Plextor px-605a (plextor to support dvd-ram?)

[yuki chan]

I have yet to find Plextor officially posting information about this drive (the 605a). PC watch Japan (a most respectable news site) has posted information for a new upcoming Plextor drive: the PX-605A. The Drive supports -/+ rw standard along with dvd-ram (a first for Plextor). The drive looks to be based on the Matsushita corporation multi-drive platform. Its very odd plextor is going to release this drive, especially from panasonic.
Here are pics of the drive and its reference unit



Story and info was found here:
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20040810/plextor.htm

Does this mean that Plextor is going to bring DVD-ram capability to its future offerings?

[dodecahedron]

mmm...
if it is indeed based on Matsushita's Panasonic LF-M721, it means it should support DVD-RAM discs in cartridges!
very nice! <drool>

[Justin42]

This would be great if they bring it to the US, since Panasonic drives can be very hard to find, especially at a decent price. Not that Plextor is cheap, but I'd hope they'd be a bit cheaper than trying to find the OEM Panasonics. I really want to get one of the LF-M721's...

[Ian]

Yeah, I saw this the other day. I have not heard anything from Plextor America yet, but that's not really surprising. They don't announce things until they're ready.

I'm guessing Plextor sees that there's enough DVD-RAM users out there to warrant a Panasonic rebadge.

[dolphinius_rex]

it's hard to see unless you're really looking at it, but the DVD-RAM market actually *IS* expanding. This is probabaly one of the biggest signs of it in a while though.

[Justin42]

If Plextor manages to make this drive capable of doing the PI/PO scans and the like, this may be the drive that really brings Plextor back into the forefront of DVD burning. It seems like they've never gotten the traction in the DVD burning market that they had in the CD burning market.

Although I am interested about why it's a "600" number and not a "700"... 605 sounds much worse than 712. Maybe they'll reserve "7" for their own drives.

[dodecahedron]

Plextor has traditionally catered to the "professional" market. so it kind of makes sense, that's where DVD-RAM is strongest.

Ian, any chance you'll review one of these?

BTW does it do DVD+R/W ?

[yuki chan]

dodecahedron: according to pc watch it is said that the drive is capable of + media writing (the Matsushita version is)

I completely agree that the DVD ram market is expanding (mostly in the pro sector but also in the home set top dvd market). The DVD-ram format is possibly one of the best for use in set top dvd recorders because of it ability to randomly store info (makes the time slip function possible without a hard drive or a crap load of cache)

[Ian]

Ian, any chance you'll review one of these?

Sure, if they're available in the States.

[MadBurner]

It also does +R Dual Layer

This one is definitely on my want list!

MB

[shimman]

i think i will pass
if i need to buy dvd ram in cartridges, i would get mo just because the compatability with those disks are as low as mo unless you take out the disk from the cartridge

yes ram support is nice to have since rw is super unreliable from my exp.

lg's supermulti is more interesting to me

[dodecahedron]

i think it also takes DVD-RAM discs that aren't in cartridges.

[shimman]

as far as i know, drives that can take cartridged disks can also take regular disks

[Ian]

It's official:

http://www.plextor.jp/product/px605a/index.php

[MadBurner]

No mention of dual layer in the specifications plus slow CD burning speeds. Looks like I will be passing on this drive and sticking with my 4120B!

Nice to see Plextor finally getting into the DVD-RAM market

MB

[Justin42]

That's weird, did Panasonic take the dual layer burning out of the 721, or is Plextor disabling this feature for now?

I am wondering if the LG's write quality will be as good as this unit (if it's basically just a Panasonic with tweaked firmware). I still think if Plextor makes this unit able to do PI/PO testing I'll pick it up, although I am still tempted by the LG 4120 (and the LG's price).

[Shredder]

A rumor is going around that Plextor is having some problems in North America. I think it's going to be hard to see new products available in North America market...

[Ian]

That's weird, did Panasonic take the dual layer burning out of the 721, or is Plextor disabling this feature for now?

It's based on the SW-9573

http://panasonic.co.jp/mke/products/dev ... _9573.html

[dodecahedron]

That's weird, did Panasonic take the dual layer burning out of the 721, or is Plextor disabling this feature for now?

???
according to Ian's link
http://panasonic.co.jp/mke/products/dev ... _9573.html
the Panasonic doesn't support DVD+R DL.

[Justin42]

Hrm, I thought when the Panasonic unit was first announced (=months ago) that it was supposed to do +R DL as well. Maybe I'm getting my devices mixed up.

[dodecahedron]

LOL
i guess we should be thankful that the Panasonic unit does DVD+R/W at all...

i find it interesting that in the specs on Panasonic's website etc. they list the drive's capabilities:
DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, +R, +R/W
(note: +R not DVD+R).

someone's a stickler for rules...