Labs

Samsung's Super-WriteMaster SE-S204 is the only DVD writer in the group with a claimed 16X DVD+R DL writing speed. Although it couldn't achieve this in our tests, it was still the fastest external burner when writing DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL discs, with 7.56X and 7.51X, although LG's GSA-E50L wasn't far behind in both cases.

The Super-WriteMaster also distinguished itself in our other benchmarks. It was the only external burner to achieve 11X in our DVD-R test and the only one to exceed 10X when burning DVD+R discs. It was also the only writer to exceed 7X speed when writing DVD+RW discs, although it had to settle for second place in our DVD-RW test. At just under 27X, it was the slowest external desktop burner when writing CD-R discs.

Samsung's Super-WriteMaster SE-S204 is a fast DVD writer with a good bundled software package. It's our Best Buy desktop DVD writer.