Plextor has included a DVD full of software with the PX-716A. Along with Dantz Retrospect Backup, this disc contains a number of applications from Roxio including Easy Media Creator 7 Basic DVD Edition, PhotoSuite 7 and DVDMax Player 2.0.
Roxio Easy Media Center 7 Basic DVD Edition - Easy Media Center 7 is the main CD/DVD mastering program included with the PX-716A. With this software, users can create their own CD's and DVD'sor make backups of existing discs.
Along with a long list of tasks, the menu above shows a list of components that make up the Easy Media Creator 7 suite. The first component you see is the Disc Copier. This software lets you make copies of your non protected CD's and DVD's quickly and easily. Disc Copier's advanced mode will even display the video, audio and extras on your DVD-Videos, so that you can remove the unwanted parts.
DVD Builder is Roxio's DVD authoring application. With this program you can easily capture, edit and then burn your favorite videos to CD or DVD.DVD Builder will also allow users to add transitions and background music, create animated menus, and organize clips and photos into custom slide shows.
Easy Media Creator 7 also includes what Roxio calls "Creator Classic." While not as robust as disc mastering software like Nero Burning ROM, Creator Classic will have you creating your own custom CD's and DVD's in no time.
Roxio also includes their packet writing software, Drag-to-Disc, with Easy Media Creator 7. Drag-to-Disc lets a person write to CD or DVD media the same way they would a floppy disk or their hard drive. It also supports most CD and DVD media, including write once formats like CD-R, DVD-R and DVD+R.
Last but not least you have VideoStudio SE. This easy to use video editing software lets you trim your video clips and spruce them up by adding things like transitions, titles, music, and special effects. When you're done, simply burn your movie to disc.
Roxio PhotoSuite 7 - With Roxio's PhotoSuite 7, you can repair, enhance and share your digital photos. This software includes a number of automated and advanced photo editing tools that will let you easily crop and rotate your pictures, remove things like red-eye and wrinkles and add text and special effects.
When you are done editing your photos, PhotoSuite will let you print them out, save them in an album or share them online. It even will even let you email them without leaving the program.
Roxio DVDMax Player 2.0 - Plextor's new drive also comes with Roxio's DVD playback software, DVDMax Player 2.0. Based on CyberLink's PowerDVD, DVDMax offers a complete set of navigation commands, including advanced features like multi-angle viewing, multi-language and subtitle selection, digital zoom and even parental control.
Along with DVD movies, DVDMax can be used to play back your VCD's, SVCD's or whatever video files you might have on your hard drive. Unfortunately, the version of DVDMax included with the PX-712A only supports 2 speaker output. If you want to take advantage of DVD's encoded with DTS or use Dolby Pro Logic II, you'll probably want to pick up a retail copy of PowerDVD or WinDVD.
Dantz Retrospect Backup Professional 6.5 - Plextor has also included a trial version of Retrospect Backup 6.5. This program lets you backup any of the drives or volumes in your computer to a number of storage devices, including CD and DVD writers.
Backup jobs can be scheduled to run at regular intervals so the data is always protected. Retrospect also supports compression, encryption and disaster recovery features.Believe it or not, Retrospect will even backup other computers on your home or office network. While all of this sounds great, Plextor has only included a 30 day trial, and not the full version of this program.
Like Plextor's previous DVD writers, the PX-716A definitely isn't short on features. Along with support for most CD and DVD formats, it sports some of the fastest reading and writing speeds available. The PX-716A is capable of 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW and 4x DVD-RW writing speeds and can read DVD's at speeds as high as 16x. On top of that, it's one of the first drives to support both the DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL formats. Of course, the PX-716A isn't just about speed. The drive also has many of the technologies we've come to expect from Plextor along with new ones like AutoStrategy and Intelligent Tilt. With all of the features being offered here, it's easy to see why the Plextor PX-716A gets the full 10 points for the features section of this review.
