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Even if the Samsung did not do to well in the reading part of the review it may still be a good writer. Read on to find out!

Writing Data CD-R discs:

For our data writing tests we simply set up a new compilation of 700Mb using Nero Burning ROM software. Writing method used is DAO (Disc At Once), and the disc is set up as a non-multisession disc with finalize disc enabled. The screenshot below shows how long time it takes to write a disc at the highest speed that is 52X:

The drive used 2 minutes and 37 seconds to write the disc at 52X. Compared to other drives this is about average (plextor premium used 2m 38s and Lite-On LTR-52246S used 2m 30s). But writing speed is not everything, writing quality is even more important.

Write Quality:

We will test CD-R discs from 7 different large CD-R manufacturers, including Samsung's own discs as well. To really measure the write speed we used the create data CD function in Nero CD-Speed, the discs was written at the maximum speed that the drive supports. For the quality test we used K-Probe that is a tool developed by a Lite-On Employee, it runs under windows and works with drives made by Lite-On. Also note that different drives and different reading speeds may affect the results obtained when scanning the discs. We used an Lite-On LTR-52246S drive and scanned the discs at 48X speed. A written CD-R disc will always have some C1 errors, C1 errors is easily corrected by the drives error correction capabilities. The next level of errors is C2, while C2 errors could also be corrected by most drives error correction capabilities; a good disc should not contain any C2 errors and have an average C1 error amount of below 2.0 average. After this there is only un-correctable errors that will make a disc unusable.

Why wait any longer? Below are the obtained results:

Brand: Packard Bell
Manufacturer: CMC Magnetics
Code: 97m26s66f
Disc Type: CD-R
Recording Layer: Dye Type 6, Short strategy (Phthalocyanine).
Capacity: 79:59.71 (703Mb)
Certified speed: 48X
Write speed: 52X
Write time: 2m:30s
C1 average: 1.063
C2 average: 0.0

A C1 average of 1.063 is a pretty average result for the CMC discs and is nothing to be worried about. 

Brand: MMORE
Manufacturer: Moser Baer India
Code: 97m17s06f
Disc Type: CD-R
Recording Layer: Dye Type 6, Short strategy (Phthalocyanine).
Capacity: 79:59.74 (703Mb)
Certified speed: 52X
Write speed: Aimed at 52X but slowed down to 24X.
Write time: 3m: 27s
C1 average: 1.618
C2 average: 0.0

Still an acceptable disc with an average error count of 1.618 C1 errors. Notice the increase in C1 errors right before the write speed dropped to 24X.

Brand: Verbatim Data Life Plus
Manufacturer: Mitsubishi Chemicals
Code: 97m34s23f
Disc Type: CD-R
Recording Layer: Dye Type 3, Long strategy (Cyanine or AZO).
Capacity: 79:59.73 (703Mb)
Certified speed: 48X
Write speed: Aimed at 48X but slowed down twice and ended up on 32X at the end.
Write time: 2m:53s
C1 average: 1.460
C2 average: 0.0

A C1 average of 1.460 is still acceptable. To bad that the drive slows down the write speed so easy.

Brand: Fujifilm
Manufacturer: Ritek (JS Dye)
Code: 97m15s17f
Disc Type: CD-R
Recording Layer: Dye Type 7, Short strategy (Phthalocyanine).
Capacity: 79:59.70 (703Mb)
Certified speed: 48X
Write speed: aimed at 48X but slowed down twice.
Write time: 2m:54s
C1 average: 0.629
C2 average: 0.0

With an average of 0.629 C1 errors these discs should not cause any problems and is among the best discs for the Samsung SM-352B.

Brand: Plextor
Manufacturer: Taiyo Yuden
Code: 97m24s01f
Disc Type: CD-R
Recording Layer: Dye Type 1, Long strategy (Cyanine or AZO).
Capacity: 79:59.72 (703Mb)
Certified speed: 48X
Write speed: 48X
Write time: 2m: 37s
C1 average: 0.196
C2 average: 0.0

Again we could see the superiority of the Taiyo Yuden CD-R discs. An average C1 error amount of 0.196 is simply outstanding. One of the few discs that the drive wrote without any slowdowns, to bad it does not write these at 52X.

Brand: SilverCircle
Manufacturer: Prodisc
Code: 97m32s19f
Disc Type: CD-R
Recording Layer: Dye Type 9, Short strategy (Phthalocyanine).
Capacity: 79:59.71 (703Mb)
Certified speed: 52X
Write speed: Aimed at 52X but slowed down to 40X.
Write time: 3m:16s
C1 average: 0.765
C2 average: 0.404

While the C1 error level is relatively low with only 0.765 C1 errors average, the disc has C2 errors at the end. While an average C2 error rate of 0.404 may not sound much it may make the disc unreadable over time, and thus we will not recommend these disc for use with this drive.

Brand: Samsung
Manufacturer: Plasmon Data Systems, Ltd.
Code: 97m27s18f
Disc Type: CD-R
Recording Layer: Dye Type 8, short strategy (Phthalocyanine).
Capacity: 79:59.74 (703Mb)
Certified speed: 48X
Write speed: Aimed at 52X but slowed down 3 times during the write process.
Write time: 2m: 50s
C1 average: 26.957
C2 average: 0.109

These discs are simply pure garbage with an average C1 error level of 26.957 and a C2 error level of 0.109 average. If you think about getting a Samsung CD-R discs for your newly bought Samsung CD-R drive; think again! It's very sad to see manufacturers that fail to provide discs that works with their own drives, thumbs down to Samsung!

This concludes our writing tests so head on to next page and read about the packet writing performance of this drive…