Review: Philips SPD3100CC external DVD writer

This review was written with the hope that it will be helpful to those shopping for a new DVD burner and are considering buying the Philips SPD3100CC. Most "reviews" I found on-line while searching for the Philips SPD3100CC external DVD writer were merely advertisements for the drive.

My Philips SPD3100CC external DVD writer arrived on April 25, 2007, and according to the packing slip had a "shipping weight" of 2.5 pounds. The units item number is SPD3100CC and its UPC code is 0609585116023 -- whatever that is suppose to mean. As indicated on the box, the contents included: The Philips SPD3100CC/17 external DVD writer, Nero 6 CD (version 6.6.1.4H), one "quick start guide" (in English, French, and Spanish), one "How to..for External ReWriters" 110 page quide (in 10 different languages), a power adapter, and a USB cable. Full technical specifications, as outlined on the box, will appear at the end of this review. Also, according to the box, the DVD writer supports "16X DVD+R/-R," "8x double layer DVD+R," "4x Dual layer DVD-R," "8xDVD+RW," "6x DVD-RW," "5x DVD-RAM," and "16x DVD ROM."

Upon opening the box I noticed the size of the Philips SPD3100CC. Using a tape measure, I found the dimensions of the Philips SPD3100CC/17 were as follows: length 9 and a half inches (24.13 centimeters), with a width of 6 and 3 quarters of an inch (about 17.145 centimeters), and a height of just over 2 inches. To help you visualize its size, think of a package of Chips Ahoy cookies, only 2 inches wider. This is a pretty large and relatively heavy DVD writer (it is approximately 2 pounds or 0.9072 kilograms). If portability is important to you, this unit definately is not the right one for you. (Its AC adapter is rather small and light, however, with a length of 4 inches, a height of 1 and a quarter inch, and a width of 2 and a quarter inch.)

Setting up the Philips SPD3100CC was quick and painless. I merely attached the provided USB cable to the USB connector on the back of the DVD writer. Then connected the other end of the USB cable to an available USB 2.0 port on my notebook computer. According the manual, a USB 1.1 port will also work but the Philips SPD3100CC external writer's performance will suffer. Next, I attached the provided AC adapter to the external DVD writer and finally plugged it in an electrical outlet. A green light on the DVD writer came on, which indicated that the unit was working normally. The only thing left to do before I could actually start burning DVD's was to install the Nero 6 "SE" software that came with the unit.

I found the included Nero 6 software very easy to use. I was able to burn a DVD image without reading any of the included Nero 6 PDF manuals. Visit the official Nero website for additional information regarding the software.
Nero 6 FAQ
Nero 6 Tutorials

When I finally started to burn a DVD, it was done in about 6 minutes -- with the default settings in Nero 6 -- after writing 4.5 GB worth of data. Still somewhat skeptical about the unit, I accessed almost every file newly written to the DVD. All tested files worked as expected. This really was not a big surprise considering that it became clear to me after the arrival of my Philips SPD3100CC that it was merely a PCI DVD burner (a burner that would normally be installed in a desktop computer) that was placed in an enclosure capable of being attached to any computer via its USB 2.0 (or USB 1.1) port. This means that the SPD3100CC's relatively low price of $60 to $70 should not cause one to assume that the unit is of low quality. Its performance and features are exactly what you would expect from a DVD burner that comes pre-installed with many new desktop computers.

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System Requirements:

Pentium 4 or similar
500 MB Hard drive space
(9 GB for video)
128 MB of RAM
Window XP, Windows 2000, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98 SE
USB 2.0 recommended

Technical Specification:

Maximum Write Speeds:
16x DVD+R
8x DVD+R Double Layer
8x DVD+RW
16x DVD-R
4x DVD-R Dual Layer
6x DVD-RW
5x DVD-RAM
48x CD-R
24x CD-RW

Maximum Read Speeds:

16x DVD-ROM
48x CD

Also compatible with CD-Audio, Video CD, CD-text, CD ROM (XA)
and CD-Bridge

Interface: USB 2.0

Made in China

Updated: July 2007