Plextor PX-740A 16x DVD±RW

CD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 6.6.0.12 and DLA 4.95:

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. All of the times below include not only the actual writing time, but the lead in and out times too. This gives a more realistic idea of how long it takes to write a CD.

 

Like the other drives, the PX-740A has a maximum CD writing speed of 48x. To reach this speed, it uses CAV, or Constant Angular Velocity. With Fuji's 48x media, the drive started writing at about 21.24x and reached a maximum speed of 47.86x at the end of the session. This gave Plextor's new DVD±RW an average writing speed of about 36.24x.

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.

Plextor's new DVD writer did fairly well in our tests. While no match for the DRU-800A and PX-716A, the PX-740A took less than 3 minutes to write an entire 650MB CD.

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-740A's writing quality is 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 and 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.

ThePX-740A is one of the first DVD writers to feature 32x rewriting speeds. To reach this speed, the drive uses P-CAV, or Partial CAV. By looking at the screenshot above, you can see that the drive starts rewriting at about 21.32x and accelerates, reaching its maximum speed at about the 22 minute mark.

Plextor's new DVD writer did very well in our rewriting tests.While not as fast as the drive from NEC when rewriting with Nero, the PX-740A turned in some very good times when packet writing with DLA.

The PX-740A also erases at 32x. While it didn't have the fastest quick erase time out of the four drives here, it was able to do a full erase in 3:44.