Plextor PX-712A Quickie Preview - PI/PO Tests

[Ian]

Since hydrogen and others have been asking for them, I figured I'd post a few comparisons between the PI/PO tests in PlexTools Pro and KProbe.

First, a few screenshots:





Nope, no DL support (yet).

[Ian]

Here are a few tests with some Verbatim DataLifePlus 8x DVD+R media. Plextor sent them to me thinking they'd work at 12x.. Think again. They're currently working with Verbatim to resolve this. In any case, the disc was created with CD Speed at 8x. I'd have a write graph, but CD Speed kept crashing when it finished. I should note that the speed kept dropping off at the end. Yes, like the PX-708A. You'll see the affect of this in a bit.





I'll say this right now. I'm not a big fan of Plextor's graphs. While they give you the total number of errors, they don't give you a max or average. The default scale is 500 too, which makes it damn hard to read. Then again, it probably doesn't look as bad when you start getting PI errors in the 200-300 range.



Here's the results from PlexTool's Beta/Jitter tests. You can see that the Jitter drops off right at the end. This is where the drive slowed down.

[Ian]

Here are some results with Memorex's (CMC) 8x DVD+R discs. I had no slow downs with these.

[Ian]

I should also add that the Beta/Jitter tests are run at 4x. However, I'm not sure what speed the PI/PO tests are run at. There's no options for this and it doesn't say anywhere in the documentation.

[dolphinius_rex]

Hrm, too similar to K-Probe....

Well, I guess we just can't get any accurate testing on DVDR media with consumer burners

[Ian]

Yeah, but you do get the beta/jitter tests. This is something the Lite-On drives can't test for yet. Of course, you also have to ask yourself if its worth the money, just for that capability... that is, if you're going to use the PX-712A primarily to test writing quality.

[MadBurner]

So is it safe to say that the Memorex 8x DVD+R (CMC) will not work at 12x?

MB

[Ian]

So is it safe to say that the Memorex 8x DVD+R (CMC) will not work at 12x?

That is correct sir. Unless you have the Taiyo, Maxell or Ricoh 8x media that is on Plextor's list, you are SOL. That's my situation right now.

[pchilson]

Ian, they sent you Verbatim DataLifePlus 8x DVD+R media "thinking" they would write at 12x? What don't they know? Unbelievable...

Those look like some good scans for 8x burns but there are plenty of 8x burners that can do that. Maybe they didn't want you reviewing at 12x...

[MadBurner]

That is correct sir. Unless you have the Taiyo, Maxell or Ricoh 8x media that is on Plextor's list, you are SOL. That's my situation right now.

Great going Plextor

MB

[Vanderlow]

Yeah, but you do get the beta/jitter tests. This is something the Lite-On drives can't test for yet. Of course, you also have to ask yourself if its worth the money, just for that capability

Looks like you'll get jitter and Pi/Po reporting with Nutech and BenQ with upcoming CDSpeed versions.

[vsekh]

Anandtech did a review on the 712a drive. They were able to write at 12x speed on a CMC Magnetics 301 8x dvd+r.

Drive seems to work great.

Looking forward to your full review Ian.

[Ian]

They were able to write at 12x speed on a CMC Magnetics 301 8x dvd+r.

That's kinda funny. I have CMC media (the Memorex) here and it doesn't work at 12x. It's not on Plextor's list either.

[Ian]

No, the only disc they got to write at 12x was the bundled Taiyo disc.

Way to rush another "exclusive". Oh wait.. wasn't there another review earlier this week?

[vsekh]

They mention set of write descriptors with a list:

YUDEN000T01: 8x (4x)
YUDEN000T01: 12x (8x)
RICOHJPNR00: 2.4x (2.4x)
RICOHJPNR01: 8x (4x)
MCC 002: 8x (4x)
MCC 003: 8x (8x)
PHILIPS C08: 8x (8x)
CMC MAG 301: 12x (8x)
SONYD11: 8x (8x)

Though they might not have really tested the CMC Mag 301.

[Ian]

That's gotta be a typo. Either that or BS. The drive writes to that media at 8x.

Actually it is a typo.. since it supposed to be "E01" and not "301". Not to mention, he has the ID wrong for Taiyo's 8x DVD+R media.

[Ian]

Here's proof:



I wish they'd spend more effort testing the drive instead of trying to be first and claim an "exclusive".

[Ian]

Oh wait.. its supposed to be CMC E03's. Are those even out yet?

[dodecahedron]

does this mean that DVD-Video for single-layer is 2x but for dual-layer is faster than 2x ?


according to the pics supports Mt. Rainier.
does it indeed ?
all of the Mt. Rainier specs (defect management & all) ?

Ian, why didn't you change the scale of the PI/PO graphs to a smaller number on the vertical scale? can't it be done?

[vsekh]

Oh wait.. its supposed to be CMC E03's. Are those even out yet?

The CMC E03's will hopefully be out soon. Hopefully these will truly burn at 12x speed and have good write quality.

[Ian]

Ah ok. I took it as that Kristopher actually tested these discs. Hopefully he can shed some light on this.

Dodeca, yeah you can change the scale. That's just what I had it set at. As far as DVD-Video read speeds, you can boost them by enabling Speed Read or whatever. It was the same on the 708A. Not sure about Mt. Rainier yet. I'll let you know in our review.

[Scour]

Hello!

Overall good writing quality. Seems to be that Plextor made a great drive again.

[aviationwiz]

Was anyone wondering why I was absent from this thread?

I was out of town over the weekend, but hox told me about this thread when I gave him a ring yesterday.

My thoughts:

The quality on that thing is fuc*ing amazing, another great drive from Plextor

I wish more media could be written at 12x (may not be so due to quality of the media, or something else) either way, we want more 12x media

KProbe vs PlexTools: The 2 graphs look similar, but it would be easier to read if Ian would have adjusted the scale on PlexTools, so is it now semi-safe to say that comparing scans between drives may actually be possible?

I like how KProbe automatically adjusts the scale of the graph to the highest PI/PO level there is on that disc.

Jitter is a large problem when it comes to when the disc is slowed down at the end, does that happen at all with discs burned in various other drives?

Overall, I *REALLY* want one now, just gotta wait for the SATA version...

[pchilson]

Was anyone wondering why I was absent from this thread?

Didn't miss your old fart shyster politician smiling geek avatar at all...

[shimman]

though the result is better than expected, the compatability issues must be resolved. i went to bb after the church service, and 712s were sold out last friday. i guess i will skip 712. it was bit too expensive for its performance.

anyway, it seems plextor did improve the compatability/reliability; hope to see better results from the extensive review