Plextor PX-608CU 8x USB 2.0 DVD±RW/RAM

CD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 6.6.1.4 andDLA 5.20:

For this test I randomly generated 650MB and 700MB of files and directories to test the time it takes the drive to write and close a CD. All of the files are between 1MB and 25MB in size and no more than 10 directories deep.

The PX-608CU has a maximum CD writing speed of 24x. To reach this speed, it uses Z-CLV, or Zone CLV. By looking at the screenshot above, you can see that the drive uses a total of four "zones" to reach its maximum speed. It starts writing at 10x and jumps to 24x at about the 19 minute mark.When the PX-608CU reaches the 42 minute mark, it changes to 20x and then to 24x at the 69 minute mark.

To test the drive's writing times, I wrote our test data to some Taiyo Yuden manufactured Fuji media rated at 48x. The results are below.

The PX-608CU took about six and a half minutes to write an entire 701MB CD. While most of the internal writers we've looked at lately can do this in half the time, this is pretty good for a portable drive.

To test the drive's writing quality I used Lite-On IT's KProbe2. Written by Karr Wang, this utility can be used to test the number of C1 and C2 errors on a disc. For these tests I used a Lite-On LTR-52246S (firmware 6S0F) and read the discs at 32x.

Fuji 48x (Taiyo Yuden)

Memorex 52x (CMC)

Verbatim 52x

The PX-608CU's writing quality was very good. By looking at the KProbe screenshots, you can see that the discs burned by the drive had a low number of C1 errors. More importantly, there were no C2 errors at all.

For the rewriting tests I created 400MB of files on the hard drive and wrote them in DAO mode using Nero. To test the packet writing speeds I copied and pasted the same files off the hard drive onto a CD-RW disc using DLA from Sonic. Verbatim's 24x Ultra Speed CD-RW media was used for these tests.

The PX-608CU also uses Z-CLV when rewriting at 24x. As with CD-R media, it starts writing at 10x and jumps to 24x at about the 19 minute mark.When the drive reaches the 42 minute mark, it changes to 20x and then to 24x at the 69 minute mark.

Plextor's new DVD writer did fairly well in our rewriting tests. The drive took 4:17 to write 400MB with Nero and 4:04 to do the same with DLA. Erasing wasn't a problem for the PX-608CU either. In our tests, it took 41 seconds to do a quick erase and 5:23 to fully erase the disc.