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Samsung SH-222BB
by Local
'SAMSUNG SH-S222BB/RSMS Internal SATA DVD Writer'
boxed retail version.
Overview
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After 1 month's heavy use I really can't fault this drive. It performs well, and came with a host of extras that set it apart from the competition.. seems Samsung clearly knows how to build and sell their ... product.
Note: Always make sure you know what you're getting from the seller, as some may only offer OEM units i.e. just the drive without extras. My boxed version was purchased on the UK high street in Dec 2012 from a well-known PC outlet.
Price (£20): 10/10
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This is astounding value considering what you're getting.. it was one of the cheapest retail units on offer. I've previously paid this sum just for OEM drives.
Packaging: 10/10
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The box is very sturdy. The labeling is clear and precise. The contents are carefully packaged.
Include are the following items:
. SATA drive (black)
. SATA cable (red)
. Screws (4)
. OEM CD Software: Nero Express Essentials v10, Neo BackItUp, Nero InCD, Online Manual
. Two extra bezels (silver and white)
. Pin tool for manual tray ejection and bezel replacement
. Printed documentation.
Note: The four screws are normally all you need (two placed diagonally each side). I found that using more on an older metal case can easily cause vibration noise. This is a common problem and in no way a fault with the drive. Using just the four screws completely resolved this issue.
Performance: 10/10
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Performance is excellent. This SH-S222BB/RSMS does exactly what it says on the tin: it can burn single-layer DVD media at upto 22x and dual-layer at 8x. Read speeds are 16x and 12x respectively. It sports a 1.5 MB buffer and is compatible with Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7.
The drive runs cool, quiet, and spins up discs very quickly. The eject/insert mechanism is also very sturdy and quick, yet surprisingly quiet.
Installation was a breeze (aside from the printed bezel replacement instructions). The drive has a small foot-print, with clear markings on top so that you can easily see what you're doing. The supplied SATA data cable is fairly long flexible; it doesn't have metal retention clips however it still feels fairly tight at both ends.
After enabling the SATA interface on my computer I was up and running in no time using my old copy of Nero9. The resultant burns (12x using 16x DVD+R Maxell media), were easily read on other computers and media devices.
Transferring my music CD's to WAV format was extremely quick (and quiet), with zero errors.
Note: For storing your your DVD's from other regions you'll need to consider some region-free utility, since the drive will lock the region code after the 5th selection. Again, this is in no way represents any kind of fault with the drive as most drives perform the same operation.
Extras: 10/10
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I've had countless drives in the past, and none of them came with the extras you'll find here (double-check to make sure the offer is still valid). These aren't needless extras, either; you won't be making any unforeseen trips back to the stores with this little gem :)
The free bezels practically sold this unit for me. I have an old silver case, and for the life of me I couldn't find any silver drives. The plastic on them is thick and durable. It looks great.
Documentation: 8/10
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One minor niggle was the printed documentation, namely the bezel replacement instructions.
The text and images were a tad small and hard to follow. Specifically, the English seemed a little vague and hard to follow, the accompanying images based on photographs rather than simplified drawings. I think this could risk putting some people off changing their bezel.
The quick start installation guide seems to have addressed these issues in full (10/10).
I really wanted the cool silver look so I persevered. Physically checking the spare bezels made it much easier, since I was able to roughly see where where the latching points were located. The plastic is fairly robust. Samsung even provides a neat little little pin to gently ease removal of the two principal components. Replacing your bezel is a straightforward procedure once you get the hang of it.
Conclusion:
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Samsung presents us with a drive that not only does what it says on the tin, but is carefully packaged, comes with a host of great extras and is competitively priced. I'm impressed with the overall product. The supplemental bezels are a great touch and this drive looks great in my silver case.
All in all you've got a good brand, excellent build quality, performance and a host of quality extras without being charged the earth. What more could you want? Samsung's customer focus is clearly evident in this drive for which I think they deserve credit.
I hope this has helped you make a more informed purchasing decision.
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Sony Optiarc AD-5260S
by Mama-Q
So first things first, boring technical details:
Product Description Sony Optiarc AD-5260S - DVD±RW (±R DL) drive - Serial ATA
Device Type DVD±RW (±R DL) drive
Enclosure Type Internal
Enclosure Colour Black
Interface Serial ATA
Dimensions (WxDxH) 14.8 cm x 17 cm x 4.2 cm
Weight 0.64 ... kg
Optical Storage DVD±RW (±R DL) - 5.25" x 1/2H
Read Speed 48x (CD) / 16x (DVD)
Write Speed 48x (CD) / 24x (DVD±R) /12x (DVD±R DL)
CD / DVD Rewrite Speed 32x (CD) / 6x (DVD-RW) / 8x (DVD+RW)
Buffer Underrun Protection Yes
OS Required Microsoft Windows Vista / XP / 7
Microsoft Certification Compatible with Windows 7
A lot of these details don't mean crap to me. All I care about is the fact that I have a DVD player to play games and DVDs on our family computer - as it came without a DVD drive. This particuliar drive works on our Windows 7 computer (as stated above) but also works on machines with Windows Vista, XP and even Windows 7.
We ordered our DVD drive from Amazon, for just under £15 including shipping. It arrived fairly quickly, in a huge box, with loads of padding to protect it in transit. The DVD drive was black to match our computer and is quite compact. The 'tray load mechanism' - the bit that loads the CD or DVD - supports horizontal or vertical use. Most computer users will have their drives horizontally. It also boasts a 'dust protected enclosure' which basically means that no dust will get into the operating parts of the drive and destroy it from working - or so you'd hope ;) - and an emergency eject which allows you to eject a disc from the drive even if the PC isn't switched on or decides to commit suicide, although for the life of me I can't find the emergency eject and will probably just open it with a screwdriver should worse come to worst ;).
Installing the drive was pretty straight forward...although I will confess I watched from the comfort of my sofa as my husband did the hard slog ;). He has since been playing DVDs and games on the machine and no problems have surfaced. We have no real reason to write anything onto discs as yet but from what I see on-line, this has been a no issue thing for users of this drive.
On Amazon this product is well received, with 6 5-star reviews, 1 4-star review and only one 1-star review and I'd say that''s probably a fair reflection on the product. It performs well, is quiet, small, easy to install and does what it says on the tin.
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LG GH22LS50
by williams91
I purchased this LG GH22LS50 super multi DVD-Rewriter internal drive for around £20, I bought this because a friend of mine wanted a budget computer system building. LG is a common name and I have used LG drives in the past and been happy with them, it was almost too easy to select this drive over others because I knew I was secure ... buying the LG brand.
--Unboxing--
This was delivered to me within a couple of days and was packaged in a standard box, there wasn't much else to the packaging I felt like it could of done with some extra protection other than a bit of card board but there wasn't any damage to the item.
There was a SATA cable provided in the box of this device which is a nice touch as I have bought some devices which don't supply these cables.
--The Look--
This is a standard DVD drive with a black plastic front and the rest of the device is metal but that doesn't really matter as that will be in the computer case itself. On the disc drive there are a few logos on there such as the LG and a super multi. The button to open this is on the bottom right of the device, this presses quite nicely doesn't require too much push against it but still clicks.
--Installing--
This DVD drive uses SATA connections, the data one is the smaller one that is provided with the device, this plugs in the drive and straight into an empty SATA port on the motherboard. The bigger slot is for the power cable and this plugs in straight from the power supply. If you don't have a SATA power cable free on the power supply you can buy a converter which turns a 4 pin Molex connection into a SATA cable. These are really cheap and may be something to take into consideration when purchasing this item.
With both cabled plugged in that is the DVD drive fully installed apart from screwing it into your case but that takes you all of two seconds and isn't hard as your case will have slots lined up for the screws.
--Testing--
When testing this device I ran a DVD on it first followed by burning a disc. When running the DVD the drive was almost silent which is always a nice bonus, I could barely hear the disc running and it played my whole DVD without any skips or faults at all.
For the burning part of the test I decided that burning a CD and a DVD was a good test. The first thing I burnt was a CD, this was a standard music disc and this took approximately 2 and a half minutes. Not a bad time but I have had quicker, still who can really complain about 2 and a half minutes?
Burning a DVD took around 7 minutes which was a little longer than I expected but both discs that I burnt had great quality play back and I can't fault the drive there. The writing speeds could be slightly faster but im willing to wait the extra minute or so for guaranteed quality.
--Features--
Here are some of the specifications and features of this device.
* Compatible with Windows XP and higher.
* Secure disc and light scribe compatible.
* Read DVD 16x Single layer and 12x dual layer.
* Read CD 48x.
* Write DVD at 22x and CD at 48x.
On paper this is a pretty bog standard DVD drive, it has no fancy features but it does do the job well. Granted I feel that this is a little slower than other drives I have used but it gives you high quality, this is a nice device to use and although there was a few bad points given the price you really can't complain. So if you are looking for a cheap DVD drive that can give you top quality media then look no further.
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