Samsung SE-406A Portable 6x Blu-ray Combo Drive

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-406A performed pretty well when reading single layer DVD-ROM's. In our tests it started reading at 3.42x and reached a maximum transfer speed of about 8.26x. Unfortunately, like in our CD read tests, the drive's access times were a bit 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-406A	6.19x	3.42x	8.27x	148ms	173ms	271ms	15%	15%	28%	52%

Verbatim DVD-RW

	Transfer Speed			Access Times			CPU Usage
	Average	Start	End	Random	1/3	Full	1x	2x	4x	8x
Samsung SE-406A	6.20x	3.42x	8.28x	162ms	188ms	292ms	16%	16%	30%	51%

 
Verbatim DVD-R DL 

	Transfer Speed			Access Times			CPU Usage
	Average	Start	End	Random	1/3	Full	1x	2x	4x	8x
Samsung SE-406A	4.74x	2.62x	6.31x	140ms	152ms	275ms	8%	16%	n/a	n/a

The SE-406A had no problems reading DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-R DL media. In our tests, the drive was able to read DVD-R and DVD-RW media at 8x, but slowed to 6x when reading DVD-R DL discs.

Maxell 5x DVD-RAM
 

	Transfer Speed			Access Times			CPU Usage
	Average	Start	End	Random	1/3	Full	1x	2x	4x	8x
Samsung SE-406A	4.67x	2.99x	5.05x	274ms	167ms	290ms	7%	29%	39%	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 3x and then accelerates, reaching 5x at about the 1.6GB 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-406A	6.19x	3.42x	8.27x	151ms	167ms	270ms	16%	15%	28%	52%

Verbatim DVD+RW

	Transfer Speed			Access Times			CPU Usage
	Average	Start	End	Random	1/3	Full	1x	2x	4x	8x
Samsung SE-406A	6.21x	3.43x	8.30x	168ms	203ms	310ms	16%	17%	31%	50%

Verbatim DVD+R DL 

The SE-406A's performance was very similar to what we saw with DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-R DL media. The drive read DVD+R and DVD+RW media at 8x and DVD+R DL discs at 6x.

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-406A	6.12x	3.38x	8.18x	134ms	154ms	263ms	12%	14%	25%	48%

The SE-406A didn't slow down very much when reading single layer DVD videos. It started out at about 3.38x and reached a maximum read speed of 8.18x. Samsung's new drive was also relatively quick when reading dual layer discs. By looking at the screenshot below, you can see that the drive's transfer speeds peaked at about 6x.

To see how well the SE-406A worked as a DVD player, I watched a few scenes from Transformers: The Movie and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith using the bundled version of PowerDVD. The drive had no problems playing back these movies and was fairly quiet.