As we mentioned before, the highest speed CD-RW disc we could find to test with was one rated at 10x, so it is not surprising that the speeds here are capped off at that amount. The 12X disc we tested the SW240 with has gone MIA... Average burn speeds on the CDR media sat at just under 37X which is a large increase, and well worth it.

Final thoughts

There is no point in mentioning that a faster drive is better for in the next few months there will be yet another drive to consider which offers faster burn times. The optical drive market is running out of room to grow - with many speculating that 52X is about as high as any of the technologies will reach. DVD's are limited to about 16X, and for lack of CDRW media rated above 10X there isn't much benefit to a drive which can rewrite at 24X.

A focus on noise leads us down another path where we are seeing improvements - Samsung drives in general are very quiet. With technologies such as DVA (Dynamic Vibration Absorber) on the inside, we benefit from fewer drive induced noises. DVA is basically a high-tech rubber washer, and can help prevent that annoying vibration at higher rotational speeds which sometimes occurs.

Retailing for a little over $100USD , the Samsung SM348 brings the goodness of DVD to the computer without the frustration of stuttering screens, or dropped frames. Add to that high CD recording, and rewriting speeds, and you have a really good value all in one little drive.