Customer Reviews

Samsung USB 2.0 8x DVD Writer External Optical Drive SE-S084B/RSBN

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

The reason for four stars is merely the price and quality. Seventy bucks is somewhat steep for a drive that is kind of cheap feeling and the eject disc button is manual and not electronic kind of what is in some laptops. As long as your not rough with it than it should last but the feel of it just shows otherwise. Then again it requires no power supply but it does require two USB ports though you might be able to run with one. The size is about half of a 8.9 inch netbook my wife owns. The biggest surprise I had was when I got it out of the package and it was light and smaller than I even hoped. My wife can fit this in her netbook case which anyone with a netbook knows that not having a disc drive can be an inconvenient one. This is probably one of the best options for small and portable without being too bulky. Great disc drive that does what it should do.

I bought this to go with my Acer Aspire One Netbook. I previously purchased a slim POWERED DVD Burner, thinking it would be better for it to run on it's own power and not drain the computer battery. A few drawbacks with that were. It makes the computer less portable (because you need to plug in the DVD)and a little cumbersome dealing with all of the cords, as well as they take up additional space in your bag.

I like this because it is powered from your laptop/PC. It works well and is compact. It seems to be well made (I like Samsung products to begin with). The only negitives are that the included software (Nero) doesn't work and is riddled with spy ware programs. I was better off downloading "BurnAware" for free from [...]. Also, beware, this DVD Burner takes up two USB slots in your computer.

The DVD-writer worked fine, but I intended to use it to play DVD's on my new netbook, as well. However, the software included with the unit did not play DVD's without an upgrade in the software that was included with the unit. The software upgrade was more expensive that the DVD-writer unit, so I returned it for a full refund! Thanks Amazon.com for standing behind the product, but I felt that you could have done a better job matching up the Samsung netbook with the equipment and software needed to playback DVD's.

I got this external dvd writer for my wife's ASUS 1000he netbook. It is a good size, neither larger than it should, nor the slimest product out there. It feels solid, but not heavy, and is very functional. It does not require an AC adapter, but does come with 2 USB connections to make sure you can get enough juice to run it. We have had no issues running it on one. I highly recommend this drive for this price.

---Update, March 2011---
My wife used this drive with her ASUS for about the past year and half or two years, and has since upgraded her computer to a Mac. I travel, so have got a smaller laptop (no internal drive) and taken this Samsung over. This is an outstanding CD/DVD drive. It is light, relatively compact (enough so to travel), and fast, fast. Not the quietest perhaps, but not bothersome either.

This is a workhorse that looks like it has more years left in it than most all the laptops I will be hooking it up to over the years ahead.

This drive is perfect for my 1000he netbook. It ships with a USB cable that has two (2) USB plugs, so it's guaranteed to get spinning. I like that it has a manual open/close button (I'd rather power be put to spinning the disc than ejecting it, like with the Apple USB DVD drive), as well as a little hole for getting a disc out when there is no power.

Simply put, the drive does what I want it to. I can boot to it, burn on it, and watch movies on it. What else do you need?

BTW, I haven't tried the included software.

Once properly installed, the Writemaster operated flawlessly, reading and writing both DVDs and CDs. The small form-factor and lack of a power brick makes it highly portable.

The GOOD news is that there is no AC adapter, the drive runs on USB power. The BAD news is that there is no AC adapter, the USB cable has 2 connectors to the computer, taking up 2 USB ports. Apparently, whether or not the unit will run on 1 USB port depends on your computer. On a portable whether it will work on 1 or 2 USB ports may depend on what you are doing (for example, just reading a CD, or writing a DVD) and whether running on battery or AC power. On a portable, you may have NO USB ports available (such as, for your mouse).

Note the distinction between a USB "port" and a USB "connection"--you can install a splitter to increase the number of connections (so that you have a connection for your mouse, etc.), but that does not increase the number of ports. If you plug both Samsung DVD Writer USB connectors into the same splitter, you are only getting the power of one port (so, don't do that). However, one Samsung DVD Writer USB connector and a mouse might share a port (by using a splitter).

If your computer came with a "CD reader/writer---DVD reader" as did my HP desktop and my IBM Thinkpad (both over 5 years old) then it almost certainly has DVD playing software preinstalled, in which case the Samsung DVD writer is "plug and play"---needing no additional software, at least for reading DVDs, and possibly even for writing DVDs. If not, then the software may have come "bundled" (not installed, but on a separate CD or CDs that you forgot to install) with your computer. Note that the software needed for playing movies is different from that needed for reading/writing data or music CDs/DVDs. Even if your portable did not come with a CD/DVD player, it may have come with the necessary software preinstalled or bundled in order to support external drives. Roxio Creator, which came with my HP desktop, worked beautifully both for reading and writing to the Samsung DVD Writer.

Suggestion: plug in the Samsung DVD Writer (both connectors, at least until you are certain that it works properly on only one). If it reads and writes both CDs and DVDs on your computer without installing any additional software, then just forget the bundled instructions and software. Note that even if you have the program(s) you need preinstalled, you may have to find and run the appropriate program (Start>All Programs>select the appropriate program, e.g., Roxio, IN-CD, Nero, etc.).

If you want to write to DVD, and already have a CD player installed on your computer, you may have to "select the device" by the arcane driver name. The driver for the Samsung DVD Writer starts with "TSSTcorp", your other CD drive is the other one

INSTALLING THE BUNDLED SOFTWARE
Ignore the instructions. The printed instructions are exceptionally poor--nothing more than unclear diagrams of how to plug in the USB cable. The instructions program is very poor, incomplete, and sketchy.

The "full installation" installs almost any conceivable application you want---but may install many applications you don't need, and which might conflict with pre-installed software. The "manual installation" is not intuitive. To change the install/don't install status, you have to click on the tiny down carat and choose the appropriate option. The "drive icon" means "install this program" a big red X means "don't install this program". I strongly suggest installing only the software programs which you are certain you need---all the software you need may already be pre-installed on your computer.

Most users should not be tempted to install the IN-CD program which you can optionally install with the manual install option (it normally has a big red X, meaning that it will not be installed). It is a good program, but only for CD writers (facilitating drag-and-drop operation HURRAH), not DVD writers.

In my case, installation program loaded very very slowly (whether using my CD drive or the DVD drive)--so slowly that "not responding" errors popped up. Left alone, the program eventually loaded and ran. Just ignore the "not reponding" errors and chill a while, maybe take a bathroom break. Apparently the installation disk was simply a botched "pressing". The "exit" or "finished" screen also popped up at times, long before installation was actually finished, obscuring the actual current screen. Closing the "exit screen" generates an error. It is best to simply move the "exit screen" out of the way instead of closing it.

USING THE BUNDLED SOFTWARE
The Nero software is non-intuitive, and does not support "drag and drop" writing. Indeed it is the very same interface I remember from my first CD drive, 15 years or so ago. The Nero software cannot format the DVD first (so that you'll know how much space you have. Worse, the program WILL let you choose too many files (i.e., files that take up too much space). If you've chosen too many files, the program just aborts at the last moment, and you have to restart the program from scratch---you can't simply "unchoose" a file and try again. My 4.7G DVDs held only about 4.3G (I'm guessing because the program doesn't tell you how much space is available). Apparently writing is a one-time process. I could not get the program to add files to a half-empty disk. However, for frequent users who figure-out the Nero softeware, and remember it's bass-ackwards logic, burning whole CDs or DVDs is quick and easy, particularly when burning multiple copies. When using the Nero software to write a DVD, if you have an existing CD drive in your computer, you have to choose which drive to use---and you have to choose by the arcane driver name. Even after choosing which drive, you have to tell the Nero program whether you are burning to a CD or a DVD---apparently the program cannot tell what kind of disk is in the drive (so then, how does it know which CD/DVD format to use amoung the dozen or so formats the drive supports?).

I found the Roxio Creator program which came with my computer to be more flexible and easier to use than the Nero software. Since I purchased the Samsung DVD Writer only for writing data DVDs, I have not tested the other bundled software or functions.

In conclusion the drive gets 5 stars, the Nero software gets 3 stars, and the installation instructions gets 1 star.

-- that's my best advice. The Nero software is faulty-- NOT ready for prime time at all. Windows Vista and XP recognize the drive perfectly well without any software needing to be installed. Lost several hours wrestling with the Nero software until I realized I should never have inserted the disc.

I use this with my Acer Aspire One 10" netbook. It works great, I bought it to load some software for work and make recovery disks. I've since used it to watch DVDs and that's worked without a hitch too, and you can watch DVDs with just one of the USB cords plugged in.

This is a DUAL layer dvd player/recorder so it plays and records on standard 4 gb DVDs and 8.5 gb DUAL layer dvds. The SE-S084B will play any media just like any other internal dual dvd recorder. It is full Plug/Play capable. I didn't have to install any drivers -they are available if needed. I connected one cable, windows recognized it and started using it right away. Why can't things always be this easy?

I am using it with both a laptop Intel core2 on vista with 9600m and a desktop Intel core 2 on XPsp3 with 9800gt. I have played music, movies, read data, and played High Demand games like Crysis and A. Creed. I have recorded video, music, and data. No errors and no problems.

The connection is a simple usb cable with 2 usb connectors. For most applications (movies, music, etc.) you will only need to use ONE connector and ONE port. This is nice for the laptop. When playing a software that demands more power, like a some games, you have to use both USBs using 2 ports, but only for Extreme gameplay. I only have one free port on my Desktop so I use a powered external dlink 4-port hub and leave 2 of these S084B's connected. I am buying a 3rd DVD player for the laptop.

You can play movies with any movie software of your choice. This product comes with PowerDVD software that will play any standard or dual layer dvd movie. I have used PowerDVD in the past and really liked it. I have not used or installed this software but I will update this review soon if I find Powerdvd to be a problem.

This is great for people who need more DVD drives but have no free bays or for laptop users without dvd. If you want to use this for gaming I recommend plugging in both connectors or using a powered usb port to give the dvd player the extra power it will need.
I bought 1 and liked it so much I have 2 now.

easy to use, fast and stable. Bought to load music and software onto my Acer netbook. A perfect companion piece.