Samsung SM304 DVD/CDRW Combo Review - PAGE 3

DVD access times were very good. In fact, testing showed that the average access times posted by this drive were actually much superior to the 120ms figure given by Samsung. The real-world performance of this drive is 2.85 average and peaks at 3.77x at the edge of our 4.1gb test disk. All in all this drive showed strong scores. Our CD Speed 99 results also showed good numbers: With an average read speed of 16.7x and maximum read of 22.04x at the adge of our test disk, the SM-304 lives up to it's billed maximum speed of 24x. Average seek times were better than Samsung lets on, beating their set numbers by a small margin. This drive has pretty low CPU usage, also. Although the drive's numbers aren't particularily fast compared to some technology available today, they're still very good implementations of what they claim to be; this drive definately doesn't show any unexpected slowdowns or problems.

Results

CD-R Write : (530MB folder)
SM-304 : 15:22

CD-RW Write : (530MB folder)
SM-304 : 19:15

CD-RW Format
SM-304 : 31:42
CD-RW Erase
SM-304 : 0:37

CD-Writing performance on this unit was solid, if not inspiring. At slightly over fifteen minutes to write our test disk, the SM-304 is fast for a 4x CD-Recorder. I found that while benchmarking this unit I had no problems at all with buffer underruns, even while doing light multimedia applications, though I didn't try to run UT while burning CDs ;) Rewrite times were also solid. It's been a long time since I've used a 4x CD-RW, and I forgot how irritating waiting for the drive's 31 minute CD-RW format time is in real life. The actual packet-writing time, however, is less than five minutes slower than the drive's CD-R times, and erase times are negligible at 37 seconds.

Conclusion

The SM-304 does seem like a perfect match for a user who wants to watch some DVDs and burn CDs but who isn't too concerned with having the newest technology at their disposal. Its solid performance and reasonable burn times, combined with its affordable price make this product a good choice for someone who wants a usable, all-in-one multimedia package. As a straightforward and reliable drive the SM-304 is well targeted toward the growing number of nascent computer junkies.

Bottom Line

Box Contents: 80%