This review is from: Samsung SE-208AB/TSBS External DVD-Writer – Black (Personal Computers)
I use this Samsung DVD Writer for everything! It’s great for ripping CDs, backing up DVDs, and burning DVDs and CDs. It’s a nice improvement over it’s predecessor: Samsung USB 2.0 External Optical Drive SE-S084D/TSBS Super WriteMaster, Slim External DVD Writer (Gloss Black). It’s main improvements are a sleeker design, an improved disc seeking speed (how fast the drive detects a disc after it is inserted), and the disc tray is easier to open and close. No special software is required to use it; it works fine as a plug-and-play device. It works on Apple computers as well as the Microsoft OS. The difference in read/write speed seems somewhat negligent, however, it costs about $10-15 less than the previous model. When I have need for another external DVD drive, I will more than likely buy another one of these. Thanks for reading!
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This review is from: Samsung SE-208AB/TSBS External DVD-Writer – Black (Personal Computers)
First, The Problem: My Mac Mini ’07 came with a crap internal DVD burner. It was LOUD; it ate disks; it scratched the disks it didn’t eat; and worst of all, it would pretend disks had burned properly when they hadn’t! I experienced a success rate breakdown of: 40% working properly, 25% skipping, 10% too scratched to use, 24% unusable due to burning problems, 1% required forcible ejection (pliers and/or screwdriver) resulting in little bits of silvered plastic rather than a DVD. I gave up after that, and decided against all logic to replace it with another sold by Apple. Do NOT attempt this! They don’t sell them in stores anymore. Anyway, the instructions for violating a Mac Mini involve a putty knife (NOT a joke), and digital sacrifice. After bandaging my hand, returning my neighbour’s putty knife, and a quick trip to the doctor for an anti-tetanus booster, I decided upon a lateral solution.
Now, The Solution: External! Oh Joy! O Rapture! More desk space wasted… oh, wait… it fits atop my computer! Only one cord! Two dongly bits, though (move mouse). Done! It works perfectly. No more noise, no more scratches, and no more tools!
The Pros: Barely larger than a CD case No power cord Underrun Protection (no more inexplicable coasters) Multi-format compatibility (lots of formats… mom can buy her OWN disks now) Quiet (if a bit buzzy) No setup required Firmware easy to update, even on a Mac
The Cons: Two USB ports required The included software is Windows only (Shame, Shame) Ridiculous packaging (3 times more than necessary; it would be $10 cheaper if they reduced the packaging)
The Verdict: This was not the first External DVD burner I tried, (don’t get me started on LG) but is is the best. It has burned over 450 disks of various types with only 5-6 coasters in the lot, and most of those were my fault. Flawless little performer. Cheap, but not cheaply made. Firmware updates (4 so far) are simple and reveal an uncommon attention to the user. Definite best buy.
UPDATE 1 May 2012: Well, it had to happen eventually. After nearly 1000 burns the little fella fell victim to a power outage whilst burning. It hasn’t been the same since. As this is a known way to kill a DVD burner, it bears none of the blame. I was under a time constraint, and couldn’t wait even for next day delivery, so I went to my local computer store to buy a new one. They were out of stock. Highly irritated, I had to purchase an I/O Magic DVD burner that cost more. Though my emergency purchase has worked out well, if and when it breaks, I will return to Samsung. Still 5-star, still a best buy.
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This review is from: Samsung SE-208AB/TSBS External DVD-Writer – Black (Personal Computers)
I ordered the Samsung DVD drive at the same time as my Acer AspireRevo w/o optical drive, so I could load/install software. So far it has worked to perfection. Installation was Plug N Play with Windows 7. It will burn to DVD-R with only the USB data cable, no need to use two USB ports. It plays DVD movies, loads software on a computer w/o an optical drive and burns CD’s and DVD’s.
HIGHLY Recommended!
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Authors bio is coming up shortly. 
Samsung SE-208AB/TSBS External DVD-Writer,
I use this Samsung DVD Writer for everything! It’s great for ripping CDs, backing up DVDs, and burning DVDs and CDs. It’s a nice improvement over it’s predecessor: Samsung USB 2.0 External Optical Drive SE-S084D/TSBS Super WriteMaster, Slim External DVD Writer (Gloss Black). It’s main improvements are a sleeker design, an improved disc seeking speed (how fast the drive detects a disc after it is inserted), and the disc tray is easier to open and close. No special software is required to use it; it works fine as a plug-and-play device. It works on Apple computers as well as the Microsoft OS. The difference in read/write speed seems somewhat negligent, however, it costs about $10-15 less than the previous model. When I have need for another external DVD drive, I will more than likely buy another one of these. Thanks for reading!
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|Excellent replacement for my crap internal,
First, The Problem: My Mac Mini ’07 came with a crap internal DVD burner. It was LOUD; it ate disks; it scratched the disks it didn’t eat; and worst of all, it would pretend disks had burned properly when they hadn’t! I experienced a success rate breakdown of: 40% working properly, 25% skipping, 10% too scratched to use, 24% unusable due to burning problems, 1% required forcible ejection (pliers and/or screwdriver) resulting in little bits of silvered plastic rather than a DVD. I gave up after that, and decided against all logic to replace it with another sold by Apple. Do NOT attempt this! They don’t sell them in stores anymore. Anyway, the instructions for violating a Mac Mini involve a putty knife (NOT a joke), and digital sacrifice. After bandaging my hand, returning my neighbour’s putty knife, and a quick trip to the doctor for an anti-tetanus booster, I decided upon a lateral solution.
Now, The Solution: External! Oh Joy! O Rapture! More desk space wasted… oh, wait… it fits atop my computer! Only one cord! Two dongly bits, though (move mouse). Done! It works perfectly. No more noise, no more scratches, and no more tools!
The Pros:
Barely larger than a CD case
No power cord
Underrun Protection (no more inexplicable coasters)
Multi-format compatibility (lots of formats… mom can buy her OWN disks now)
Quiet (if a bit buzzy)
No setup required
Firmware easy to update, even on a Mac
The Cons:
Two USB ports required
The included software is Windows only (Shame, Shame)
Ridiculous packaging (3 times more than necessary; it would be $10 cheaper if they reduced the packaging)
The Verdict: This was not the first External DVD burner I tried, (don’t get me started on LG) but is is the best. It has burned over 450 disks of various types with only 5-6 coasters in the lot, and most of those were my fault. Flawless little performer. Cheap, but not cheaply made. Firmware updates (4 so far) are simple and reveal an uncommon attention to the user. Definite best buy.
UPDATE 1 May 2012:
Well, it had to happen eventually. After nearly 1000 burns the little fella fell victim to a power outage whilst burning. It hasn’t been the same since. As this is a known way to kill a DVD burner, it bears none of the blame. I was under a time constraint, and couldn’t wait even for next day delivery, so I went to my local computer store to buy a new one. They were out of stock. Highly irritated, I had to purchase an I/O Magic DVD burner that cost more. Though my emergency purchase has worked out well, if and when it breaks, I will return to Samsung. Still 5-star, still a best buy.
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|Perfect With Acer AspireRevo AR 3700-xxxx/Windows7,
I ordered the Samsung DVD drive at the same time as my Acer AspireRevo w/o optical drive, so I could load/install software. So far it has worked to perfection. Installation was Plug N Play with Windows 7. It will burn to DVD-R with only the USB data cable, no need to use two USB ports.
It plays DVD movies, loads software on a computer w/o an optical drive and burns CD’s and DVD’s.
HIGHLY Recommended!
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