This is the second optical drive that I have reviewed, the first was a Plextor PlexWriter 40/12/40A which I was very impressed by. DVD burners have become very popular recently with all of the major companies coming out with their own. This particular drive uses a DVD+RW format which was designed by the DVD+RW Alliance to be used to store both video and data for PC and home entertainment applications.
The DVD+RW format is backwards compatible which means it can be read by most DVD-ROM drives. The differences between DVD+R and DVD-R drives are not very many however there are some features which are native to DVD+RW only. One such feature of the DVD+RW format is Mount Rainier (DVD+MRW) drag-and-drop file access support planned for Windows Longhorn. This feature is not available with this drive however it will become more widely available over time.
“Buffer-UnderRuN-Proof Technology” was patented by Sanyo Electric Co. to prevent Buffer UnderRuns. BURN-Proof™ is accomplished by a combination of drive hardware, firmware, and supported writing software. This technology makes it possible for the user to write and multitask on their PC, where previously they could not. Lower performance PCs benefit by being able to perform high-speed recording, and do not have to suspend their work, close applications, or remove network connectivity when they are recording.
PoweRec technology is something relatively new from Plextor. PoweRec stands for Plextor Optimized Writing Error Reduction Control. PoweRec identifies the media when it is inserted and compares it to a list of media stored in the firmware.
The firmware includes a large database of supported media. This database includes a lot of information about the media including its maximum speed. Because Plextor can’t test all media and include it in the firmware they have added another solution.
The drive will run a Optical Power Calibration test, which checks the characteristics and current conditions of the media which will decide the best laser power and speed for the media. The drive will also monitor the media on the fly while it is writing to ensure the best data transfer possible.
Plextor has taken the original PoweRec technology and made it even better. PoweRec II adds the ability to test the write quality of the zone it has completed. If the drive feels the write quality was good enough, it will increase the speed and laser power and continue writing. If not, the drive will continue writing at the same speed.
VariRec lets users adjust the laser power for discs that allow for some manual audio quality. A setting of 0 is what the OPC (Optical Power Calibration) believes the laser power should be for the blank disc you’ve got in the drive. VariRec lets you play with the relative settings of the laser power (-2, -1, 0, +1, +2) so users can do some comparison tests on their high-end audio equipment to find the best setting for the type of media you have on hand.
Specifications
- Writing DVD:
4x, 2.4x - Writing CD: 16x, 8x, 4x
- Rewriting DVD: 2.4x
- Rewriting CD: 10x, 4x
- Reading DVD: 5x-12x, 3x-7x (CAV), 2x-5x (DVD-Video)
- Reading CD: 17x-40x
- DAE: 13x-32x, 4x-10x (CAV), 4x (CLV)
- Buffer Underrun Proof Technology
- PoweRec Technology (Plextor Optimized Writing Error Reduction Control)
- Access Time – 120 ms for CD
- Access Time – 140 ms for DVD
- 2MB Buffer
- E-IDE (ATAPI) interface
- Compatible with: Windows 9x/ME, Windows 2000/XP
- MultiRead Compatible
- Supports SPDIF (Digital Audio Output)
- High Quality Digital Audio Extraction
- A black tray, to reduce the jitter and to increase the quality of the burned CD
- Two year* full-warranty (parts, labor and replacement) with On-Site Collect & Return** service
- Supports DVD+VR format
- Wide CD-R and CD-RW media compatibility (74min and Type80 – 79min)
- Wide range DVD+R/RW media compatibility
- Includes PlexTools
- CD Formats: CD-DA, CD-Extra, CD-ROM Mode 1, CD-ROM Mode 2, CD-ROM XA, Photo CD, Video CD, CD-I, Multi-session, CD-Text, UDF
- DVD Formats: DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, Multi-border (DVD-R/RW), Multi-session (DVD+R/RW), DVD+VR
- CD Recording Modes: Track-At-Once, Session-At-Once, Disc-At-Once, Multi-session, fixed and Variable-Packet-Write
- DVD Recording Modes: Random Access Write, Sequential Write, Disc-At-Once
The drive came flashed with v1.00 of the firmware but I went to the Plextor website and found that v1.01 had been released. I downloaded the utility, ran it, and flashed the firmware. The process only took about 30 seconds and I had no problems at all. Once the flash was done it prompted me to reboot my computer. Note: If you are going to flash your optical drive be sure to disable any other ones in your device manager to prevent any damage.
The box of this Plextor drive is pretty normal, there is nothing spectacular about the box but it does have a good amount of information on it. The back of the drive also has some useful information about the drive.
The packaging is very good just as the PlexWriter 40/12/40A was with the drive fully protected and the accessories in a separate box. The accessory box contains a Verbatim 4x DVD+R, Verbatim 80 min CD-R, manual, quick reference guide, screws, IDE cable, and Plextor’s DVD writing software bundle which includes the following software titles:
- Roxio Easy CD Creator 5 DVD Edition
- PhotoSuite 5 SE
- Roxio DirectCD
- CyberLink PowerDVD
- Dantz Retrospect Backup
The front of the drive is pretty standard as far as optical drives go. It has the headphone jack, volume control, manual eject hole, LED, and eject button. There are also some logos and such on the front. The back of the drive is also pretty standard and does not use a fan to help in cooling like some other Plextor drives do.
From the top of the drive you can see that it was manufactured in February 2003. The FCC ID: A3DND-1100A identifies the drive to be based on the NEC ND-1100A drive. There have been slight changes to the design and features however this is not a ground up drive.
I used Nero’s Infotool to check out this DVD+RW in more detail. As you can see it has a CD read speed of 40x, a write speed of 16x, and has a 2MB buffer size. The only type of media that this drive can’t read is the DVD-RAM which I have never used anyways. The drive will burn CD-R, CD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, and has buffer underrun. It would be nice if all the boxes were checked however you would have to buy a multifunction DVD burner to get that.
I wanted to do some synthetic benchmarks so I loaded up Nero’s CD Speed v2.10 and started to test. The first thing I tested was a burned CD, the average read speed was 28.72x and the CPU usage was really low. The eject time was also pretty low at 1.65 seconds and then took 0.01 seconds to be recognized.
I then put in a pressed CD and reran the benchmark to get some comparison. The average read time for this CD was 28.36x and the CPU usage also was about the same as with the burned CD. Overall this pressed CD did not do as well as the burned CD did in the previous testing.
I also put in a single sided pressed DVD-ROM to do some testing, the average read speed was 7.55x. You can see at the end of testing things get a little crazy. The seek times and CPU usage are also exceptionally higher than all of the other testing done. This could either be because of the media, the particular DVD, or because the drive does not do well with DVD-ROM reading.
Finally I recorded a DVD+RW at 2.4x to see what kind of performance I would get. There was no problem writing at 2.4x, the process was very steady throughout the whole burning process. The entire session took just over 24 minutes and 4.38GB was written in that time period.
The installation splash screen of the CD provided with the drive lets you choose which software you want to install. I installed Roxio’s DVD Creator however I did not like it as much as Nero. PowerDVD is always nice to have and does a great job playing movies on your computer which I also did and had no problems doing. The only thing about playing movies is that the drive is a little loud so you will have to turn the volume up on your computer so you don’t hear it.
I also installed Nero Burning ROM 5.5.10.15 and on first boot I was able to select the 504A from the list. After that I did some testing with the drive such as erasing, burning, and rewriting. It was able to burn a full DVD+R in about 13 minutes and a full DVD+RW in about 24 minutes. The drive was also able to quick erase a DVD+RW in 9 seconds and do a full erase of the media in 25 minutes. I have to say that I am very impressed with the amount of time it takes to burn 4.7GB of data..
Conclusion
I am very impressed with the quality and features that this drive offers. Plextor has always been one of the best brand names when it comes to optical drives and I still continue to believe that after finishing this review. There are so many uses for this DVD+RW today with backup being so important and the fact that file sizes are increasing. Not only can this drive write and rewrite DVD+RW it it able to act as a CDRW too. I think the only real downside to this drive is that it will not write DVD-RW and does not support Mount Rainier. Overall I’m very happy with this product and am going to give it a 9/10 and award it the OCmodshop Seal of Approval. I would like to thank Plextor for sending this drive over for review.
Pros
- Writes DVD+R at 4x and DVD+RW at 2.4x
- Reads DVD-ROMs at 12x
- Burns CDs at 16x
- Great software package
- Media included
- Burn Proof
- Uses a black CD tray to reduce jitter
Cons
- Mount Rainier not supported
- Will not write DVD-R/RW
- Drive is loud at full speed