Samsung SH-S203N 20x DVD±RW/RAM

CD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 7.10.1.0 andDLA 5.20:

For this test I randomly generated 700MB of files and directories to test the time it takes the drive to write and close a CD. All of the files are between 1MB and 25MB in size and no more than 10 directories deep. All of the times below include not only the actual writing time, but the lead in and out times too. This gives a more realistic idea of how long it takes to write a CD.

Samsung's new "Super WriteMaster" drive has a maximum CD writing speed of 48x. To reach this speed, it uses CAV, or Constant Angular Velocity. With Taiyo Yuden's 52x media, the drive started writing at about 21.88x and reached a maximum speed of 48.05x at the end of the session. This gave the SH-S203B an average writing speed of about 37.01x.

To test the drive's writing times, I wrote our test data to some Taiyo Yudenmedia rated at 52x. The results are below.

The SH-S203N took longer than expected to complete our CD writing tests. In our tests, it trailed behind the drives from Lite-On and LG, taking 2:55 to write an entire 701MB CD.

To test the drive's writing quality I used Lite-On IT's KProbe2. Written by Karr Wang, this utility can be used to test the number of C1 and C2 errors on a disc. For these tests I used a Lite-On LTR-52246S (firmware 6S0F) and read the discs at 32x.

Imation 52x (MBI)

Taiyo Yuden 52x

Verbatim 52x

By looking at the KProbe screenshots, you can see that the writing quality was very good with the media from Imation and Verbatim. The number of C1 errors remained very low throughout the entire session. Unfortunately, the SH-S203N didn't handle Fuji's Taiyo Yuden manufactured media quite as well. While there were no C2 errors, the C1 errors were very high through out the later half of the disc.

For the rewriting tests I created 400MB of files on the hard drive and wrote them in DAO mode using Nero. To test the packet writing speeds I copied and pasted the same files off the hard drive onto a CD-RW disc using DLA from Sonic. Verbatim's 32x Ultra Speed CD-RW media was used for these tests.

While the SH-S203N uses CAV when writing to CD-R discs, it uses Z-CLV, or Zone CLV, when rewriting at 32x. By looking at the screenshot above, you can see that it uses a total of three "zones" to reach its maximum speed. The drive starts writing at 16x and jumps to 24x at about the 9 minute mark.The SH-S203N writes at this speed until about the 29 minute mark. When it reaches this point, its writing speed increases to 32x and stays there until the end of the session.

Samsung's new DVD writer performed relatively well when rewriting with Nero, taking 2:22 to write 400MB of data. Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as fast when packet writing with DLA. As with the SH-S203B, the SH-S203N's packet writing speed seemed to be limited to only 16x, even when 32x Ultra Speed media was used.

The SH-S203N also erases at 32x. While it didn't have the fastest quick erase time out of the four drives here, it was able to do a full erase in a respectable 3:14.