Plextor PX-708A or Sony DRU530A

by **burner77** on Wed Dec 31, 2003 9:00 am

I'm in the market for a DVD burner and was wondering which of these two drives would be best:

Plextor PX-708A -- $189.99
Sony DRU530A -- $196.00

An Extremetech review tends to favor the Plextor.

Any recommendations for what media would work best based on the particular drive?

by **Bhairav** on Wed Dec 31, 2003 11:09 am

Get the Plex. For 4X +R media that works @ 8X in the Plextor, there is a sticky in this forum.

by **MonteLDS** on Wed Dec 31, 2003 12:26 pm

plextor

by **tazdevl** on Wed Dec 31, 2003 12:51 pm

Yup what they all said. The burning 4X +R media @ 8X is reason enough, don't know why Sony wouldn't step up to the plate on that one. Have to use 8X media to write @ 8X with the 530. I think Ahead and Plextor have a lot of the issues with the drive worked out as well, so both are a good combo.

by **hoxlund** on Wed Dec 31, 2003 3:32 pm

id go for either the 708a, which i am selling mine for $170

or the NEC nd2500a

by **MonteLDS** on Wed Dec 31, 2003 3:45 pm

the question is what does shipping cost and is it black?

by **thegdog** on Wed Dec 31, 2003 3:53 pm

burner77 wrote:I'm in the market for a DVD burner and was wondering which of these two drives would be best:

Plextor PX-708A -- $189.99
Sony DRU530A -- $196.00

If you're in the US and have access to a Staples store, they have the TDK 8x drive (which is a rebadged Plextor PX-708A drive) on sale for $160 after rebate this week.

You might even be able to get another $30 off with a coupon. See this thread:
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=14277

by **hoxlund** on Wed Dec 31, 2003 3:59 pm

haha, i know, gonna include shipping

and mines already rebate price

anyways i can return it for $239, since thats what i bought mine at

by **burner77** on Wed Dec 31, 2003 5:12 pm

So the TDK drive Staples is selling is essentially the same hardware as the Plextor? Can't beat that price if that's the case!!

by **aviationwiz** on Wed Dec 31, 2003 5:45 pm

Yes, the TDK 8x DVD burner is a re-badged Plextor PX-708A.

by **vsekh** on Wed Dec 31, 2003 6:28 pm

Another vote for the Plextor or the TDK(rebadged Plextor).

Has worked great for me.

by **hoxlund** on Wed Dec 31, 2003 6:46 pm

haha, just returned my TDK (plextor) to staples, got $239.38 in cash

and my new burner was $150

so lets just say i made out ok today

by **burner77** on Wed Dec 31, 2003 9:35 pm

Found out more news on the offer Staples has on this drive:

TDK 8x DVD±R/±RW dual format drive [Valid 12/28/03 - 1/3/04]

$249.98 - $50 instant savings - $40 mail-in rebate = $159.98

$159.98 - $30 off $150 coupon = $130

SKU# is 554434.

$30 coupon link

Most stores are actually taking the $30 coupon even though it says can't combine with other savings.

by **hoxlund** on Wed Dec 31, 2003 11:14 pm

i shouldn't be telling you guys this coupon code but here it is:

72512

$30 off anything over $150, but the $150 has to be electronic stuff

it was supposed to expire 12-27 but the registers are still taking it

by **burner77** on Thu Jan 01, 2004 2:01 pm

Just got back from Staples and they accepted the $30 coupon for the TDK burner. Total for the burner was $249.94 - $50 (instant rebate) - $30 (coupon) - $40 (rebate) = $129.94 !!!!

by **hoxlund** on Thu Jan 01, 2004 2:41 pm

did you try my coupon code?

now you have to update the firmware to 1.04 on that TDK:

Here's the ini file to use the Plextor firmware to update the TDK840G drive.

Unpack the Plextor 1.04 firmware with WINZIP or WINRAR

1. Open up the 1.04 version ini file and delete all text.

2. Cut and paste the below info into the 1.04 ini file.
**note** There has to be 5 spaces between the "Inquiry=TDK (5 spaces here) DVDRW840G;" line.

[UpgradeInformation]
ApplicationTitle=TDK DVDRW840G
Inquiry=TDK DVDRW840G;
Version=1.04
FirmwareFileName=Opal_104.bin
FirmwareFileSize=983040
BufferSize=16384
[Option]
Use DVDRW Caution=Yes
Use Binary Information=No

3. save this new 1.04 file.

4. double click the PXFirm3_22.exe file to upgrade.

by **burner77** on Thu Jan 01, 2004 8:49 pm

I actually used the coupon at this link. However, thanks for providing that other code. It may benefit some of the others.

Thanks for the firmware info. I assume it's safe to upgrade this with the Plextor firmware since it's essentially a rebadged Plextor??

by **hoxlund** on Thu Jan 01, 2004 8:59 pm

right before i returned mine i upgraded firmware to 1.04 which only plextor has available

burned quite a few disks with it too, worked perfectly

by **gigabyte** on Thu Jan 01, 2004 9:11 pm

anyone know if i can get the tdk for really cheap in ontario (canada) ?

by **BMR** on Fri Jan 02, 2004 1:20 am

gigabyte wrote:anyone know if i can get the tdk for really cheap in ontario (canada) ?

I have not seen it anywhere in the Toronto area, but I pricematched the Plextor 708A at Futureshop for $265, using ICCT as the online comparison.

BMR

Plextor PX-708A or Sony DRU530A

Plextor PX-708A or Sony DRU530A

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