Driver Slim Portable Dvd Writer Samsung

Samsung SE-208DB drivers are tiny programs that enable your DVD Writer hardware to communicate with your operating system software. Maintaining updated Samsung SE-208DB software prevents crashes and maximizes hardware and system performance. Using outdated or corrupt Samsung SE-208DB drivers can.

Model: Samsung SE-208GB Portable 8x DVD Writer Manufacturer: Provided By: 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 summer, the company introduced its latest external slim DVD writer, the SE-208GB. This lightweight drive sports a new design that maximizes the ease of pressing the eject button by placing it on top of the case. The SE-208GB 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 drive is also USB powered and features support for Samsung's AV Connectivity and Smart Archive technologies. When written on archival grade media, Smart Archive delivers a 30 year long data lifetime. The SE-208GB comes in a small black and white box. While there aren't a lot of details on the front, the back of the box lists many of the drive's features including support for technologies like AV Connectivity, Smart Archive and M-DISC. Inside the box, you'll find the SE-208GB, a USB cable, quick installation guide and a software CD containing CyberLink's Media Suite.

Physical Features: The drive Samsung sent us for this review was manufactured in July of 2014 and had firmware. At the time of this review, this is the only firmware available for the SE-208GB.

The Samsung SE-208GB is one of the smallest DVD writers on the market today. Measuring 148.6 x 14 mm x 146 mm, it's not much larger than a couple of jewel cases stacked on top of one another. The body of the SE-208GB is constructed out of lightweight, black plastic.

The top of the drive has a glossy finish with a small, white Samsung logo printed along one of the edges. The LED and eject button are also located on top of the drive. This LED lights up green when both reading and writing. The bottom and sides of the SE-208GB 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. Along the rear, you can see the SE-208GB's USB 2.0 interface. This connector not only transfers data but provides power for the drive.

AV Connectivity: The SE-208GB 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-208GB 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-208GB to read the contents and convert the file system to FAT32 so that it can be used by AV devices. Smart Archive The SE-208GB is also equipped with Samsung's Smart Archive technology. Unlike other existing optical disc archive technologies, this feature offers a recording quality that is optimized for DVDs used to store content for an extended time. The technology follows standard DVD formatting that is compatible with M-DISCs, archival discs (ISO10995 standard) and qualified normal discs. To use Smart Archive you need Cyberlink Media Suite version 10 or higher which is included with the SE-208GB.

To create an Archival DVD, launch Cyberlink Media Suite, click Data & Backup and then create a new Data Disc. From there, click on the Archival DVD icon located on the right-hand side of the Data Disc column. Take note that when creating an Archival DVD, the maximum capacity is limited to 4,100 MB instead of the 4,488 MB that is normally available on a single layer DVD.

More Features: By looking at the picture below, you can see that Samsung's new DVD writer is identified as an 'TSSTcorp CDDVDW SE-208GB.' Nero also shows that the SE-208GB has a maximum CD writing speed of 24x and a 704KB buffer. This buffer is also backed up by Super Link buffer underrun protection. According to Nero, the SE-208GB 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 we were able to determine that the SE-208GB 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. 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-208GB's reading and writing speeds and supported disc types. Opti Drive Control also shows that the SE-208GB 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-208GB's features, 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-208GB 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. Current DVD technology uses organic dyes and low laser power to make marks on the data layer of a standard recordable DVD. Over time, these marks become unreadable because organic dyes degrade when exposed to minimal levels of light, heat, and humidity. This means all the data you thought was safely stored could be lost because the discs you used have an average lifespan of only about 3 to 5 years. The materials and the write process used for the M-DISC were chosen with stability and longevity as the primary goals. Millenniata utilizes chemically stable and heat-resistant materials that are not used in any other DVD or optical disc.

These materials cannot be overwritten, erased or corrupted by natural processes. The normal laser energy employed to write DVDs or CDs cannot successfully write to the inorganic and synthetic materials used in the M-DISC. Data is stored on the M-DISC by physically altering the recording layer and creating permanent voids or holes.

DVDs and other optical discs use organic dyes that break down over time, resulting in corrupt and unreadable data. These organic dyes are highly susceptible to temperature, humidity and even sunlight, starting to fade and decay the moment you record data. Millenniata’s recording process utilizes higher temperatures than any ordinary optical disc. The inorganic data layer materials undergo a physical change during the write process.

When the data layer is irradiated by a focused laser, the intense heat generated causes the innermost layers to melt and to move away from the laser spot, creating a hole or pit in the data layer. These physical pits have two main advantages over dye and phase-change-based optical media; the permanent physical movement of the material, and the permanent optical contrast between light and dark spots. Movement of the material actually enhances the edge of the mark. The nanometer scale location of the edges is critical to the retention of data, with the enhanced edges further building-in longevity. The other advantage is the excellent, permanent optical contrast that comes from making a physical mark.

The difference in optical quality between the pit, where there is no material, and the areas adjacent to the pit, where the material remains, provides a definite advantage in retention of data and in ease of reading the disc long into the future. Essentially, pits are better and allows for readable data even after hundreds of years. While the same size and thickness as a standard DVD, Millenniata's M-DISC looks nothing like the other optical formats on the market today. For one, the top of the disc is brown and the bottom is silver. Also, with there being no reflective or dye layers, you can see right through the disc when placed in front of a bright light. Here's a photo showing the Millenniata M-DISC next to other optical formats. From the upper left and moving clockwise you have a CD-R, BD-R, M-DISC and DVD-R.

Once written, the M-DISC can be read or played on any DVD drive that supports the DVD+R/RW format. Most DVD drives that were manufactured after 2005 and almost all Blu-ray or BD drives support this format. Software: For the SE-208GB's software bundle, Samsung has turned to CyberLink.

The CD that comes with the drive contains the CyberLink Media Suite which includes Power2Go Essentials as well as trial versions of PowerBackup, PhotoDirector, LabelPrint, PowerDirector and PowerDVD. CyberLink Power2Go Essentials - Power2Go is the main disc burning program included with the SE-208GB. With this software, users can create various types of CD's, DVD's and BD's or make backups of existing discs. Power2Go also offers enhanced security features, allowing you to password protect and encrypt the names of files on your discs. Sadly, the rest of the software is limited to 30 days of usage.

Beyond that time, if you want to play DVD movies, backup your computer or edit your photos and videos you will need to upgrade to the full versions of the various applications which, in most cases, aren't exactly cheap. 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-208GB 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 Cyberlink Power2Go Essential packages (Cyberlink Media Suite) as well as trial versions of Cyberlink's PowerDVD and PowerDirector software.

To start the setup process, simply click on the Power2Go button. Once you've accepted the license agreement and selected the destination folder, the entire suite is automatically installed onto your computer. Unfortunately, there is no way to opt out of installing some of the trial software. It can be removed after the fact. However, having the ability to choose which packages you want would have been a nice option. 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-208GB, 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-208GB. 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-208GB. The instructions are pretty brief since there really isn't much to do other than plug the USB cable into your computer. 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-208GB.

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. The SE-208GB 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-208GB up and running. 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: CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30 GHz Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H67MA-D2H-B3 (Intel H67 chipset) Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000 Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 SATA 3.0Gb/s 500GB Case Cooler Master HAF 912 Operating System: Windows 7 Enterprise x64 SP1 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. Stonewall Attack Chess Pdf Book. 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. Transfer Speed Access Times CPU Usage Average Start End Random 1/3 Full 1x 2x 4x 8x Samsung SE-208GB 18.36x 10.62x 24.28x 175ms 194ms 298ms 13% 3% 4% 8% The SE-208GB performed fairly well when reading pressed CD's. The drive started reading at 18.36x and quickly accelerated, reaching a maximum transfer speed of 24.278.

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. Transfer Speed Access Times CPU Usage Average Start End Random 1/3 Full 1x 2x 4x 8x Samsung SE-208GB 18.37x 10.73x 24.23x 177ms 184ms 296ms 13% 3% 4% 8% The SE-208GB's average speed was slightly higher when reading CD-R media.

It also had no problems recognizing our 99 minute CompUSA media. The SE-208GB read our test disc from start to finish, reaching a maximum transfer speed of 26.75x. 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. Transfer Speed Access Times CPU Usage Average Start End Random 1/3 Full 1x 2x 4x 8x Samsung SE-208GB 18.42x 10.71x 24.33x 175ms 189ms 293ms 13% 2% 4% 8% The SE-208GB 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-208GB supports accurate stream and has the ability to retrieve C2 error information from the CD, it does not cache audio data.

CD Speed Average Start End Quality Accurate Stream Samsung SE-208GB 18.36x 10.61x 24.21x 10 Yes The SE-208GB was a little slower when extracting audio from CD-R media. This time around, it reached a maximum DAE speed of 24.21x. 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 17.67x. 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-208GB 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-208GB has a maximum CD writing speed of 24x. To reach this speed, it uses CAV, or Constant Angular Velocity.

With Verbatim's 52x media, the drive started writing at about 10.93x and accelerated, reaching a maximum speed of 24.48x at the end of the session. This gave Samsung's new drive an average writing speed of about 18.14x. To test the drive's writing times, I wrote our test data to some Verbatim media rated at 52x. The results are below. Memorex 52x (CMC) MBI 52x Verbatim 52x The SE-208GB'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-208GB 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-208GB 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. Transfer Speed Access Times CPU Usage Average Start End Random 1/3 Full 1x 2x 4x 8x Samsung SE-208GB 6.09x 3.35x 8.13x 149ms 175ms 290ms 14% 17% 37% 52% The SE-208GB 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 8.13x. 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-208GB 4.65x 2.96x 5.05x 244ms 238ms 385ms 13% 37% 50% 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-208GB 6.02x 3.31x 8.06x 149ms 174ms 289ms 14% 17% 37% 59% The SE-208GB 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-208GB 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. Verbatim 16x DVD+R Verbatim 16x DVD-R The SE-208GB 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.

Manufacturer ID Max Write Speed Average Write Time Moser Baer 16x DVD+R MBIPG101 R05 8x 11:08 Sony 16x DVD+R SONYD21 8x 11:08 Taiyo Yuden 16x DVD+R YUDEN000T03 8x 11:09 Verbatim 16x DVD+R MCC-004 8x 11:08 Moser Baer 16x DVD-R MBI 01RG40 8x 11:08 Sony 16x DVD-R SONY16D1 8x 11:11 Taiyo Yuden 16x DVD-R TYG03 8x 11:10 Verbatim 16x DVD-R MCC 03RG20 8x 11:13 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.

Verbatim 8x DVD+R DL @ 6x (MKM 003) Memorex 8x DVD+R DL @ 6x (RITEK S04) The SE-208GB's writing quality was pretty good with the DVD+R DL media from Verbatim and Memorex. The PI/PIF rates stayed within acceptable limits and there weren't any readability problems. It's been a number of years since we've seen a new portable DVD writer from Samsung (or any other manufacturer for that matter) and, if the SE-208GB is any indication, the company hasn't lost its touch. This slim, lightweight drive offers a good looking, yet functional design, a long list of features, and some of the fastest reading and writing speeds available on a portable unit.

The SE-208GB 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. The drive also turned in some respectable times when writing to other types of media. However, the writing quality could have been better with some DVD±R discs. When it came to reading DVD's, the SE-208GB 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-208GB 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-208GB 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-208GB is powered completely off a computer's USB bus using a single port. 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-208GB supports Samsung's AV Connectivity and Smart Archive technologies which let you connect the drive to an AV device via USB and safely store your data for an extended amount of time. The Samsung SE-208GB is available now and can be purchased from for as little as $24.

Recycling Batteries Responsibly • The European Directive on Batteries and Accumulators aims to minimise the impact of batteries on the environment and encourage the recovery of the materials they contain. In the UK, regulations on the recycling of batteries and accumulators (rechargeable batteries) were Introduced in 2009. The Waste Batteries Regulations aim to significantly increase UK collection and recycling of used portable batteries from 3% in 2007 to 25% by 2012, rising to at least 45% in 2016. • The battery symbol on a product or on its packaging indicates that the product must not be disposed of with general household waste. Instead, it is the consumer’s responsibility to dispose of their waste batteries at a designated collection point so that they can be recycled. The separate collection and recycling of batteries at the time of disposal will help to conserve natural resources and ensure that they are recycled in a manner that protects human health and the environment.

A comprehensive list of battery recycling centres can be obtained from: • All Samsung products that are subject to the Batteries Directive are compliant with the UK battery and accumulator Requirements. In accordance with national law, SAMSUNG Electronics (UK) Ltd is a member of an approved batteries producer compliance scheme. This scheme collects, treats and disposes of batteries on Samsung’s behalf.