Digital Trends

Samsung TS-H552U

April 4th, 2005 | by Ian Bell

Conclusion

Samsung's TS-H552U is a very capable drive. Write times were fast with the exception to DVD-R media. The 5X write speed of the TS-H552U proved to be only incrementally faster than 4X drives from Sony and Plextor. We did not encounter any problems with reliability and did not produce any bad discs in our testing process. The Nero software package is very robust and should cover just about every need an entry level enthusiast might have when it comes to creating media.

Samsung was very smart to make the TS-H552U available in both black and beige color options. It might have been smarter to have just included two different faceplates instead of selling two models, but that is not up to us.  With 5X Double layer drives just now entering the market, you will be hard pressed to find any 5X compatible media, but you might be able to get away with writing at 5X on 4X rated media. The slow DVD-R write times hold the TS-H552U back from winning our editors choice award, but the real bottom line is that this is a very reliable drive provided you use the correctly rated media.

Pros:

-          Available in both beige and black

-          Comes with Nero suite software package

-          Very affordable

-          Reliable and fast

Cons:

-          Struggles with DVD-R media (although we never produced a bad disc)

-          Not as fast as the specifications would lead you to believe

-          Confusing model number (people will most likely purchase last years drive thinking it is the newer model)

-          Does not come with any recordable media