Samsung SE-S084D : world's thinnest external DVD drive, SH-B123 the fastest Blu-ray drive

At an intimate press conference yesterday, Samsung unveiled its newest SE-S084 external DVD as well as its 12x SH-B123 Blu-ray drives. The former is pretty much a standard external 24x CD-ROM / 8x DVD-ROM peripheral, except it's only 17mm thick. Samsung is claiming it's the world's thinnest. At .5 pounds it was incredibly light in hand -- we actually thought the model on display was a dummy at first. Available in seven colors that apparently match Samsung's netbook line up, the drive should be available just about now for $69.99.

On the total opposite end is Samsung's new 12x SH-B123, which it's claiming to be the world's fastest BD-ROM/DVD writer. The player packs DVD up-scaling technology and uses an aerodynamic design for lowering acoustic spinning noise. There's no pricing details on the SH-B123 yet though it should hit stores in July.