detail information

Test machine:

For this review we will be using a computer with the following configuration:

Hardware:

• Motherboard: ECS Elitegroup N2U400-A with Nvidia nForce 2 Ultra-400 and nForce MCP chipset.
• Processor: AMD Athlon XP 2800+ (Barton) 333 MHz FSB.
• RAM: 1 GB Infineon PC2700 DDR
• GFX: ATI Radeon 9600 XT
• Sound: SoundBlaster Audigy
• Hard disk: Seagate Barracuda ST3250823A 250 GB

System set-up:

The Samsung SH-W162C was connected as Secondary Master and identified itself as TSSTcorp CD/DVDW SH-W162C. DMA (Direct Memory Access) and Autorun was enabled for all devices.

Firmware Update:

The Samsung SH-W162C firmware can be updated using the supplied 'live update" software; all that is required is an Internet connection. The drive was shipped with firmware TS07 and was during the course of this review updated to version TS09. See the screenshots below on the firmware update process.

Software:

Windows XP Professional is installed on the computer along with Service Pack 2 for Windows XP. We will be using the following software in this review:

• Nero Burning ROM version 6.6.0.16
• Nero CD/DVD Speed V4.04 and 4.07
• Nero Info Tool v3.03
• DVD-Identifier 4.1.1
• Slysoft CloneCD v5.2.5.1
• Exact Audio Copy v0.95 beta 2
• K-Probe v2.4.2 / v2.4.3

Features and techniques:

The Samsung SH-W162C is based on the new Mediatek MT1888E chipset.

The Drive also features 'Double Optimum Power Calibration Technology". The Double OPC constantly monitors the sensitivity of the media and adjusts the laser strength to achieve the best possible results. It does this by analyzing the reflection from the media's surface.

Disc Quality Scanning:

With a small edit to the Windows system registry, the Samsung SH-W162C can be used along with Nero CD-Speed for 'Disc Quality Scanning"

Now it's time to take a closer look at the write technology used by the Samsung SH-W162C:

CD-Recordable:

The Samsung SH-W162C uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 48x. This gives an average write speed of 37.01x.

Three drives for comparison are found below.

The Pioneer uses CAV, (Constant Angular Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 40X. This gives an average speed of 30.05x.

The Samsung TS-E552U uses P-CAV (Partial-Constant Angular Velocity) to write at its rated speed of 40x. This gives an average speed of 34.39x.

The LG GSA-5160D uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 40X. The drive wrote the last zone at 40.41X and this gives an average speed of 31.70x.

 For comparison we have made the following table: 

As we can see from the table, the Samsung SH-W162C is one of the fastest drives when it comes to writing CD-R's.

CD-Rewritable:

The Samsung SH-W162C uses Z-CLV (Zone Constant Linear Velocity) to write CD-RW media at its maximum speed of 32x, with an average write speed of 28.26x.

Below are some other drives for comparison.

The Pioneer DVDR-110D uses Z-CLV (Zone Constant Linear Velocity) to write CD-RW media at its maximum speed of 32x, with an average write speed of 24.88x.

The NEC ND-3540A uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity writing technology to write at 32X for CD-RW discs, the average speed is 29.75x.

The NU DHW-164 uses P-CAV (Partial-Constant Angular Velocity) writing technology to write at 24X for CD-RW discs, the average speed is 23.16x.

The LaCie d2 DVD±RW Double Layer uses CLV (Constant Linear Velocity) writing technology to write at 16X for CD-RW discs, the average speed is 16x. For a better overview we present the following comparison table:

As we can see from the table, the Samsung SH-W162C performed average when writing CD-RW's.

16X DVD+R/-R Writing speed:

The Samsung SH-W162C uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at the maximum supported speed of 16x. This gives an average write speed of 11.88x and a writing time of 5 minutes 37 seconds.

The Samsung SH-W162C uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD-R at the maximum supported speed of 16x. This gives an average write speed of 11.78x and a writing time of 5 minutes 53 seconds.

Below are some write graphs from some other drives for comparison.

The Pioneer DVR-110D uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD-R at its maximum speed of 16x. This gives an average write speed of 11.59x and a writing time of 6 minutes and 1 second.

The NEC 3540A uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at 16x. This gives an average writing speed of 11.81x and a writing time of 5 minutes and 58 seconds.

The Philips DVDR16LS uses CAV, (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at 16x. The average speed is 11.33x and total writing time is 6 minutes and 8 seconds. The average speed is lower and the writing time is higher than it could have been due to the Walking OPC generation 2 using some time to constantly adjust the writing quality, we could see this as constant dips in the speed curve.

The LG GSA-5160D uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+R at 16x. The average speed is 11.60x and total writing time is 6 minutes and 12 seconds.

The LG GSA-4163B uses P-CAV, (Partial-Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD-R at 16x. The average speed is 12.90x and total writing time is 5 minutes and 20 seconds.

Below, we made a comparison table:

*1 - Actual writing speed was max 14x due to USB-Bridge limitations.
*2 - Actual writing speed was max 13x due to USB-Bridge limitations.

From the table above, we can see that the Samsung SH-W162C is the fastest drive overall when writing DVD+R and DVD-R.

6X DVD+R DL writing speed:

The Samsung SH-W162C supports 6x writing speed on DVD+R DL media.

The Samsung SH-W162C uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+R DL at 6x. Five zones are used to write DVD+R Double Layer discs at 6x, which was the fastest media we had. The average speed is 5.17x and total writing time is 22:16 minutes.

4X DVD-R DL writing speed:

The Samsung SH-W162C uses CLV, (Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-R DL at 4x. This gives an average writing speed of 4.00x and a total write time of 27 minutes and 17 seconds.

8X DVD+RW writing speed:

The Samsung SH-W162C uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+RW at 8x. The average speed is 7.51x and total writing time is 7:58 minutes.

6X DVD-RW writing speed:

The Samsung SH-W162C uses Z-CLV, (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-RW at 6x. The average speed is 5.87x and total writing time is 10:32 minutes.

Book type (bitsetting):

The Samsung SH-W162C supports auto bitsetting, via burn applications such as Nero, and supports DVD+R and DVD+R DL media with DVD-ROM book type.

Here is how you could check if your discs are really written with DVD-ROM book type:

Start Nero CD-DVD Speed and click the Disc info button and you should get the following screen:

DVD+R DL with book type DVD-ROM.

Another quick test is to start Nero CD-Speed and look at the disc information:

This should say DVD-ROM.

Included software:

Now it's time to look at the included software and to comment if needed. Notice that we may not use the included software in our performance testing part of the review.

The welcome and software installation screen

Nero installation screen

Firmware 'Live Update"