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Samsung has unveiled a new DVD drive designed with portability and tablet compatibility in mind. The SE-218BB DVD/CD writer is an ultra-thin (in terms of external optical disk drives) powered by a USB connection and ready to plug-and-play with Mac, PC, and Android 3.1+ hardware. It measures in at only 14mm thick, which Samsung says “18 percent thinner than conventional DVD writers.”
There are a few obvious concerns (such as increased battery drain), but it’s almost surprising we haven’t seen something like this sooner. Here’s a free tip for Samsung: you’d almost definitely sell more if the new external drive carried the Galaxy brand, tying it directly to the popular lineup of Android devices. The price is right. $60 could turn your tablet into one powerful and portable DVD player.
[via Engadget]
I almost don’t see the point of this. Chances are if you have a tablet you have a computer. Chances are with that computer you have already ripped any movies you have from DVD and put them on your device, dropbox or other online storage.
While some ipad users may be tech stupid, I’d venture to say that if a person understands that this portable DVD player could work with their tablet, they probably also understand they can rip DVDs and put those directly on their tablet without having to buy a portable DVD player to lug around.
I like Samsung but I hate when companies like them and HTC throw crap on walls just to see what sticks in the market. They are diluting their brand with thoughtless products and wasting engineering and development dollars in the process. Shift that money over to build better tablets. Help Google build a better Android. Continue to integrate your offerings (tablet tv phone). Spend a crapload of money on marketing like Apple does. Don’t waste time on this junk. Due to lack of marketing and distribution, I bet they’ll sell maybe 10,000 of these world wide
But not every tablet has internet access all the time.
This would be great if you were given a CD from a friend just before traveling or while overseas you didn’t have to lug around a computer.
Now, I’m not planning on buying one but it doesn’t discount that making it tablet friendly is a GREAT idea!
If companies really want to get us to buy more of their stuff they can start by helping us live longer by using money to clean up their production plants and help the environment.
Your assuming that ordinary people who use their computers to surf the web, email and watch a few movies wants to keep their big and bulky desktop/laptop when all they use them for is to rip cds and dvds.
You are also assuming people are tech saavy enough to rip a DVD. Most people could easily have this in the car on a trip and play a DVD for their kids in the back.
The only thing I ever use my Laptop for anymore is to burn CDs and DVDs or rip them. Say I would like to burn a playlist from my tablet onto a CD to use in my car for instance. With this, and apps designed to do such tasks, I could illuminate my laptop all together. I like the idea behind this and hope it gets the interest of developers as well.
Being able to stop by redbox on the way to an airport would be very nice, but I would prefer a tablet that has an integrated dvd/bluray reader/writer if they could make it thin enough and you could disable the device to limit its battery use on they fly would be something I would buy.
You saying a whole bunch of chances are which means some chances you aren’t. Do you buy every accessory out there?
I know I don’t lol. Because I’m not the target demographic of every product.
Make it as a blueray-player and i buy it
I haven’t used an optical drive for any computer in so long. I unplugged it on my desktop to accomadate a 5th hard drive.
But we have Netflix and other movies in the android market >.>
Not sure here. The main advantage of the tablet is that it’s easy to carry around and can be held in one hand. Connecting peripherals and carrying DVDs seems counter intuitive to the device’s main advantages because you’ll also need a case to carry those around as well.
You might as well use a notebook with a built in drive or just get a full portable DVD player. They might weigh a little more, but you won’t be hunting for cables or trying to balance the player on your lap while holding the tablet.