Samsung TS-H552U DVD Burner

June 6, 2005

Review: Samsung TS-H552U
Reviewer: Jan70
Provided by: Samsung Europe (UK)
Firmware: US03, US05 & US06
Manufactured: November 2004

Samsung Europe (NL) was kind enough to send us their latest internal DVD writer '“ the Samsung TS-H552U. This drive supports 16x DVD±R, 4x DVD±RW and 6x DVD+R DL writing technology - allowing dual layer discs of 8.5Gb to be written.

This review will 'backup" the Samsung TS-E552U review we posted (10. of April 2005) and we are going to concentrate on the features that the Samsung TS-E552U 'failed" to do. Like real 16x DVD writing/reading, due to the USB-Bridge limitation in the Samsung TS-E522U.

Company information:

We are sure that most of you know Samsung already, but let us take a look at some of the company information found at: www.samsungoms-europe.com

As a world leader in the field of digital media, Samsung Electronics produces Optical Disc Drives (ODD) since 1994. In the past few years Samsung was able to take a central market position in this field.

With subsidiaries all over Europe and a large part of the former USSR, Samsung Europe can offer the consumer a complete selection of disc drives, for all types of computers.

With large and continuous investments in research and development Samsung is able to be more and more at the forefront of disc drive technology.

As one of the first companies developing COMBO drives (DVD-ROM and CD-RW combined in one disc drive), Samsung is a frontrunner in this technology.

In the field of slim-line technologies, Samsung is expanding the line-up, in order to meet the demands of the market for desktop and notebook PCs.

Samsung offers a wide range of Optical Disc Drives, allowing customers to choose the exact combination of capabilities and features. Our products feature the latest noise suppression technologies. If you are looking for a high performance Optical Drive, you need look no further than Samsung.

If you are interested in reading more company information, please visit: www.samsungoms-europe.com

Drive specifications:

The official listed specification of this drive was found in the user manual (on CD-ROM):

Category

TS-H552U

DVD±R/RW Drive

DISC

Usable Discs

DVD :	DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-ROM,
	DVD-Video, DVD+R (Dual)

CD :	CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, CD-DA, CD+E(G)
	CD-MIDI, CD-TEXT, CD-ROM XA, Mixed Mode CD
	CD-I, CD-I Bridge (Photo-CD, Video-CD),
	Multisession CD (Photo-CD, CD-EXTRA, Portfolio)

Disc Diameter

4.72 Inch or 3.15 Inch (120mm or 80mm)

Interface Support

Interface Port

ATA/ATAPI (E-IDE)

PIO mode

PIO Mode 4: 16.7MB/sec

DMA mode

Ultra DMA Mode 2: 33.3MB/sec

ACCESS TIME (Random)

CD-ROM

110ms (Random)

DVD-ROM

130ms (Random)

Data Transfer Speed
(Max)

Media Type

Write

Read

DVD+R

PCAV 16X (21.6MB/sec)

CAV 8X (10.8MB/sec)

DVD+RW

CLV 4X (5.4MB/sec)

CAV 8X (10.8MB/sec)

DVD+R DUAL

CLV 4X (5.4MB/sec)

CAV 8X (10.8MB/sec)

DVD-R

PCAV 16X (21.6MB/sec)

CAV 8X (10.8MB/sec)

DVD-RW

CLV 4X (5.4MB/sec)

CAV 8X (10.8MB/sec)

DVD-ROM(Single)

CAV 16X (21.6MB/sec)

DVD-ROM(Dual)

CAV 8X (10.8MB/sec)

CD-ROM

CAV 48X (7.0MB/sec)

CD-R

PCAV 40X (6.0MB/sec)

CAV 48X (7.0MB/sec)

US-RW

PCAV 32X (4.8MB/sec)

CAV 32X (4.8MB/sec)

HS-RW

CLV 10X (1.5MB/sec)

CAV 32X (4.8MB/sec)

CD-RW

CLV 4X (0.6MB/sec)

CAV 32X (4.8MB/sec)

Buffer Memory

2MB

Drive Installation

Horizontal / Vertical(cannot use 3.15 Inch(80mm) discs)

Operating Environment

Temperature

41Â°F ~ 122Â°F (5Â°C ~ 45Â°C)

Humidity

10% ~ 80% (RH)

Size(Width x Height x Length)

5.34 X 1.65 X 7.24 Inch (148.2 X 42 X 184mm)

Weight

760g

MTBF

125,000 POH(Duty 20%)

What's inside the box?

On this page we will take a look at what the drive came shipped with and take a look at the drive and its technology.

Front

Back

Top/Bottom

Left side

Right Side

Below you will see the contents of the retail box:

The internal drive itself
IDE cable
Internal Audio cable
4 mounting screws
Setup Guide
Samsung external DVD±R/RW Writemaster CD:
1. User's Manual
2. Pinnacle Instant CD/DVD 8 OEM

Now it's time to take a look at the drive itself:

A standard bezel with logos of supported writing formats '“ except for the DVD+R9 DL logo - which is missing. Headphone connector and volume knob is missing too. The drive uses one small coloured led (green) for read and write (we prefer a different led colour though for writing). The eject knob is transparent and in 'the dark" it 'flashes" together with the read/write led.

Top

On the top of the drive we found two sticker and we can read it was made in Korea, dated October 2004.

On the back of the drive there are from the left: digital audio connector, analogue audio connector, pins and jumper to set the drive to cable select, slave or master, IDE connector and power connector.

We installed the drive without any problems and here is a screenshot from Nero InfoTool:

From the screenshot of Nero InfoTool above, we miss Mt.Rainier support and a larger buffer size. Our drive came shipped with firmware US03 and but later updated to US05 and US06.