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-218BB 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 Nero OEM Suite as well as trial versions of Cyberlink's PowerDVD, PowerDirector and PhotoDirector software.
Clicking on the Nero icon will bring up another window. From here you can choose to install Nero 10 Essentials and InCD 6. I'm not really sure why InCD isn't included with the rest of the suite, but it's there if you need it.
By default the setup program will install the entire Nero 10 Essentials suite onto your computer. If you don't want to install everything, select the custom installation. From here you can choose the components you want.
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-218BB, 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-218BB. 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-218BB. The instructions are pretty brief since there really isn't much to do other than plug in the USB cable and turn the computer on. 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-218BB. 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. Last but not least, Samsung has provided a page full of specifications for the SE-218BB.
The SE-218BB 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-218BB up and running.
For ease of installation, the SE-218BB is hard to beat. Thanks to its bus-powered, USB 2.0 interface, it's as simple as plugging in a single cable. If you need help for some reason, the documentation Samsung has provided is more than sufficient. With this in mind, the SE-218BB scores a solid 9 out of 10 for the installation portion of this review.
