:. Introduction .:

The new Samsung SM-332 32x10x40x + 12xDVD is one of the most versatile CD-Rom drives you can buy. It is a high speed burner, CD-Rom, and DVD drive all-in-one. It features support for Ultra DMA Mode, an 8MB buffer with Buffer Under Run software to prevent your CD's from becoming coasters, and includes a copy of Ahead Software's: Nero Burning Rom.

The drive also comes with a copy of Power DVD XP. Samsung made an excellent choice in regards to the software provided with this drive because it is some of the best stuff out on the market.

Samsung made a brilliant move to integrate a high-speed CD-RW drive with a DVD-Rom. This can truly allow a number of people to be able to cut down on the number of CD-Roms they have in their computer. However, I would recommend still keeping a regular CD-Rom drive as a secondary just so you will be able to copy CD's for backup. But if you are thinking of building a new PC or want to add something more to your existing one, be sure to give the SM-332 a try because you won't be disappointed.

:. Specifications .:

System Requirements:

• Pentium II 400 MHz or above
• Free CD-ROM Bay / E-IDE
• Windows 98/NT 4.0/ME/2000/XP
• 64MB RAM or above
• Should have a minimum of 700MB disk space

:. What's inside the box .:

• CD-RW+DVD Drive
• 1 Blank CD-R Disc (32X)
• 1 Blank CD-RW Disc (10X)
• Audio Cable
• Interface Cable
• 4 Mounting Screws
• Instruction Booklet
• Software Bundle

:. Samsung SM-332 32x10x40x CD-RW + 12x DVD .:

The Samsung SM-332 is precisely what I needed because prior to having it, I was using a separate DVD drive for my movies, a separate burner to backup data, and I had a 52x CD-Rom for general purposes. With the Samsung combo drive, I was able to get rid of my old DVD drive and my burner. Now I only have two drives.

Well, right after I opened it, I stuck it into my PC. Once everything was connected I booted up my PC and installed the Nero Burning Rom software that is bundled with it. I was curious how the drive itself would open. Some open slow, some open loud, and other just don't open ;-). I found that this drive opens the fastest and in the most quiet way as compared to all my other CD Roms. But enough about the small details, let's talk about some of the more important aspects of this Drive.

Samsung includes 8MB of Buffer and 1MB of Flash memory for this drive. This combination allows the drive to burn CDs at 32X without any buffer errors. JustLink has provided this drive with the buffer under run protection. Samsung adopted the technology to prevent under run errors unlike other manufacturers that don't seem to get the picture.

Also, Samsung chose to bundle the burner with Ahead Software. The makers of Nero Burning Rom 5.5, Ahead software has been in the CD-RW software game since it started and they are the leaders because of the features they pack into their software. It's easy to maneuver within the software and because it's so simple, anyone can easily burn a CD.

One thing I did notice about this drive, which is a very minor and insignificant detail, is the fact that there is no distinction between the green CD Read light and the CD Burn light. This is because the CD Burn light is also green. Usually burners have two distinct lights but I did not see that with this model.

Since this drive also has DVD capabilities, the DVD software included for that was a copy of PowerDVD XP. This is the most popular DVD software, and for good reasons: It looks great, performs even better, and has great customer support.

One thing that really is different about this drive is the fact that it makes hardly any noise! I always hated listening to a CD-Rom start up and leave you listening to a high-pitched noise. There was non of that in this drive and this didn't happen by luck: Samsung adopted a new technology for this.

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