218BB is an RPC-2 DVD drive. This means that the drive's region is stored in the firmware. The region can be changed five times and after that it cannot be changed anymore. Unfortunately, a patched RPC-1 firmware is not yet available for this drive.

While Opti Drive Control gives us a quick glance at the SE-218BB's features, DVDINFOpro provides a little more information on some of the drive's reading and writing capabilities. By looking at the screenshot above you can see that while Samsung's new drive can read and write to DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL and DVD-RAM media, it does not support technologies like LightScribe or Labelflash.

The SE-218BB doesn't let you set the book type of DVD+RW discs. However, using software like Nero, you can set the book type for DVD+R and DVD+R DL media to "DVD-ROM." This greatly reduces compatibility problems, especially with older DVD players.

For the SE-218BB's software bundle, Samsung has turned to Nero. The CD that comes with the drive contains a stripped down version of the Nero 10 Essentials suite which includes Nero Express, Nero BackItUp and Nero CoverDesigner.

Nero Express - With Nero Express, Nero has taken the features and performance people have come to expect from Nero Burning Rom and combined them with a user friendly interface. Designed to maximize ease-of-use, Nero Express gives users the ability to quickly and easily burn audio, data and video to CD or DVD.

Nero BackItUp - If you're looking for a quick and easy way to backup your data, BackItUp is the answer. The software protects your data by backing it up to hard drive, memory card, optical disc or network share. Along with an easy, one-click Autobackup option, BackItUp can be scheduled to do full, differential and incremental backups of select files or entire hard drives.

Nero CoverDesigner - Nero CoverDesigner is a powerful application for creating custom cover elements such as booklets, inlays and labels. Nero CoverDesigner supports cover elements for a wide range of disc types, such as CD jewel cases, DVD cases, multi-boxes, maxi CDs, slim packs, business cards and more. Nero CoverDesigner also supports LightScribe and Labelflash recorders, which you can use to print labels directly on compatible media.

While small in size, Samsung's new portable DVD writer isn't short on features. Along with a good looking, ultra thin design, the SE-218BB offers some of the fastest reading and writing speeds available on a portable unit. The drive is capable of 8x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 6x DVD±R DL and 5x DVD-RAM writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 8x. The SE-218BB also includes features like Samsung's AV connectivity technology, Super Link buffer underrun protection and a USB 2.0 interface that provides power for the drive. With all of this, it's easy to see why the Samsung SE-218BB gets a solid 9 out of 10 for its features.

Samsung's new portable DVD writer was very easy to install. Thanks to its USB 2.0 interface, the entire installation process took only a matter of minutes. With no jumpers to worry about, it was as simple as connecting the USB cable. Once connected to our test computer, it took only a matter of seconds for plug and play to install the necessary drivers. After making sure that the drive was recognized correctly in the Device Manager, I was ready to start installing the software.

Software Installation:

As I mentioned earlier, the SE-218BB comes with a CD full of software from CyberLink. If you have autorun enabled on your computer, the menu shown below will automatically come up when you insert the disc.

As you can see, this menu is pretty straight forward. Clicking on the "Installing Software" tab gives you the option to install the Nero OEM Suite as well as trial versions of Cyberlink's PowerDVD, PowerDirector and PhotoDirector software.

Clicking on the Nero icon will bring up another window. From here you can choose to install Nero 10 Essentials and InCD 6. I'm not really sure why InCD isn't included with the rest of the suite, but it's there if you need it.

By default the setup program will install the entire Nero 10 Essentials suite onto your computer. If you don't want to install everything, select the custom installation. From here you can choose the components you want.

Documentation:

Samsung has always done things a bit differently when it comes to the documentation. Instead of just throwing a few PDF files onto the software CD, the company has typically gone the extra mile by providing an easy to navigate, HTML based manual. With the SE-218BB, Samsung has taken this one step further by redirecting you to their website where the user's manual is available in a variety of different languages.

The manual starts out with a few pages worth of safety precautions. It continues on by going over the buttons and connectors located on the front and back of the SE-218BB. Everything is labeled clearly and the functions of each are explained very well. This section of the manual also includes information like the drive's system requirements and a list of recommended media.

From here, the manual jumps right into the physical installation of the SE-218BB. The instructions are pretty brief since there really isn't much to do other than plug in the USB cable and turn the computer on. Nevertheless, Samsung has provided a few diagrams showing how to hook the drive up to a PC, TV or tablet. The manual finishes up by going over the basic operation of the SE-218BB. Along with information on how to use and maintain the drive, there is a short troubleshooting section containing a list of common problems as well as their solutions. Last but not least, Samsung has provided a page full of specifications for the SE-218BB.

The SE-218BB also comes with a small "Quick Installation Guide". This small, fold out guide takes the user step by step through the installation process. While a little short on words, Samsung has included a number of diagrams showing how the drive should be hooked up to your PC, TV or tablet and change to AV Connectivity mode. For most people, the "Quick Installation Guide" will be all they'll need to get the SE-218BB up and running.

For ease of installation, the SE-218BB is hard to beat. Thanks to its bus-powered, USB 2.0 interface, it's as simple as plugging in a single cable. If you need help for some reason, the documentation Samsung has provided is more than sufficient. With this in mind, the SE-218BB scores a solid 9 out of 10 for the installation portion of this review.

While CPU, memory, OS and other variables don't often make a huge difference, there are some nonetheless. We have a computer that is used only for testing hardware. We do this so all tests can be compared reliably.

Test System:

For DVD writers the performance tests are broken down into four sections: CD read, CD write, DVD read and DVD write tests. Each benchmark test has been run three times. The score given is an average of the three.

CD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the CD-ROM benchmarks, CD Speed v4.7.7.16 is  used to test read speeds, access times and CPU usage. For DAE testing, CD Speed is used to give an overall speed rating.

CD Write Tests: To test the write speeds, Nero Burning Rom is used to write 700MB to our test media. Times are recorded. To test rewrite scores, Nero is used again to time how long it takes to write 400MB of random files and directories. Then CyberLink's InstantBurn is used to test packet writing speeds. The same files are copied and pasted in Windows Explorer and timed.

DVD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the DVD benchmarks CD Speed v4.7.7.16 is used to test read speeds, access times, and CPU usage.

DVD Write Tests: To test the DVD write speeds, Nero Burning Rom is used to write a 4.38GB image to our test media. Times are recorded. Then CyberLink's InstantBurn is used to test packet writing speeds. For this, 4GB of random files and directories are copied and pasted in Windows Explorer and timed.

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - Pressed CD:

For this test I used a pressed CD containing one Mode 1 data track. The disc is 74:38 in size and is full of data and directories.

 

The SE-218BB performed fairly well when reading pressed CD's. The drive started reading at 18.36x and quickly accelerated, reaching a maximum transfer speed of 24.27x. Unfortunately, its access times were a little higher than we'd like to see.

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - CD-R Media:

For this test I made a copy of our pressed test CD. I used 12x rated Memorex Gold 74 minute media for the tests.

 

The SE-218BB's average speed was slightly higher when reading CD-R media. It also had no problems recognizing our 99 minute CompUSA media. The SE-218BB read our test disc from start to finish, reaching a maximum transfer speed of 26.76x.

 

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - CD-RW Media:

For this test I made a copy of a pressed test CD. I used some PNY 80 minute CD-RW media for the tests.

 

The SE-218BB also reads CD-RW media at 24x. As you can see, it had no problems reaching this speed in our tests.

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 (DAE) - Pressed CD:

For this test I used Pure Funk. The CD is almost exactly 74 minutes. This helps to squeeze the maximum performance out of the CD.

Exact Audio Copy can tell us a lot about a drive's capabilities. You can see from the screen shot that while the Samsung SE-218BB supports accurate stream and has the ability to retrieve C2 error information from the CD, it does not cache audio data.

 

For a portable drive, the SE-218BB did very well in our DAE tests. The drive started out at 10.68x and reached a maximum speed of 24.49x.

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 (DAE) - CD-R Media:

For this test I used a copy of the Pure Funk CD. It's burned onto the same Memorex Gold 74 minute media I used in the CD Speed tests.

The SE-218BB was a little slower when extracting audio from CD-R media. This time around, it reached a maximum DAE speed of 24.22x. So how did it do in CD Speed's advanced DAE tests? Take a look below.

Samsung's portable DVD writer completed CD Speed's advanced DAE tests with an average score of 17.46x. While the drive was able to go through the tests without creating any errors, it was unable to pass all of the on the fly copying tests. If you look at the advanced features, you can see that the SE-218BB was able to read the CD-Text and subchannel data, but failed to read the lead in and lead out sections of the CD.

CD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 9.4.26.0 and InstantBurn 5:

For this test I randomly generated 700MB of files and directories to test the time it takes the drive to write and close a CD. All of the files are between 1MB and 25MB in size and no more than 10 directories deep. All of the times below include not only the actual writing time, but the lead in and out times too. This gives a more realistic idea of how long it takes to write a CD.

The SE-218BB has a maximum CD writing speed of 24x. To reach this speed, it uses CAV, or Constant Angular Velocity. With Taiyo Yuden's 52x media, the drive started writing at about 10.93x and accelerated, reaching a maximum speed of 24.50x at the end of the session. This gave Samsung's new drive an average writing speed of about 18.63x.

To test the drive's writing times,  I wrote our test data to some Taiyo Yuden media rated at 52x. The results are below.

The SE-218BB took a little more than five minutes to write an entire 701MB CD. While most of the internal writers we've looked at lately can do this in half the time, this is pretty good for a portable drive.

To test the drive's writing quality I used Nero CD Speed. This utility can be used to test the number of C1 and C2 errors as well as the jitter level on a disc. For these tests I used a Lite-On LTR-52327S and read the discs at 32x. 

HP 52x (CMC)

MBI 52x

Taiyo Yuden 52x

The SE-218BB's writing quality was very good. By looking at the screenshots, you can see that the discs burned by the drive had a low number of C1 errors. More importantly, there were no C2 errors at all. 

For the rewriting tests I created 400MB of files on the hard drive and wrote them in DAO mode using Nero. To test the packet writing speeds I copied and pasted the same files off the hard drive onto a CD-RW disc using InstantBurn from CyberLink. Verbatim's 24x Ultra Speed CD-RW media was used for these tests.

While the SE-218BB uses CAV when writing to CD-R discs, it uses Z-CLV, or Zone CLV, when rewriting at 24x. By looking at the screenshot above, you can see that the drive uses a total of four "zones." The SE-218BB starts writing at 10x and jumps to 16x at about the 23 minute mark. When the drive reaches the 45 minute mark, it changes to 20x and then to 24x at the 71 minute mark.

Samsung's portable DVD writer did fairly well in our rewriting tests.  The drive took 4:27 to write 400MB with Nero and 4:08 to do the same with InstantBurn.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - DVD-ROM:

For this test I used a single layer, single sided data DVD-ROM disc that is 4.37GB in size.

 

The SE-218BB performed pretty well when reading single layer DVD-ROM's. In our tests it started reading at 3.35x and reached a maximum transfer speed of about 8.14x. Unfortunately, like in our CD read tests, the drive's access times were a little high.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-RAM:

First, we'll look at the drive's DVD-R and DVD-RW reading performance. For this I made copies of our DVD-ROM test disc using some general use 8x DVD-R and 6x DVD-RW media from Verbatim and then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD Speed. For the DVD-RAM tests, media from Maxell was used. The results are below.

Verbatim DVD-R
 

	Transfer Speed			Access Times			CPU Usage
	Average	Start	End	Random	1/3	Full	1x	2x	4x	8x
Samsung SE-218BB	6.17x	3.41x	8.25x	153ms	161ms	257ms	20%	26%	50%	55%

Verbatim DVD-RW

	Transfer Speed			Access Times			CPU Usage
	Average	Start	End	Random	1/3	Full	1x	2x	4x	8x
Samsung SE-218BB	6.18x	3.40x	8.27x	153ms	157ms	246ms	20%	20%	40%	55%

Verbatim DVD-R DL
 

	Transfer Speed			Access Times			CPU Usage
	Average	Start	End	Random	1/3	Full	1x	2x	4x	8x
Samsung SE-218BB	6.22x	3.45x	8.29x	153ms	161ms	255ms	26%	24%	94%	n/a

The SE-218BB had no problems reading DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-R DL media. In all three cases, the drive reached a maximum transfer speed of about 8x.

Maxell 5x DVD-RAM
 

	Transfer Speed			Access Times			CPU Usage
	Average	Start	End	Random	1/3	Full	1x	2x	4x	8x
Samsung SE-218BB	4.65x	2.97x	5.05x	176ms	193ms	288ms	12%	18%	36%	n/a

Samsung's new drive has a maximum transfer speed of 5x when reading DVD-RAM discs. By looking at the screenshot you can see that it starts reading at about 3x and then accelerates, reaching 5x at about the 1.7GB mark. 

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - DVD+R and DVD+RW:

Next we'll look at the drive's DVD+R and DVD+RW reading performance. For this I made a copy of our DVD-ROM test disc using some 8x DVD+R and 8x DVD+RW media from Verbatim. I then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD Speed. The results are below.

Verbatim DVD+R
 

	Transfer Speed			Access Times			CPU Usage
	Average	Start	End	Random	1/3	Full	1x	2x	4x	8x
Samsung SE-218BB	6.17x	3.40x	8.26x	148ms	156ms	250ms	20%	24%	49%	56%

Verbatim DVD+RW

	Transfer Speed			Access Times			CPU Usage
	Average	Start	End	Random	1/3	Full	1x	2x	4x	8x
Samsung SE-218BB	6.19x	3.42x	8.28x	148ms	163ms	260ms	21%	20%	40%	56%

Verbatim DVD+R DL

The SE-218BB's performance was very similar to what we saw with DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-R DL media. Once again, the drive reached a maximum transfer speed of about 8x.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - DVD-Video:

For these tests I am using the US version of Transformers: The Movie on DVD. The disc is over 4GB and single sided.

 

	Transfer Speed			Access Times			CPU Usage
	Average	Start	End	Random	1/3	Full	1x	2x	4x	8x
Samsung SE-218BB	6.03x	3.31x	8.06x	145ms	172ms	259ms	16%	16%	28%	56%

The SE-218BB didn't slow down very much when reading single layer DVD videos. In our tests, it reached a maximum speed of 8x when reading both single and dual layer discs.

To see how well the SE-218BB worked as a DVD player, I watched a few scenes from Transformers: The Movie and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith using CyberLink's PowerDVD software. The drive had no problems playing back these movies and was fairly quiet.

DVD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 9.4.26.0 and InstantBurn 5:

To test the DVD writing performance of Samsung's new drive I used Verbatim 16x DVD+R, 16x DVD-R, 6x DVD-RW and 8x DVD+RW media. To get the writing times, a 4.38GB image was burned to our test discs using Nero.

The SE-218BB uses P-CAV, or Partial CAV, when writing to DVD+R and DVD-R media at 8x. By looking at the screenshots above, you can see that Samsung's new drive starts writing at about 3.48x and accelerates, reaching its maximum speed at the 4GB mark.

The SE-218BB also features 8x DVD+RW and 6x DVD-RW writing speeds. In both cases, the drive uses Z-CLV to reach its maximum writing speed.

The SE-218BB performed as expected in our DVD writing tests. While not as fast as some of the internal DVD writers we've looked at recently, it turned in some respectable times with DVD±R and DVD±RW media.

To check the media compatibility of the SE-218BB, I ran a few tests using some of the media available in my area. The media types, along with the average time it took the drive to write our 4.38GB image, are listed below.

So what about writing quality? Using CD Speed we can test a disc's PI (Parity Inner), PIF (Parity Inner Fail) and Jitter rates. For these tests I used a Lite-On iHAS424 and read the discs at 8x with the PI and PIF ECC sums set to 8 and 1 respectively.

So what are "good" results supposed to look like? When testing with the iHAS424, the PI errors should not exceed 280 and the number of PIF errors should stay below 4. Since POF errors are uncorrectable, we really don't want to see any of them at all.

I also put these discs through a "stress test" by reading them back at 16x. By reading these discs back at this speed, we can see if there are any readability issues caused by the number of errors or high levels of jitter. 

The SE-218BB's writing quality was pretty good with most of the DVD+R media we tested. Aside from a few small spikes, the PI/PIF rates stayed within acceptable limits.

Lastly, here are some results from our DVD-R test media. While the writing quality varied from one manufacturer to another, the results were fairly good for the most part.

To test the SE-218BB's packet writing performance I used InstantBurn 5. Verbatim 6x DVD-RW, Verbatim 8x DVD+RW and Maxell 5x DVD-RAM media were used once again.

Double Layer DVD Write Tests - Nero Burning Rom 9.4.26.0:

To test the double layer DVD writing performance of the SE-218BB, I used DVD+R DL media from Verbatim and Memorex. I created about 8GB of random files and directories on my hard drive and then burned them to our test discs with Nero.

The SE-218BB performed as expected when writing to DVD+R DL media. In our tests, the drive took 22:47 to write 8001MB of data to Verbatim's 8x DVD+R DL discs. So what about writing quality? Take a look below.

The SE-218BB's writing quality was pretty good with the DVD+R DL media from Verbatim and Memorex. Aside from a few small spikes, the PI/PIF rates stayed within acceptable limits and there weren't any readability problems.

Performance Revisited:

Samsung's new portable DVD writer performed pretty well throughout most of our tests. When writing DVD's, the SE-218BB turned in some relatively good times with DVD±R, DVD±RW and DVD+R DL media. The drive was also fairly quick when reading DVD's. In our tests, the SE-218BB was able to read data and video DVD-ROM's as well as most recordable media at 8x. 

The SE-218BB also did fairly well in our CD read tests. While its access times were a little higher than I would have liked, the drive read both data and audio CD's at  24x. Writing CD's wasn't a problem for the SE-218BB either. For a portable drive, it turned in some respectable writing times and the writing quality was quite good. With all of these things considered, the Samsung SE-218BB gets a solid 8 out of 10 for its performance.

The Samsung SE-218BB is a great choice for anyone looking to buy a portable DVD writer for their ultrabook or laptop computer. Along with a good looking design, this thin and lightweight drive offers a number of useful features as well as some of the fastest reading and writing speeds available on a portable unit.

The SE-218BB performed relatively well when writing to DVD+R and DVD-R media. In our tests, the drive took about 11 minutes to burn an entire 4.7GB DVD. It also turned in some respectable times with DVD±RW and DVD-RAM discs and, thanks to its 6x DVD±R DL writing speed, it took less than 23 minutes to burn 8GB of data. When it came to reading DVD's, the SE-218BB was able to read data and video DVD-ROM's as well as most recordable media at 8x.

Reading CD's wasn't a problem for the SE-218BB either. While its access times were a little higher than I would have liked, the drive read both data and audio CD's at 24x. As a writer, the SE-218BB performed as expected. The drive was relatively quick when writing to CD-R and CD-RW media and its writing quality was quite good.

Samsung's portable DVD writer also has its share of features. A truly portable drive, the SE-218BB is powered completely off a computer's USB bus. Without the need for an AC power source, you can burn and play DVD's wherever you go.  The drive also features Super Link buffer underrun protection and has the ability to set the book type of DVD+R and DVD+R DL media. Last but not least, the SE-218BB supports Samsung's AV connectivity technology which lets you connect the drive to an AV device via USB and play back the music, pictures and videos stored on a CD or DVD.

The Samsung SE-218BB is available now and can be purchased from Amazon or the retailers listed on Pricegrabber for less than $40.

Highs:

• World’s thinnest external optical disc drive
• Writes to DVD-R and DVD+R media at 8x
• Writes to DVD+RW media at 8x
• Writes to DVD-RW media at 6x
• Writes to DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media at 6x
• Reads single layer DVD-ROM's at 8x
• Reads DVD±R, DVD±RW and DVD±R DL media at 8x
• Reads and writes to DVD-RAM media at 5x
• Features 24x CD-R and CD-RW writing speeds
• Good CD and DVD writing quality
• Features Super Link buffer underrun protection
• Supports Samsung's AV connectivity technology
• Compact and lightweight design
• Powered off the USB bus
• Supports bitsetting for DVD+R and DVD+R DL media
• Includes software from Nero
• Affordably priced

Lows:

• Cannot set the book type of DVD+RW media
• High access times
• Only a 1MB buffer