Plextor's PX-708A DVD±RW - Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Saturday, 11 September 2004 00:05 Last Updated on Saturday, 19 April 2008 16:24 Written by Benjamin "Zeus" Heide
Article Index
Plextor's PX-708A DVD±RW
The Drive, Bundle and Software
Test Setup, Info and Media Compatibility
Performance - CD Read and Write Tests
Performance - DVD Read and Write Tests
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
Page 6 of 6

Conclusion:
 

Plextor has done it again. They are the first to market with an 8x DVD writer, and amazingly they pull this off on 4x media. Burning a 4.3+GB DVD in under 8 minutes is something that really must be experienced to be appreciated. Plextor has also made major improvements on other DVD read features. The ability to read DVD+R/RW, and DVD-R/RW @ 8x is a huge improvement over other drives that can only read these disks at 5-6x. The drive also is incredibly fast when it comes to CD reading and writing; it's a 40/24/40 CDRW drive as well.

 
Let's take a look at some Pros and Cons for perspective.
 
Pros:
 
  • First drive to market with 8x DVD burning.
  • Fast CD Reading/Writing.
  • Excellent DAE.
  • Reads scratched and dirty CD's very well.
  • Excellent media capability. I had no problems finding media that burned at 8x.
  • Makes perfect backup of copy protected CD's/DVD's. (Safedisk 2.91&SecuROM)
  • Dual Format is "Future proof"
 
Cons:
 
  • High seek times and cpu usage on a few tests.
 
All in all, you could not ask for a better drive. This drive backs up copy protected CD/DVD disks. It is excellent for Digital Audio Extraction. It is a screaming fast DVD Writer, and burns CD's at 40x - a first for a DVD Burner. If you're building a SFF PC, and only have room for one optical drive, I'd pick this one. If you are looking to get into DVD Authoring, I'd recommend the PX-708A. If you were a picky kind of person and wanted the absolute best product available, I'd have to point you to the PX-708A from Plextor. Excellent product.
 
I had to modify my "Top Pick" award, because "Top" doesn't really explain it all. The Plextor PX-708A is the first product ever to receive the BCC Ãœber Pick Award.
 
 
If you have any questions or comments regarding this review, please head on over and post them here.
 
Many thanks to Plextor for sending up the drive, and to Blankmedia for the stack 'o blanks used in this review!


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