Samsung SW-232B

Review Pages

1. Data Tests
2. Introduction
3. CloneCD Reading Tests
4. CDR Tests
5. DAE Tests
6. Writing Quality Tests
7. RW Writing Tests
8. Conclusion

Samsung SW-232B IDE CDR-W - Page 8

Conclusion

Positive (+)	Negative (-)
- Supports 32x writing speed - 8MB buffer -"JustLink" anti-buffer underrun technology -"JustSpeed" technology - Low seek times - Supports DAO-RAW - Supports reading/writing of SubChannel Data - Supports CD-Text (reading/writing) - Supports Overburning (up to 99mins) - Supports 90/99min CDs - Retail package includes Nero 5.5x	- Reading/writing performance in lower than what competition offers - Low writing quality with specific media - Lower HS-RW reading speed than competition - Lower DAE speed than competition - Poor error correction capabilities - Cannot read/rip protected AudioCDs - Low CloneCD reading performance - Cannot backup SD2 protected CDs - Price ($127)

Samsung SW-232B supports 32x CD-R writing, 10x rewriting and 40x reading speeds. The drive is equipped with a 8MB buffer and features the "JustLink" and "JustSpeed" technologies. The CD-R reading performance of the drive is not low but the competition is high and sets the limits. However, in the same test we saw that the seek times of the drive are low. The HS-RW reading test showed that Samsung SW-232B couldn't read faster than 26x. CloneCD users would not be pleased with the Samsung drive, since the drive is slow and cannot handle the SD v.2 protected CDs.

Overburning up to 99min is allowed and 90/99min CDs can be read/written. CD text option for audio CDs is also available. The weakness of the drive is the limited DAE speed and the poor error correction capabilities. Samsung SW-232B did not pass more than the first two levels in the CD-CHECK quality extraction test. This result was also confirmed in the "bad media" rip test. Last, the audio protected CDs cannot be handled by the Samsung drive.

During the CD-R writing tests, we saw that the "JustSpeed" feature does not allow writing at maximum speed even with 32x certified media. Also the recording times were higher than the competition and sometimes even higher with specific media. The produced writing quality was generally high, except from two cases where the drive produced higher C1 error rates. This occurred when we burned Mitsui 74min 24x (JustSpeed On/Off) and Taiyo Yuden 80min 32x (JustSpeed Off).

Samsung SW-232B is not the fastest drive you can find in the category and the available prices are around $130 - not the cheaper you can find around. Future firmware upgrades are expected to improve the overall performance.