Introduction
Ultrabooks are the new "cool" thing in laptops in a while. They are light, have a long battery life and will fit into a briefcase or handbag with ease. The only problem with these shiny new laptops is that manufacturers have to sacrifice on ports available to the consumer.For example, the Samsung 15″ Ultrabook is great but it has its limitations, it only has 3 USB ports, no optical (DVD/Blu-Ray) drive and slightly less performance (although the new Intel Core i7 chip-sets works like a charm) than its bigger laptop counterparts.This is where external optical drives like the Sandberg USB Mini Blu-Ray Burner come handy.These are external optical drives which you can plug into a usb port on your laptop/netbook/ultrabook when no drive is available or your current drive is either dead or does not have blu-ray support.The only downside, you will have to carry it around if you need to always have a cd/dvd/blu-ray reading/writing capability.
The upside?The Sandberg USB Mini Blu-Ray Burner is one of the smallest and lightest external blu-ray writers on the market at the moment. Weighing in at just 298g,it is very light and shouldn't add much weight to your backpack.
Packaging & Contents
The box is pretty compact.
The rear of the packet contains a vast amount of detailed information about the features and specification of the Mini Blu-Ray Burner.
Along with the unit itself there is a quick-start guide.
Sandberg also bundle a USB power cable and and one USB data transfer cable.
A Closer Look
The Sandberg USB Mini Blu-Ray Burner is a compact little drive, with a top-loading clamshell design. The drive measures 134 x 139 x 18mm (W x D x H)?not much bigger than two classic style CD jewel cases. It's also light, weighing only 298g .
The main housing of the drive is black plastic with a matte finish, but the underside of the chassis is metal.The lid appears to be plastic as well, but has a layer of reinforcing aluminum on the interior side.
There are no many buttons, just the open button on the bottom left of the drive and a manual release latch on the underside.The lid flips up with the touch of a button, and a small latch on the bottom of the drive lets you open the lid when the drive is powered off.
The bottom of the drive also has four rubber feet to keep it steady, even on a sloped surface.
The drive connects with an USB 2.0 y-cable, which is included in the package. Because the drive is bus powered, there's no need for an extra AC adapter, but the drive still includes a connection for an optional adapter for those who prefer wall power.
Performance
Once the drive is plugged in and reading a disc, you will notice a bit of drive noise. The rotation of the disk is a soft, but constant, whisper.The Sandberg USB Mini Blu-Ray Burner does not warms up quickly. Within moments of inserting a disc, the drive warmed up to 52 degrees. While watching a two-hour movie, it heated up to 65 degrees (both measured with a Fluke IR thermometer).No software installation is required, enabling you to use the drive instantly.
In my testing, the drive had no problem reading all major optical formats, including Blu-ray, DVD, and CD.Here are the results.The reading and writing speeds for Blue Ray's are exceptional on this machine.
Conclusion
BD-R media has finally reached the performance and price points necessary to make it a practical storage medium.Far cheaper than flash drives and more portable than mechanical hard drives.During testing,i found very little to complain about Sandberg USB Mini Blu-Ray Burner.Burning files to disc is a simple process, whether you are burning large amounts of data or authoring your own videos to Blu-ray.I found this device simple in many different aspects, but specifically the setup process to be user-friendly. The device requires few cables and once it has been plugged into the computing device, there is no installation and hassle.The hardware appears on the screen without any stress on your behalf.Unfotunately there is not any Software bundled.Sandberg USB Mini Blu-Ray Burner has the ability to support operating systems such as Windows 8 and Mac OS.
Overall, the Sandberg USB Mini Blu-Ray Burner offers good performance while being extremely portable and quite affordable.Small, convenient drive.USB power means you can simply pack it and go.For anyone who occasionally needs an optical drive since their ultrabook or laptop may not be equipped with one, the Sandberg USB Mini Blu-Ray Burner is more than capable for reading and burning discs.At a price of around 104 Euro's,i feel that the Sandberg USB Mini Blu-Ray Burner is a Great choice.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks