Plextor PX-650US PlexEasy Portable 8x DVD Writer

DVD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 9.4.26.0 and InstantBurn 5:

To test the DVD writing performance of Plextor's new drive I used Verbatim 16x DVD+R, 16x DVD-R, 6x DVD-RW and 8x DVD+RW media. To get the writing times, a 4.38GB image was burned to our test discs using Nero.

The PlexEasy uses P-CAV, or Partial CAV, when writing to DVD+R and DVD-R media at 8x. By looking at the screenshots above, you can see that Plextor's new drive starts writing at about 3.48x and accelerates, reaching its maximum speed at the 4GB mark.

The PlexEasy also features 8x DVD+RW and 6x DVD-RW writing speeds. In both cases, the drive uses Z-CLV to reach its maximum writing speed.

The PlexEasy performed as expected in our DVD writing tests. While not as fast as some of the internal DVD writers we've looked at recently, it turned in some respectable times with DVD±R and DVD±RW media.

To check the media compatibility of the PlexEasy, I ran a few tests using some of the media available in my area. The media types, along with the average time it took the drive to write our 4.38GB image, are listed below.

So what about writing quality? Using CD Speed we can test a disc's PI (Parity Inner), PIF (Parity Inner Fail) and Jitter rates. For these tests I used a Lite-On iHAS424 and read the discs at 8x with the PI and PIF ECC sums set to 8 and 1 respectively.

So what are "good" results supposed to look like? When testing with the iHAS424, the PI errors should not exceed 280 and the number of PIF errors should stay below 4. Since POF errors are uncorrectable, we really don't want to see any of them at all.

I also put these discs through a "stress test" by reading them back at 16x. By reading these discs back at this speed, we can see if there are any readability issues caused by the number of errors or high levels of jitter. 

The PlexEasy's writing quality was pretty good with most of the DVD+R media we tested. Aside from a few small spikes, the PI/PIF rates stayed within acceptable limits.

Lastly, here are some results from our DVD-R test media. While the writing quality varied from one manufacturer to another, the results were fairly good for the most part.

To test the PlexEasy's packet writing performance I used InstantBurn 5. Verbatim 6x DVD-RW, Verbatim 8x DVD+RW and Maxell 5x DVD-RAM media were used once again.

Double Layer DVD Write Tests - Nero Burning Rom 9.4.26.0:

To test the double layer DVD writing performance of the PlexEasy, I used DVD+R DL media from Verbatim and RiDATA. I created about 8GB of random files and directories on my hard drive and then burned them to our test discs with Nero.

The PlexEasy performed as expected when writing to DVD+R DL media. In our tests, the drive took 27:47 to write 8001MB of data to Verbatim's 8x DVD+R DL discs. So what about writing quality? Take a look below.

The PlexEasy's writing quality was pretty good with RiDATA's 8x DVD+R DL media. The PI/PIF rates stayed within acceptable limits and there weren't any readability problems. Unfortunately, the results weren't as good with Verbatim's 8x DVD+R DL media. As you can see, there was a large error spike at the layer change which caused some readability problems.

Performance Revisited:

Plextor's new portable DVD writer performed as expected throughout most of our tests. When writing DVD's, the PlexEasy turned in some relatively good times with DVD±R, DVD±RW and DVD+R DL media. The drive was also fairly quick when reading DVD's. In our tests, the PlexEasy was able to read data and video DVD-ROM's as well as most recordable media at 8x. 

The PlexEasy also did fairly well in our CD read tests. While its access times were a little higher than I would have liked, the drive read both data and audio CD's at speeds as high as 24x. Writing CD's wasn't a problem for the PlexEasy either. For a portable drive, it turned in some respectable writing times and the writing quality was quite good. With all of these things considered, the Plextor PlexEasy gets a solid 8 out of 10 for its performance.