Plextor PX-716SA or the Plextor PX-716A is Serial Better ?

[davey]

Plextor PX-716SA or the Plextor PX-716A is Serial Better ? Am I better of buying the serial drive or what which one is faster and is better write quality?

[Ian]

Aside from the connector, it's essentially the same drive. Same performance.. same writing quality.

[CowboySlim]

So get the IDE drive as it is a little cheaper and has a $30 rebate.

[tlotz]

Plextor PX-716SA or the Plextor PX-716A is Serial Better ? Am I better of buying the serial drive or what which one is faster and is better write quality?

It is a matter of which is better for your system. The only technological advantage of the 716SA is the thin SATA cable which helps airflow. I just bought a 716SA. The big reason I bought the 716SA was the fact that my motherboard had only one IDE channel and four onboard SATA connectors. My PC (newer Dell with 925X chipset) has three external 5.25" drive bays--so the only way I can use *all* 3 of those drive bays is if at least one of the drives (in this case the 716SA) is SATA or is connected to an off board controller. Since off board controllers waste PCI slots, it only makes sense that one (or more) of my ATAPI (non-hard drive) devices be SATA. If you have a situation like this (where expandibility of the system depends on using SATA), you definitely want to go for the SATA version. If you have two onboard IDE channels as most systems do, then the 716A will surve you just as well.

[IsLNdbOi]

Can the firmware of these SATA optical drives be updated as easily as those of IDE drives?

[Ian]

Can the firmware of these SATA optical drives be updated as easily as those of IDE drives?

Yes, the two drives use the same firmware updates.