SilverStone SOB02 Slot Loading 6x Blu-ray Writer Review

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When you purchase a SilverStone product whether it is a chassis, power supply or storage accessory, one thing you can always expect is quality. If you have recently purchased a chassis in the Milo, Sugo or Fortress series then stayed tuned because we have a must have accessory for your build.

The SOB02 is the perfect solution for anyone that has recently decided to build their next rig in one of the aforementioned chassis. Featuring a slim slot loading design, this 6x Blu-ray writer can write your standard CD at 24x and DVD single layer media at 8x. If you are into double layer media, then you will be happy to know that SOB02 can also write double layer DVD's at 6x and of course Blu-ray single and double layer at 6x too. This drive carries a one year warranty from SilverStone.

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For our review, SilverStone was kind enough to send along the SST-FP58B that allowed us to install the slot loading Blu-ray writer along with four 2.5" drives into a single bay in our chassis.

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Opening the packaging, we found the SOB02 secured in thick foam.

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A quick look over the drive, we see it is manufactured by Panasonic with the model number UJ265.

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The front of the drive houses the slot loading face with the eject button and activity LED to the left.

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The I/O port of the SOB02 uses a standard SATA connection with the power portion looking to be a proprietary connection.

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The FP58B, which allows installing the slim SOB02 into a chassis, has all the slot loading characteristics, including a dust screen built into the slot.

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Above you can see the layout of the FP58B. At the top, we have room for our slim Blu-ray writer, with enough room below for four 2.5" drives.

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Here we have installed the SOB02 into the FP58B, along with filling the drive bays with four 2.5" drives. As you may notice, the SOB02 comes with an angled SATA and power connection. This allows for space savings inside chassis with space restrictions.

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Here we have ran Nero Info Tool on the drive so you can see supported features.

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Creating a disc with Nero DiscSpeed, we ended the benchmark at a speed of 2x. Note that in order to reach 6x on single and dual layer media, you must burn the disc in CAV mode.

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For benchmarking, we used single layer Verbatim media, as it is highly respected as the best available. Above we found the drive to reach 6x speeds in CLV mode.

The SilverStone SOB02 with its slim form factor and slot loading features is the perfect companion for those of you building in any of the chassis I mentioned above. Actually, it truly is a necessary accessory. For those of you that choose to build in full-tower chassis, adding the FP58B will clean up your build, allowing you to have full burning capabilities and even four SSDs in the drive slots below.

Performance of the SOB02 was on par with marketing specifications, at 6x. In fact, while using this drive, I had the chance to back up quite a bit of my Blu-ray collection by ripping them to MKV files with full HD audio, a process that took about an hour per disc. Adding to the value of the SOB02, SilverStone includes a copy of CyberLink PowerDVD 9 BD with the drive.

Pricing of the SOB02 at the time of writing is set at $149.99, adding the FP58B to your order will set you back another $24.99.

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