Mini Review of the Samsung SE-S084 External DVD drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151186&nm_mc=OTC-RSS&cm_mmc=OTC-RSS-_-External%20CD%20%2f%20DVD%20Drives-_-SAMSUNG-_-N82E16827151186

I purchased this DVD drive for use with both a Netbook and the Windows Home Server.

One reason I have it for the WHS is to copy data directly to the WHS from disc, instead of over the network. With a baby in the house, we take a LOT of photos and videos. Costco does excellent, high resolution photo discs from film, and with my camcorder 20 minutes fills a 1.4GB disc.

Pros: Small, lightweight

Worked on my Netbook with Windows XP, my desktop with Vista Home 64-bit, and the WHS, without having me to download or install any drivers or software. Windows found it and installed the driver for me. Seems like it is cheap and not durable, but it seems to be holding up fine. I take it with me on all business and personal trips, and it still works.

Cons:

Apparently not bootable. I personally haven’t tried this, since that’s not my intent, nor most likely not your intent either. I highly suggest if you need to boot from disc to use a USB drive instead.

Speed:

Acceptable. It’s a portable drive, and that’s what it is best at. It’s not a speed demon. Compared to my internal DVD drive, it’s a bit slow. From the specs, we can see that it is not intended to be fast. Most likely it would require much more power to spin the disc faster.

Comments:

It uses one of those USB splitters for power. It runs entirely off of the computer’s USB power. This is either a pro or a con, depending on your view. It’s not actually an acceptable use as defined by the USB standard, though. Some computers USB ports provide enough power for it with only the primary connection. I’ve found this to be unreliable, so I use both USB plugs.

Conclusion:

If you are looking for an inexpensive little external USB-powered DVD drive, then this should work for you.

http://www.samsung.com/us/business/semiconductor/products/odd/oddMobile.html

Black SE-S084B/RSBN External 8x USB 2.0 DVD Writer – tray loading Mobile drive with sleek design matches various netbook and notebook PCs. Single cable for data transmission and power supply. Includes powerful overspeed support, low noise and vibration control for high speed

Key Specifications Interface: USB 2.0 Buffer memory: 2MB Weight: .4kg Dimensions: Dimensions: 141x19x157mm

Supported Discs DVD-RAM, DVD+R, DVD+R DL, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-R DL, DVD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, CD-R, CD-RW, CD-ROM/XA, CD-ROM, CD-Audio, Video-CD, CD-1 (FMV), Photo CD, CD-Extra, CD-TEXT

Data Transfer Rate Media Type Write Read DVD+R 8x (10.8MB/s) 8x (10.8MB/s) DVD+R DL 6x (8.1MB/s) 6x (8.1MB/s) DVD+RW 8x (10.8MB/s) 8x (10.8MB/s) DVD-R 8x (10.8MB/s) 8x (10.8MB/s) DVD-R DL 6x (8.1MB/s) 8x (10.8MB/s) DVD-RAM 5x (6.75MB/s) 5x (6.75MB/s) DVD-RW 6x (8.1MB/s) 8x (10.8MB/s) DVD-ROM – 8x (10.8MB/s) CD-ROM – 24x (3.6MB/s) CD-R 24x (3.6MB/s) 24x (3.6MB/s) CD-RW 24x (3.6MB/s) 24x (3.6MB/s)