Samsung has launched the world's first 18x Serial ATA DVD writer to the market, the WriteMaster(TM) SH-S183L. Unlike most IDE based DVD writers that have a maximum bus transfer rate of 33MB/s to 66MB/s, the Samsung drive features 150MB/s, 300MB/s and 600MB/s transfer rates for a much improved burst performance. The drive also features 12x DVD-RAM, 8x DVD±R DL and LightScribe direct disc labelling support.
Its 12x DVD-RAM support improves DVD-RAM writing time by up to 5 minutes over other drives on the market. Other features include a Weight Balancing System, Speed Adjustment Technology, Tilt Actuator Compensation and Double Optimum Power Control. The drive is shipping and is selling for an estimated street price of $89.99
Like many other DVD writers with other Samsung DVD writers in particular, unfortunately this writer does have the drawback in limiting the read-back of DVD+R & DVD-R to a reduced rate of 12x. While this is unlikely going to affect those who mainly just write large quantities of media (such as businesses handing out content on DVD), it would make it more time consuming to read recordable DVDs for those who regularly copy data from DVDs.
The full press release can be read at the Broadcast Newsroom here.
