Samsung Ultra Portable Slim DVD+/-RW USB External Drive, Black SE-218BB/RSBS

Took it out of the box..plugged it in and it was ready to go! I was nervous about spending over $30 because Im not sure what Im doing and only wanted to rip some cds & download drivers and watch dvds on my laptop. I just downloaded 10 cds on my computer for my mp3 in what I think is a very short period of time and Im thrashing to Metallica as i write this..(yes I said thrashing..i guess it shows my age..lol)..thank God it was plug and play because there were no directions except how to attach it to the computer. (Im running windows XP on a dell ),,there is a cd that says it is a manual, so I guess ill have to check it out if i have any issues...I received it when they said i would..(the earliest date of the time frame they gave me) which is great.I love that it only needs one USB plug and the cord is long enough to where its not hanging off the laptop. but can be set down flat..it seems sturdy..not flimsy like others I looked at..you press the button and it doesnt open all the way, so gently pull it out, stick the cd in and push it closed. after a rip, it pops open a little, so gently open and insert the next one. (if you want it to eject after ripping, make sure you the box is checked so it will do it [media player]I hope it works as well with drivers and watching dvds..if not ill be back to update!update: 7/9/12Ok..this thing doesnt rip movies as far as I can tell. But they do play from your DVD, at least it offered to when I was trying to save a movie to my computer.It DOES NOT DOWNLAOD drivers! I have a printer I need to hook up to my laptop and thats why I bought this thing. Ripping CDs was part of it but the drivers was the MAIN reason. No go on 2 different drivers or discs to upload software. Im pretty upset here.. Remember that CD I mentioned they sent with it? It says its a manual, so I thought Id look thru it to see how to download drivers. It doesnt even play its own CD!! Amazon didnt give much information so I took a chance by reading the description and reviews. The box shows all the things it does, but I really dont know what its talking about, speed I think, so I figured if it did all that, of course it would play ALL cds. Now what?Its still a good little device but for the money it should play EVERYTHING.

On connecting to my new iMac (OS 10.8.3 Mountain Lion), this DVD writer initially only recognized and played home-burnt DVDs, but none of many commercial DVDs or software installation disks. Two different Samsung technical representatives and Samsung’s product webpage were unfortunately of little help in troubleshooting on Macs. However, a call to Apple support solved the problem very quickly and easily, and now the computer and the DVD writer are friends and working together perfectly for everything after resetting the computer itself. The reviews here indicate mixed experience for Mac computers, therefore the following may helpful to try for those who have trouble getting this drive to work on their Macs.Simply resetting the SMC (system management controller) by a) shutting down the computer, b) unplugging everything from it including the power cord, c) then pressing the power button for about 5 seconds (the computer will remain off), then d) reconnecting everything and e) starting up the computer normally, may be sufficient for the computer to communicate properly with the DVD writer.The Apple tech had me reset the internal memory NVRAM/PRAM also at the same time so I don’t know if just doing the above would have been enough, but doing both didn’t hurt: First do steps (a-d) above but immediately after pressing the power button to start, quickly simultaneously press the 4 keys: option, command, P, R firmly before the computer actually starts and hold down the keys until you hear the start-up chime for the 2nd time (if you only hear it once, probably all the keys weren’t pressed at the same time before start-up and you have to shut down and try it again). After that, the DVD writer icon appeared on my desk top (but only when there is a disk inside, it should be invisible otherwise). It now works as it should, and compares favorably to the Apple superdrive in my experience, so I’m very pleased with it, especially as it was the computer that needed a thump on the head and not this economical Samsung writer.

The other uses - which are the primary ones for my case (using software on cd and dvd mainly) work fine. So far - I have tried to follow the bouncing ball to get it to play video dvds and have had no success in windows 8. Nero walks you through this process of installing stuff(Nero Kwik DVD - which doesn't exist any more apparently- now Nero Kwik Media- which won't play DVDs unless you are using certain versions of windows or what have you I am guessing) that is supposed to get you to where you can play video dvds but it doesn't do that and prompts you to go through the process again- a programatic purgatory. I think it is a windows 8 thing or else some kind of Nero problem or a combination of the two. Otherwise- this thing is pretty darn neat. Looking for open source solutions, I downloaded VLC player- guess what- it worked great. Not the most beautiful interface for the task but it allowed me to watch dvds and also verify something of the quality of the device it's self. On my machine- dvds (thanks to VLC) play very flawlessly and spin up and respond with marvelous efficiency. This I find very surprising considering the small cost of the device and the fact that it is powered by usb alone. You wouldn't know.

It gets inactive fast, but I suppose it gets the job done and it’s super light. I use it for my retina mac. Oh, buyers beware, the software that it comes with isn’t compatible with mac, but if you just want an external drive, this will do.

Looks great, has a longer usb cord than some machines, is well built and does the job at a very low cost for the quality.

ok

Great Price, easy to use. Nice and small. I especially like that it doesn't require an external power source so no ectra cords in my lap top bag.

Great investment now that most laptops don't have disk drives built in. Not noisy. Reads quickly.