14 DAY TRIAL // No doubt Samsung's Spinpoint F4 will benefit from most of end-users' attention, but the company decided that it wasn't enough for just one electronic to make its appearance. As such, though it stuck to the field of PC storage, the company catered to the needs of a larger variety of consumers by also addressing the optical storage front. To be more precise, Samsung brought out the SH-B123, an internal Blu-ray combo drive.
Being a combo drive, the device promises to read all kinds of optical disks, including Blu-ray, CDs and DVDs, but will only be able to scribe data on DVDs and CDs. Basically, it is an internal solution meant to allow the playback of HD videos, or other type of OD-stored media, while also providing the possibility of scribing DVDs and CDs at speeds of up to 16x and 48x, respectively. BD reading is accomplished at 12x.
Basic reading and writing capabilities are not all that the company has to offer, of course. For one, the ODD takes advantage of an Aerodynamic Frame Design, which reduces operating noise and even cuts power consumption by a quarter (25%). Lead time is also supposedly 37% shorter than that of the ODD's predecessors. As for the design itself, a mirror front and blue LED attempt to confer a semblance of personality. Samsung didn't mention the actual price tag but did state that the SH-B123, bundled with Cyberlink Powerproducer software, would start shipping in July.
“As market demand and adoption of BDs, HDTVs and digital broadcasting accelerate, so has consumer interest in watching Blu-ray movies on personal computers,” said John Suh, Director of Samsung Semiconductor Inc. Optical Disc Drive Division Sales Team. “Samsung’s new BD combo drives can read BD discs, and read and write CD/DVD discs, providing consumers with a broad choice of HD movie sources on their computers.”