Philips PBC03210G

The design of this model is rather unassuming. The only details that somehow liven up its appearance are the Company name written in blue letters and a strange cabbalistic symbol representing something like a coiled snake. If you are not among the initiated, let’s clarify: this logo implies that the drive has been certified for Mount Rainier technology. The front panel has nothing else besides the eject button. The back panel carries the standard set of items: interface, power, digital and analog audio connectors and the pins set with a jumper.

This model is no record-breaker reading DVD-ROM at 12x and CDs at 40x, writing CDs at 32x and rewriting them at 10x. The average access time is 125ms. It supports ATA/33 interface and features 2MB buffer.

Like the other two drives, this one also arrived in an OEM package with no additional accessories.

Samsung SM-348B

The design of this drive looks most original of all: the tray is rounded at the corners and carries no logos. A decorative line follows its contour. The purple eject button and the LED are pressed into the front panel. There is an audio jack and a volume control wheel below the tray. The front panel carries a few logos suggesting that you deal with a combo-drive. The grooves in the upper cover help to make the drive case more robust. The ordinary set of connectors is located at the backside; the only nuance is the white color of the plastic panel instead of the traditional black.

This drive boasts the highest claimed speeds of all we are going to review today. It can read DVDs at 16x and CDs at 52x, write CDs at 52x and rewrite them at 24x. Average access time is the same for both DVD and CD access: 110ms. This model has a 2MB buffer, like the other participating drives, but its retail version comes with 8MB of buffer memory. This combo supports Mount Rainier and DVA (Dynamic Vibration Absorber) technologies. The latter is intended to reduce vibrations and, accordingly, the level of acoustic noise. Besides, the drive supports buffer underrun protection technology.

No accessories come with the OEM version of the drive.