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| Posted by | Tor Magne |
| Posted on | 15/10/03 21:17 |
 | Review: Samsung SM-352B review Reviewer: OC-Freak Firmware: T806 Manufactured: April 2003 |
This time we will take a look at Samsungs latest combo drive; The SM-352B. Samsung is not a newcomer at the market but it's only in the past that they have started to focus on the Optical drive market and now their drives is available almost everywhere. In this review we will try to examine the drive to find out how it stands up against the competition.
Some Samsung facts:
This drive is made by the Optical Digital Drives division of Samsung electronics (now named Optical Media solution Division - OMS Division), and here is some information about them from the Samsung ODD website:
As of January
16, 2002, ODD Division changed its name to Optical Media Solution Division, or
OMS Division. This is part of the Divisions enhanced commitment to the mid and
long term vision: diversifying single-product management; promoting
multi/interdisciplinary qualities and fusion technology; and creating new
business opportunities.
* OMS Division Overview:
1. Digital Media Trends
- Accelerated development of digital media technology (Diverse formats leading the current markets are expected to be standardized)
- Changes in media (contents) forms and standards: digital convergence products
- Interface (USB, Bluetooth) standardization: Improved product compatibility
- Accelerated development of optical storage technology: CD -> DVD (RAM, RW) ->DVD-Multi -> HD-DVD
- Boundary collapse between products (New product domain has been created due to the fusion and multi/interdisciplinary trends in products)
- Blurred boundaries between Information Technology, communications and Audiovisual sectors: WEB-TV, PDA, D-STB (VOD), Game machine and so forth.
- Overlap of product domains: increased competition, esp. in the field of data storage devices (HDD, Memory, ODD, and so forth); consequential collision between businesses, which in turn requires timely and appropriate responses to create synergy like strategic partnership.
- Sensitive to timing; due to the fast-changing market conditions and technology that shortens the life cycle of a product.
- Closely related to other products; especially sensitive to the changes in PC and content markets.
- Hard to enter the market; the whole system of design, patent, manufacture and distribution is required.
- Dependent on core components, which determine a company's competitiveness.
Drive specifications:
| ITEM |
| ||||||||||||||||||||
DISC | Disc types supported | DVD-ROM, DVD-VIDEO, DVD-R, DVD - RW, CD-DA (Audio), | |||||||||||||||||||
| Erasing disc types | CD-RW | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Disc diameter | 120 mm or 80 mm | ||||||||||||||||||||
| DRIVE | Data transfer rate | Recording |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| Reading |
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| Access time |
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| Data Buffer | Bulk Type : 2MB | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Retail Pack : 8MB | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Laser | Semiconductor laser | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Slide mechanism | Stepping motor | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Spindle motor | Brushless motor | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Load mechanism | Tray. DC motor (Soft Eject). Horizontal/Vertical. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ERROR RATE | Mode 1: 1 block/10-12 , Mode 2: 1 block/10-9 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| FRONT PANEL | Eject button | Auto eject or Auto inject | |||||||||||||||||||
| Indicator | If the Power is ON/BUSY, this means the disc is loaded. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Headphone output | Stereo mini-jack (é˜ 3.6 mm) 0.65V ± 20% (rms) 33 ohm | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Volume control | Dial type | ||||||||||||||||||||
| REAR PANEL | Required power | +5 V : 1.2 A (rms), +12 VDC: 1.5 A (rms) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Interface connector | ATAPI (E-IDE) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Audio output | Line out 0.7V ± 20% : 47Kohm | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Jumper block | Molex 70203 or other compatible models | ||||||||||||||||||||
| OPERATING ENVIRONMENT | Operations | Temperature: 5~45°C Humidity: 10~80% | |||||||||||||||||||
| Storage | Temperature: -25~60°C Humidity: 10~90% | ||||||||||||||||||||
| GENERAL | Dimensions | 148.2 (W) x 42 (H) x 184 (D) mm (including bezel) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Net weight | 750 g | ||||||||||||||||||||
| RELIABILITY | MTBF | 100,000 POH(Duty 25%) | |||||||||||||||||||
The drive we have here is the retail version with 8Mb buffer. Specification wise it seems to be a clear winner drive and in this review we will try to see if this is true.
Test machine:
For this review we will be using a computer with the following configuration:
Hardware:
- Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-8KNXP with Intel i875P chipset.
- Processor: Intel Pentium 4 2,8GHz 800MHz FSB with Hyper Threading support.
- RAM: 1Gb PC3500 DDR
- GFX: ATI Radeon 9800 pro
- Sound: SB Audigy 2
- Hard disks: 2 x Seagate Barracuda ATA IV 80Gb in RAID 0
System set-up:
The Samsung SM-352B was connected as Secondary master and identified itself as SAMSUNG CDRW/DVD SM352B. Both autorun and DMA (Direct Memory Access) was enabled for all devices.
Software:
Windows XP professional is installed on the computer along with Service Pack 1 for windows XP. We will be using the following software in this review:
- Ahead InCD v3.5.24.0
- Ahead Nero Burning ROM version 6.0.0.19
- Ahead Nero CD/DVD Speed v2.02.2 beta and v2.02.11 beta
- Ahead Nero InfoTool v2.00
- Elaborate Bytes CloneCD v4.2.0.2
- Blindwrite suite v4.5.7
- Exact Audio Copy v0.95 prebeta 3
- K-Probe v1.1.26
Head on to the next page and find out what the box we got contained…
Conclusion
CDR media reading speed maxed out at 42x but long press on eject button would enable 52x max speed... Maybe they just wanted to reduce wear and tear so the drive better survives 1 year warranty period
When we Boot system from CD Rom is also not detecting Bootable CD through cmos setup.
Please help
I have a Samsung TSSTcorp CDW/DVD SH-M522C
Version: TS07 combo drive.
It can read all CDs written at slower speeds, but cannot read data CDs written at 42x--whereas it can read the Installation CDs for various peripherals and the Audio CDs written at high speeds by Neero7.
On the other hand, there is no option available in Nero 7 to write data CDs at less than the default speed-- which is 42x.
Samsung Support staff has so far failed to reply to my Query.
Kindly mail your solution, if any, directly to:
themissociijuris@yahoo.com
Thanks in advance!
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