In House Review - Plextor PX-708A 8x DVD±RW

[aviationwiz]

Notice that the plex written disc have playback issues at the end due to the increased errorlevel.

With Princo DVD-RW it simply says "PMA update failed" or "Power calibration error", the same discs works ok in the memorex.

In other words: pioneer DVR-106(memorex dual-x) is a higher quality product than the plex PX-708A.

I would not say that. Did you notice that the media is Princo, which is low quality media. Some drives have media prefrences, and it appears that the Pioneer likes Princo, and the Plextor does not. That in no way shows any evidence that the Pioneer DVR-106 is of higher quality than the Plextor PX-708A.

[Ian]

Ian: These do not work: Memorex 48X, smartbuy 48X, Xidex 48X CD-R discs all manufactured by Prodisc.

What's the ATIP info for those discs? I have some Memorex 52x discs that were manufactured by Prodisc. They worked fine.

[OC-Freak]

ATIP: 97m 32s 19f
Disc Manufacturer: Prodisc Technology Inc.
Reflective layer: Dye (Short strategy; e.g. Phthalocyanine)
Media type: CD-Recordable
Recording Speeds: min. unknown - max. unknown
nominal Capacity: 702.83MB (79m 59s 72f / LBA: 359847)

That is the ATIP for all of them. These discs do also have problems in some other drives(plex premium and memorex dual-x for example) but works in Lite-On CD-Writers.

aviationwiz: You for sure is an plextor fanatic Always denying that there could be anything wrong with a plex.

IMO: Both drives have had 2 firmware upgrades. The memorex writes about every shitty DVD-R/RW brand without problems and with acceptable quality while the plex do not......for me the memorex seems better (not as fast though).

Yes it's all about media preference.

The plex likes DVD+R/RW and only a few DVD-R/RW while the memorex likes about everything.

[vsekh]

Looks like Plextor is concentrating more on DVD+R right now because it burns at 8x speed and this is why people are buying this drive. Hopefully they are working on improving the write quality for the DVD-R/RW media.

[VEFF]

Looks like Plextor is concentrating more on DVD+R right now because it burns at 8x speed and this is why people are buying this drive. Hopefully they are working on improving the write quality for the DVD-R/RW media.

I have personally only been burning +R because of the 8X capability, and because they have been cheaper than -R in the US (I am referring to name brands at big stores), so it doesn't matter much to me.
However, the drive IS a dual drive, and, as such, Plextor should ensure that it is able to burn -R discs without a hitch...

[Bhairav]

And in some parts of the world, DVD-R/RW media is STILL much cheaper than +R/RW media. Better to go for a drive that then fits your situation (and your pocketbook.. )

[OC-Freak]

Yep, as in Norway.... DVD-R is about 50% cheaper than DVD+R

[VEFF]

Luckily the stores in the US frequently have great deals on +R.
Just paid $1 (+ usual sales tax) a disc today for Ricoh-manufactured 4X +R.

[integspec]

Guys,

Has any of you tried this drive with Plex tools Pro? To what extent this drive supports the utils in that suite, especially GigaRec? (Now, any of you fans or fanatics don't tell me Gigarec is useless in a DVD Burner). For the premium we have to pay to this drive, it better have those additional bells and whisltes.

Btw, very good review Ian. If you can, don't make us wait for so long on Liteon 411's and upcoming 811's.

Cheers.

[vsekh]

I'm pretty sure Gigarec is not supported on this burner. This could be why PlexTools Pro was not included with this burner.

[aviationwiz]

The Premium is the only drive that supports GigaRec. Also, wasn't PlexToolsPro included over in Europe?

[Ian]

Also, wasn't PlexToolsPro included over in Europe?

Yup it was.

[Impulse]

Well, I finally made the plunge today and ordered my Plextor PX-708a. I'm looking for to it, since this is my first DVD burner and I have TONS of stuff that could use backing up. Hopefully my experience with the Plextor will be more like aviationwiz's than some of the other people here that have had some problems with their Plextor burners.

This will be my 3rd Plextor product, the first being a Ultra2-SCSI 4/12 CD-R that I bought in late 1998 and used until late 2001. I replaced that with a Plextor 24x burner that worked well, although it didn't like my motherboard at the time. I didn't blame it, since it was an Ali Magik board, I didn't like it either. I broke from my Plextor only buying then and bought a Teac 48x burner that died within 6 months. They replaced it with a 52x burner, so all was good, but it wasn't like my Plextor. I hope this DVD burner performs as well and lasts as long as the other Plextor products I've had.

Anyways, just wanted to thank CDRLabs for their excellent review of the Plextor which finally made me decide to go ahead with the purchase. I wanted to wait until I heard from an "authority figure" before I purchased anything this expensive.

That's about it. I'll let you know how things go with my drive. Sucks that I don't get PlexToolsPro with it, but that's my only downside I've seen to the US release of the drive. Anyways, back to work. Later.