Samsung SE-218BB Portable 8x DVD Writer

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.