Digital Trends

Samsung TS-H552U

April 4th, 2005 | by Ian Bell

Features and Design

The Samsung TS-H552U optical drive is a result of the partnership between Samsung and Toshiba or TSST (Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology Corporation), so we would not surprised if the Toshiba DVD writers floating around out there were either identical or shared some of the same components as the TS-H552U, although this is just a guess.

This years TS-H552U drive looks nearly identical as the previous years, and the only differences between the two models are the box design and the specifications. The drive face plate and even the model number are the same. So when you are shopping around for the TS-H552U, it is imperative that you look at the specs and make sure that they give a 5X write time for Dual Layer media instead of 2.4X which is the speed rating of the previous years unit.

The TS-H552U is available in two different colors, beige and black. Companies like Sony and Plextor go so far as to just include an extra faceplate in the box of a single unit, but Samsung chose to just introduce two different models altogether. So you have the option to get a drive with a black face to match your computer system.

Samsung TS-H552 in beige

As is standard with almost all optical drives, the tray eject button and activity LED is located in the front bottom right corner. Samsung includes an IDE cable, an audio cable, a quick start guide and Nero recording software with the drive. Since it is hard to find Dual layer media capable of 5X write speeds at this time it would have been great if Samsung included some recordable media with the TS-H552U, but they didn't so you will have to buy some when you get this drive.

On the software front, Samsung includes the same software you will find with the more expensive drive from Sony and Plextor. This includes Nero burning ROM 6 SE which is used to create data and music discs as well perform basic CD/DVD duplication, InCD 4 which is a DVD+/-RW and CD-RW packet writing software, Nero Vision Express 2 which is used for DVD-Video and Video CD authoring and editing, and Nero Back It Up which allows you to back up your computers main files onto CD or DVD. Lastly, Sony includes Nero's Showtime software which is used to play DVD video and video CDs on your PC.

Write speeds include 16X DVD+R, 4X DVD+RW, 16X DVD-R, 4X DVD-RW, 40X CD-R, 32X CD-RW and 5X DVD+R DL write speeds. Read speeds are rated at 16X for DVD-ROM, and 48X for CD-ROM media

The Samsung TS-H552U features a 2MB internal buffer and incorporates PowerBurn technology into the TS-H552U to help prevent buffer underruns errors. The TS-H552 is only compatible with Windows based systems and requires a minimum of an Intel Pentium III 800 MHz CPU or equivalent, 128MB of memory and Windows 98 SE/ME/2000/XP.

* Note Nero DVD Copy does not support windows 98/ME so if you are running that operating system, you will only have limited burning capabilities with this drive.