In House Review - Plextor PX-712A 12x DVD±RW

by **aviationwiz** on Mon Jun 07, 2004 9:40 am

To kick off the week, CDRLabs brings you an in depth look at Plextor's new DVD burner, the PX-712A. This highly anticipated drive is the first drive to ship with 12x DVD+R Recording Speeds. The PX-712A also sports some other pretty impressive specs, including 8x DVD-R and 4x DVD±RW writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 16x. On top of that, the PX-712A includes features like 48x CD reading and writing speeds, 24x rewriting speeds and support for Plextor's PoweRec, VariRec, GigaRec, SecuRec, Q-Check, and Silent Mode technologies.

In this review we'll take a look at the features found on the PX-712A and see how it compares to some of the DVD±RW drives from the competition. Are 12x DVD+R writing speeds enough to put the PX-712A on top? You'll have to read the review to find out.

[url=http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.php?reviewid=231]

Plextor PX-712A 12x DVD±RW Review[/url]

As usual, if you have any comments or questions about this review or the Plextor PX-712A, please post them in the forum using the link provided below.

by **Ian** on Mon Jun 07, 2004 10:14 am

Thanks aviationwiz. I'm actually gonna use that in the news.

by **MediumRare** on Mon Jun 07, 2004 10:25 am

Nice review, Ian! Looks like a really good drive.

A couple of corrections:
- Advanced audio test "average score of 30.10x" should be score 100%, average speed of 30.10x...
- In summary: max CD writing should be 48x.

Incredible that a drive can write a CD faster than it can read it

(according to InfoTool: 48x vs. 40x).

It looks like the KProbe and Q-Check scans for CDR's are very similar (in contrast to DVD's)! I guess the (lower) information density of a CD results in a reduced influence of the drive here- not as much stress on the mechanical and optical parts.

G

by **Ian** on Mon Jun 07, 2004 10:37 am

MediumRare wrote:Incredible that a drive can write a CD faster than it can read it (according to InfoTool: 48x vs. 40x).

Yeah, it says that when SpeedRead is disabled.

It looks like the KProbe and Q-Check scans for CDR's are very similar (in contrast to DVD's)! I guess the (lower) information density of a CD results in a reduced influence of the drive here- not as much stress on the mechanical and optical parts.

As far as the DVD testing goes, I'm starting to find out some interesting info about KProbe. After cdrinfo suggested that the PO results are actually PIF, I talked to Karr and he's not really sure himself. He's going by MediaTek's definition of PI/PO errors and as we've seen, this might not be right.

by **Ian** on Mon Jun 07, 2004 10:40 am

OK, here's the deal. MediaTek chipsets can only return PI and PIF. They cannot return PO. From what I can gather, this might also affect CD Speed since they're using vendor unique commands.

by **MediumRare** on Mon Jun 07, 2004 10:47 am

Ian wrote:OK, here's the deal. MediaTek chipsets can only return PI and PIF. They cannot return PO. From what I can gather, this might also affect CD Speed since they're using vendor unique commands.

I'm not bothered about PIF vs. PO. I'm not even sure if there is a difference.

What we don't want is a POF. Too bad MediaTek can't report those.

Back to the Plextor- it seems to be the first drive to support MRW on DVDs. Are there any burning tools that can take advantage of this?

G

by **Ian** on Mon Jun 07, 2004 10:50 am

MediumRare wrote:Back to the Plextor- it seems to be the first drive to support MRW on DVDs. Are there any burning tools that can take advantage of this?

InCD 4.2 supposedly can. This capability wasn't mentioned anywhere in the included documentation or specs, nor was it supported by the bundled software.

by **vsekh** on Mon Jun 07, 2004 11:28 am

The home page says PX-708a instead of PX-712a. Thought I'd let you know Ian.

by **Ian** on Mon Jun 07, 2004 11:31 am

Oops.. stupid autocomplete.

by **vsekh** on Mon Jun 07, 2004 1:31 pm

Great review Ian.

I would also give the drive a 10.

Though I will not be investing in this drive as I still like my PX-708a and have a lot of ricohjpn 4x dvd+r media that I am slowly using.

by **pranav81** on Mon Jun 07, 2004 1:56 pm

Thats a very nice review Ian.I am now looking forward to the Plextor 716 with DL support.

I hope Plextor announces it soon.

::Pranav::

by **shimman** on Mon Jun 07, 2004 2:17 pm

good reading

by **Ian** on Mon Jun 07, 2004 2:25 pm

pranav81 wrote:Thats a very nice review Ian.I am now looking forward to the Plextor 716 with DL support. I hope Plextor announces it soon.

Is this for sure a go or still wishful thinking? I really want an SATA 712, but I might have to wait.

by **ClayBuster** on Mon Jun 07, 2004 6:26 pm

WTF a 9 for installation. Were your dick beaters to big to put the four screws in? :-({|=

by **Ian** on Mon Jun 07, 2004 6:54 pm

ClayBuster wrote:WTF a 9 for installation. Where your dick beaters to big to put the four screws in?

lol.. I'm picky about the documentation.

by **pranav81** on Tue Jun 08, 2004 9:15 am

Ian wrote:
pranav81 wrote:Thats a very nice review Ian.I am now looking forward to the Plextor 716 with DL support. I hope Plextor announces it soon.

Is this for sure a go or still wishful thinking? I really want an SATA 712, but I might have to wait.

Wishful thinking ofcourse.BTW Ian I am sure that you too would love to get your hands on the 716,DL and SATA model.Wouldn't you?

::Pranav::

by **Ian** on Tue Jun 08, 2004 11:21 am

pranav81 wrote:Wishful thinking ofcourse.BTW Ian I am sure that you too would love to get your hands on the 716,DL and SATA model.Wouldn't you?

Sure, as long as I had media readily available.

by **shimman** on Tue Jun 08, 2004 1:29 pm

ian, i just realized that cd/dvd speed burning test with ty02 took 6:15 while you reported 5:50 for same disk in the table. why are they different?

by **Ian** on Tue Jun 08, 2004 2:29 pm

shimman wrote:ian, i just realized that cd/dvd speed burning test with ty02 took 6:15 while you reported 5:50 for same disk in the table. why are they different?

Different software. The 6:15 was with CD Speed (entire disc) and the 5:50 was with Nero (4GB of data).

by **Scour** on Tue Jun 08, 2004 6:16 pm

Hello!

A great review of the best DVD-writer this time

Again a reference-drive from Plextor, maybe only the new LG can challenge the 712A

When will the review of the LG GSA 4120 come?

by **Ian** on Tue Jun 08, 2004 6:19 pm

Scour wrote:When will the review of the LG GSA 4120 come?

I just got my retail 4120 today. Still no 5x DVD-RAM media though.

by **dolphinius_rex** on Tue Jun 08, 2004 6:31 pm

Ian wrote:
Scour wrote:When will the review of the LG GSA 4120 come?

I just got my retail 4120 today. Still no 5x DVD-RAM media though.

Me neither!! :cry:

Try asking Optodisc for some... they might have more news ??

by **Scour** on Thu Jun 10, 2004 7:58 pm

Hello!

I heard that Maxell will soon launch 5x DVD-RAM. I don´t know it it is avaible this time.

Do you wait for 5x DVD-RAM before you review the 4120, Ian?

by **Ian** on Thu Jun 10, 2004 8:24 pm

I'd like to. My contact at LG is working on getting some. I'm also hoping that Optodisc might get some in as well.

by **dolphinius_rex** on Thu Jun 10, 2004 9:52 pm

Ian wrote:I'd like to. My contact at LG is working on getting some. I'm also hoping that Optodisc might get some in as well.

Tell my friend to put some 5x DVD-RAM on the Air ship waiting list. If something important comes up that needs to be air shipped, then it'll go along with it :wink:

In House Review - Plextor PX-712A 12x DVD±RW

In House Review - Plextor PX-712A 12x DVD±RW

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