AfterDawn: News

Samsung releases fastest dual layer DVD burner

Samsung Electronics introduced what they're calling the fastest DVD burner on the market. The Super-WriteMaster SH-S203N is a SATA burner that writes dual layer DVDs at up to 16x and also has Lightscribe support.

"Samsung's new SH-S203N is an all-in-one powerhouse that provides not only the fastest recording speeds on the market, but also built-in labeling technology that saves time and expense over the life of the drive," Richard Aguilera, western regional sales manager, Samsung Storage Division, said in a press release.



The SH-S203N also offers Speed Adjustment Technology, which Samsung says is used to match the speed to the functionality of the disc and Double Optimum Power Control, which is supposed to improve burn quality on the outside edge of the disc.

The SH-S203N has a suggested retail price of $79.99.

Source: Press Release

Written by: Rich Fiscus @ 30 Oct 2007 12:22

• Previous article

• Woman takes on Prince over DMCA takedown

• Next article

• 40GB PlayStation 3 is shipping with 65nm Cell processor

• 17 comments

• krj15489

  i just got the SH-S203B version of this drive last week for a family computer that i built. it was $30 on newegg and has almost the same specs as this one. based on how well my drive performs i am guessing that this will be a very nice drive.

  30.10.2007 15:30 #1

• sammorris

  Now then, where are the 16x Dual layer discs?

  30.10.2007 17:07 #2

• catfreak

  Originally posted by sammorris: Now then, where are the 16x Dual layer discs?on the shelf next to the 20x DVD+R discs . . .

  30.10.2007 17:29 #3

• sammorris

  :D I mean honestly, why do they bother...

  30.10.2007 17:40 #4

• Ripper

  If you want to burn your DL DVDs at 16x then knock yourself out. Personally, I don't even burn DVD+/-R @ that speed, lol.
  
  Specs look nice though.

  30.10.2007 18:16 #5

• domie

  whilst i'm a fanboy of their tvs, I never much rated their cd-dvd burners. considering the price of dual layer dvds, I don't think I would risk burning them ar 16 x , even though the drive is capable of it, the media often lets you down at that speed even for single layer discs...even GOOD media like Verbatim. Not always, just sometimes.

  30.10.2007 21:09 #6

• slugfuk

  OK.. who wants to burn blocky and jumpy dvd's at 16x?
  
  I have a SH-182D (the ide version of this drive) and IMHO it's junk.. slow, bad burns, and not even good at reading disks.. I updated the firmware and it was worse than before so I flashed it back to stock... also after 4 weeks it developed the old samsung fault.. doesn't open if there is no disk in the tray..
  I had to swap this nasty for my lovely old NEC 3550a *cries* because it refused to allow a customers dell to boot..
  
  Cheap and nasty.. avoid.
  
  Don't get me started on lightscribe.. reminds me of my early 90's doom disk.

  30.10.2007 21:15 #7

• ZippyDSM

  I have a s183l,made 10 dvds on it at 8-16X the only problem I have ran into is the sata pci card could not handle the speeds, the mobo sata runs fine.
  
  if you have a wonky sata burner 10 to 1 its the sata interface thats causing the trouble.
  
  I would not reccemend burning at 16X anyway, I do like lightscribe however 2 issues still remain price of disc and life span of lens.

  1.11.2007 13:19 #8

• pryme_H

  Quad burners such as this one (6x-8x-12x-16x) would probably write an average of 10.5X. Burn speeds displayed on manufacturers' burners only assert that drive will record at the said speed. It never specifically states how much of the media will record at that speed and what the average burn speed really is. With greater demands for on-the-fly burners, manufacturers continue to produce faster burners, but won't disclose the facts that entail...
  

  We lie! We cheat! We steal!
  

  1.11.2007 13:59 #9

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by pryme_H: Quad burners such as this one (6x-8x-12x-16x) would probably write an average of 10.5X. Burn speeds displayed on manufacturers' burners only assert that drive will record at the said speed. It never specifically states how much of the media will record at that speed and what the average burn speed really is. With greater demands for on-the-fly burners, manufacturers continue to produce faster burners, but won't disclose the facts that entail...Nice, I still try and keep burning to 8-12 and I stick to 8 when I do 4 dvds at once ^^
  

  For all the console/game fanboys out their.
  http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles...Console-Rundown
  Oh god I can't stop laughing!!!

  1.11.2007 14:05 #10

• pryme_H

  Quote:Nice, I still try and keep burning to 8-12 and I stick to 8 when I do 4 dvds at once ^^Zippy,
  Yes. I would keep those parameters. Burning at 8X is outwardly ideal.
  

  We lie! We cheat! We steal!
  

  1.11.2007 16:34 #11

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by pryme_H: Quote:Nice, I still try and keep burning to 8-12 and I stick to 8 when I do 4 dvds at once ^^Zippy,
  Yes. I would keep those parameters. Burning at 8X is outwardly ideal.even more so since I have 2 ide,1 sata and 1 usb burner ^_~
  

  For all the console/game fanboys out their.
  http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles...Console-Rundown
  Oh god I can't stop laughing!!!

  1.11.2007 16:39 #12

• pryme_H

  Quote:even more so since I have 2 ide,1 sata and 1 usb burner ^_~
  Yes sir! You are the man!
  

  We lie! We cheat! We steal!
  

  1.11.2007 17:19 #13

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by pryme_H: Quote:even more so since I have 2 ide,1 sata and 1 usb burner ^_~
  Yes sir! You are the man!I need a bigger case so I can put them all in it 0-o
  
  hell I still have not loaded my mini tower up yet its a foxconn minitour it has a cool face had to put acouple fan holes in it for better intake still a nice case not ready to upgrade the case yet, I need to find soemthign nice that has fan slots,front audio/usb and can take 4 cd/dvd drives and 6 HDDs(I hate fanless HDD racks that can only take 2 hdds with fans).
  
  uhg I have so much crap to get off my 4 HDDs ><
  I am so disorganized ><
  

  For all the console/game fanboys out their.
  http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles...Console-Rundown
  Oh god I can't stop laughing!!!

  1.11.2007 17:31 #14

• FreqNasty

  Originally posted by slugfuk: OK.. who wants to burn blocky and jumpy dvd's at 16x?
  
  I have a SH-182D (the ide version of this drive) and IMHO it's junk.. slow, bad burns, and not even good at reading disks.. I updated the firmware and it was worse than before so I flashed it back to stock... also after 4 weeks it developed the old samsung fault.. doesn't open if there is no disk in the tray..
  I had to swap this nasty for my lovely old NEC 3550a *cries* because it refused to allow a customers dell to boot..
  
  Cheap and nasty.. avoid.
  
  Don't get me started on lightscribe.. reminds me of my early 90's doom disk.The SH-182D is not the IDE version of this drive! Yours is an 18x burner, these are 20x. The SH-S203B is one of the best drives ever made. The quality is great on everything! That's not just my opinion, go read the review on cdfreaks.
  I would assume the S203N has the same quality as the S203B but with 16x DL support.

  3.11.2007 08:39 #15

• borhan9

  This sounds promising i would like one however i am not sure about samsung and their DVD burners.

  11.11.2007 16:11 #16

• soup1

  Nothing wrong with the SH-S203B, & for what it costs compared to what it does, Wow!
  

  System: Microsoft Windows Xp Pro 2002 SP2 / Vista. Computer: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 4300 @ 1.80 GHz 3.15 GHz. 4.00 GB of RAM.
  
  Samsung TSSTcorp SH-S203B (SB01), Samsung TSSTcorp SH-S182D (SB06), Samsung TSSTcorp SH-S162L (TS08), LG HL-DT-ST GSA-H10N (JL12), & external Plextor PX-716A (1.11).

  11.11.2007 22:00 #17