CDRLabs.com

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.

Oops.. forgot to post this earlier.

Thanks Ian!



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...

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.

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.

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...

Thanks Ian - looks like a winner

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...

LOL, I just noticed that. I think that reinforces my statement that the site was made by 4 year olds.

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.

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

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?

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.

Turn down the software volume and turn up the volume on your speakers.

Yep, i hear it in my headphones...can anyone point me in the direction of the audio interference fix (if there is one?).

Do you have the Equalizer enabled in the nForce Tray Control Panel? Disable it and try my suggestion two posts above.

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

and no, the equalizer is not enabled...

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.

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

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.

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...

i burnt 10 more vcds tonight using the same verbatims they all burnt at 48x.

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

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?

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.