Are Cheap DVD Burners Worth the Trouble?

Samsung SH-S183 (SATA)

Samsung's SH-S183 is the Serial ATA version of the SH-S182. All the write speeds and features such as LightScribe, Magic Speed and the buffer under run control are included with the S183 as well.

Both Samsung drives were fast for ripping a DVD-9, but they were the slowest models for burning a DVD with 4.3 GB of data. Then again, both drives are quick in loading and recognizing an inserted disc, which took roughly 10 seconds. Unfortunately, both are slow at ripping digital audio into iTunes 7.1.1.5. The other drives took less than three minutes while the two Samsungs required almost seven minutes for the task.