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In House Review - Samsung SM-352B 52/24/52/16 CD-RW/DVD-ROM

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In House Review - Samsung SM-352B 52/24/52/16 CD-RW/DVD-ROM

Postby Ian on Tue Jul 08, 2003 5:54 pm

CDRLabs has taken a look at Samsung's new combination CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive, the SM-352B. The SM-352B is one of the fastest combo drives currently available. It reads and writes at 52x, rewrites at 24x and reads DVD's at speeds up to 16x. The SM-352B also has many of the features we've come to expect from Samsung like a huge 8MB buffer and Super Link buffer underrun protection. In this review we take a look at some of the features found on the SM-352B and then see how it performs. Are 52x reading and writing speeds enough to make the SM-352B the fastest combo drive around? You'll have to check out the review to find out.

Samsung SM-352B 52/24/52/16 CD-RW/DVD-ROM

As usual, if you have any comments or questions about this review or the Samsung SM-352B, please post them in the forum by clicking the link below.
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Postby Ian on Tue Jul 08, 2003 5:54 pm

Oops.. forgot to post this earlier.
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Postby dhc014 on Tue Jul 08, 2003 6:21 pm

Thanks Ian!

Image

What's with the spelling?

I must admit, the Samsung Combo drives are somewhat tempting. I really don't like their firmware distribution methods, but at least they release firmware updates...
Last edited by dhc014 on Tue Jul 08, 2003 6:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Postby aviationwiz on Tue Jul 08, 2003 6:25 pm

Very wierd, how did they manage to get both Asia and Oceania spelt wrong?

I think the Web Designers at Samsung are 4 years old.
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Postby wicked1 on Tue Jul 08, 2003 7:09 pm

so is the samsung 348 a better drive or is the 352 just needing to be updated? I bought it to read dvd-rw and dvd+rw which it does hit and miss but since i just bought it I will gladly swap it out for a 348 and save 20 bux at the same time.Any input would be appreciated.
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Postby dodecahedron on Tue Jul 08, 2003 7:57 pm

what is more interesting to me than the spelling errors are the geographical errors...there's now a big wide ocean between Europe and Russia...LOL Russia is a new continent, separate from the continent Asia...once again separated by another ocean...and Asia is separated from Africa LOL maybe they took the continental shift theory a little too far into the future... :D
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Postby eliminator on Tue Jul 08, 2003 8:04 pm

Thanks Ian - looks like a winner 8)
Wake up ATI :-)
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Postby aviationwiz on Tue Jul 08, 2003 8:44 pm

dodecahedron wrote:what is more interesting to me than the spelling errors are the geographical errors...there's now a big wide ocean between Europe and Russia...LOL Russia is a new continent, separate from the continent Asia...once again separated by another ocean...and Asia is separated from Africa LOL maybe they took the continental shift theory a little too far into the future... :D


LOL, I just noticed that. I think that reinforces my statement that the site was made by 4 year olds.
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Postby dhc014 on Tue Jul 08, 2003 9:45 pm

Come on now, they're just showing the different areas as being separate. They weren't really posting a map. Besides, I find that to be pretty impressive. Especially if it is HTML, not just a flash applet.
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Audio Feedback

Postby Bonesdad on Tue Jul 08, 2003 10:34 pm

I just got this drive installed and it seems to work great. But when I stuck in a DVD movie, I got some audio feedback whenever the drive accessed the disk...what I mean is, there was a really annoying buzz every time the drive light blinked while watching the DVD. My system:

EPOX 8RDA+
AMD AThlon XP 2100+ Tbred B
512 PC2100 DDR RAM (Crucial)
Win XP Pro
LiteOn CD ROM 56X Drive
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Postby Ian on Tue Jul 08, 2003 11:16 pm

dhc014 wrote:Come on now, they're just showing the different areas as being separate. They weren't really posting a map. Besides, I find that to be pretty impressive. Especially if it is HTML, not just a flash applet.


That part of the manual isn't in HTML. You choose your part of the world, the language you want and then it fires up in your browser.

Bonesdad, where is the noise coming from? Your speakers?
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the whine type sound

Postby wicked1 on Tue Jul 08, 2003 11:33 pm

Epox nforce2 boards have had issues with audio interference. I am not sure what the fix is but I know its documented as I have seen it on overclocker boards.
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Postby dhc014 on Tue Jul 08, 2003 11:48 pm

Turn down the software volume and turn up the volume on your speakers.
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Postby Bonesdad on Wed Jul 09, 2003 12:28 am

Yep, i hear it in my headphones...can anyone point me in the direction of the audio interference fix (if there is one?).
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Postby dhc014 on Wed Jul 09, 2003 12:44 am

Do you have the Equalizer enabled in the nForce Tray Control Panel? Disable it and try my suggestion two posts above.
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Postby Bonesdad on Wed Jul 09, 2003 8:40 am

OK, tried the volume in software/hardware...no effect

and no, the equalizer is not enabled...
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Postby dodecahedron on Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:29 pm

from comparing Ian's reviews, it appears that the SM-348B is the better drive.
the only advantages the 352B has are slightly faster reading/writng speeds and DVD-RAM compatibility.
the 348B seems to have better performance in some benchmarks, better media compatibility, better DVD+/-R/RW support, better with scratched CDs.

Ian, do you still have the 352B drive? if so it would be interesting to see if firmware upgrades improve the 352B.
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new firmware

Postby wicked1 on Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

I installed the T805 firmware last night I havent had time to check it out yet to see if it helps it read the dvd +- RWs any better though thats the whole reason I bought the damn drive not the recording part. Thats what the Lite Ons are for :)
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new firmware = less media compatibility

Postby wicked1 on Wed Jul 09, 2003 6:32 pm

I am burning Ritek disks this time and now it wont burn them above 32x. Ty and Verbatim are limited to 40x. This is ridiculous. My Lite on 52246S burns them all at 52x.
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Re: new firmware = less media compatibility

Postby Ian on Wed Jul 09, 2003 10:18 pm

wicked1 wrote:I am burning Ritek disks this time and now it wont burn them above 32x. Ty and Verbatim are limited to 40x. This is ridiculous. My Lite on 52246S burns them all at 52x.


Hmm.. the drive wrote to TY and Verb media at 48x with the T804 firmware. Samsung is going backwards...
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odd

Postby wicked1 on Thu Jul 10, 2003 2:49 am

i burnt 10 more vcds tonight using the same verbatims they all burnt at 48x.
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Postby Bonesdad on Thu Jul 10, 2003 4:20 pm

no one has any help for me on the buzzing noise in my speakers when the 352 accesses a CD?
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kprobe test results

Postby wicked1 on Fri Jul 11, 2003 12:05 am

If anyone cares to know. I ran Kprobe on some Memorex (eek!!!) high speed CD-RW from Infodisk.They burn at 12X in my liteon 52246S but only 10x in the samsung. With the newest firmware in each (6s0f and t805) the samsung did far less errors. I am going to reflash my liteon to the 6s0d firmware because it seems to burn cdrws better and they seem to read in more players when burnt with the 6s0d firmware. I am gonna burn a ton of disks tonight and check them out. Does anyone know if the liteon combo drives can read the errors on dvds?
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Postby tc17 on Fri Jul 11, 2003 1:24 am

Personally the minor difference in speed doesn't matter to me, I doubt anyone would even notice it when burning.

I have the black oem version of this drive that I got this week. The only gripe I have with it is the tiny LED light, although its not that big a deal. It comes with the full version of Nero, unlike many other brands which seem to be coming with the express version.
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