Plextor PX-B940SA 12x Blu-ray Disc Writer

Model: Plextor PX-B940SA 12x Blu-ray Disc Writer
Manufacturer: Plextor
Provided By: Plextor LLC

When it comes to optical storage, there are few names as well known as Plextor. For more than a decade, they've produced some of the best drives the industry has seen. Known the world over for their quality, performance and features, these drives have become favorites among consumers and professionals alike. To keep ahead of the competition, Plextor has continued to lead the way, bringing cutting edge technologies to market. Today, their product lineup includes a number of high performance DVD and Blu-ray Disc writers, many with features found nowhere else.

With the format war coming to an end, Plextor has set its sights on the Blu-ray Disc market. Over the last few years, the company has introduced a number of drives, including one of the industry's first 12x Blu-ray Disc writers, the PX-B940SA. Based loosely on the Pioneer BDR-205, the PX-B940SA is capable of 12x BD-R, 12x BD-R DL and 2x BD-RE writing speeds and a maximum BD-ROM read speed of 8x. Plextor's new drive is also backwards compatible with all major CD and DVD formats and includes features like a 4MB buffer and a software bundle from CyberLink.

Needless to say, this is only a taste of what Plextor's new Blu-ray Disc writer has to offer. To give you an idea of what to expect, we'll take an in-depth look at the PX-B940SA's features and then see how it compares to some of the Blu-ray Disc writers from the competition. Does the PX-B940SA have what it takes? Is it the fastest Blu-ray Disc writer around? Keep reading to find out.

What's in the box?:

• Plextor PX-B940SA 12x Blu-ray Disc Writer
• Software Disc
• Quick Reference Guide
• Warranty Information
• Serial ATA Cable
• Mounting Screws

Physical Features:

The drive Plextor sent us for this review was manufactured in November of 2009 and had firmware version 1.03. For this review we used firmware versions 1.04 and 1.08.

If the PX-B940SA looks familiar to you that's because it is based on the Pioneer BDR-205. Plextor really hasn't done much to disguise this fact either. Aside from the large "Plextor" and "PX-B940SA" logos, the drive looks almost identical to its Pioneer counterpart.

Below the tray you can see the PX-B940SA's single LED. Off by default, this LED lights up green when the drive is reading or writing.

The rear of the PX-B940SA is pretty straightforward. By looking at the picture above you can see the drive's SATA interface and power connector.

Technical Specs:

The specs below have been taken from Plextor's website and the manual that came with the drive.

More Features:

By looking at the picture below, you can see that Plextor's new Blu-ray Disc writer is identified as a "PLEXTOR BD-R  PX-B940SA."

The Nero screenshot also shows that the PX-B940SA has a maximum CD writing speed of 40x and a 4000KB buffer. This buffer is also backed up by Sanyo's BURN-Proof buffer underrun protection. Technically, this isn't true as the drive uses a chipset from Renesas, not Sanyo. According to Nero, the PX-B940SA can write CD-Text and overburn. When testing the drive's capacity I found that the drive was able to overburn up to 94:27 with CompUSA's 99 minute CD-R media. 

Using Alex Noe's Weak Sector Utility we were able to determine that the PX-B940SA is a "one sheep" burner. This means that Plextor's new drive is capable of backing up titles protected by versions of SafeDisc previous to 2.51.

Here is a screen shot from Erik Deppe's Opti Drive Control. Among other things, this program queries the drive to see what its reading and writing capabilities are. Opti Drive Control had no problems detecting the PX-B940SA's reading and writing speeds and supported disc types.

Opti Drive Control also shows that the PX-B940SA is an RPC-2 DVD drive. This means that the drive's region is stored in the firmware. The region can be changed five times and after that it cannot be changed anymore. Unfortunately, a patched RPC-1 firmware is not yet available for this drive.

While Opti Drive Control gives us a quick glance at the PX-B940SA's features, DVDINFOpro provides a little more information on some of the drive's reading and writing capabilities. By looking at the screenshot above you can see that Plextor's new drive can read and write to most BD and DVD formats.

The PX-B940SA doesn't let you set the book type of single layer DVD+R or DVD+RW media. However, the drive automatically sets the book type for DVD+R DL discs to "DVD-ROM". This greatly reduces compatibility problems, especially with older DVD players.

I should also point out that the PX-B940SA is not supported by Plextor's PlexUtilties software. In fact, the latest version of the software didn't even detect it as being a valid Plextor drive.

For the PX-B940SA's software bundle, Plextor has turned to CyberLink. The CD that comes with the drive contains the CyberLink Blu-ray Disc Suite which includes PowerProducer, PowerDirector, Power2Go, PowerBackup, InstantBurn and PowerDVD.

CyberLink PowerProducer 5 - With CyberLink's PowerProducer you can create your own movie discs quickly and easily. Right from the start, this wizard based software gives you a number of options to select from. From here you can choose to produce a new movie disc, edit an existing one or record video directly to DVD or BD.

PowerProducer lets you create a number of different movie discs. Looking at the menu below, you can choose to create a CD, DVD, or Blu-ray Disc. The software also supports various disc capacities and formats including DVD-VR, DVD+VR and BDAV.

While you can capture your own video, PowerProducer gives you the ability to import video files in a number of different formats. Once added to your production, you can use the built-in editor to trim, merge or split your video clips. PowerProducer also allows you to set chapters within the video content and add your own custom menus, backgrounds, fonts and titles.

CyberLink PowerDirector 7 - The PX-B940SA comes with CyberLink's video editing software, PowerDirector. To create your own custom movies, simply drag and drop video footage onto the editing timeline and then add scene transitions, background music, or title effects.

You can also use PowerDirector's "Magic" editing tools to clean up video clips and images, condense long video segments and apply pre-designed style templates. When you're done editing your video, you have the option to save it to your hard drive, create a streaming file or write it back to DV tape.

CyberLink Power2Go 6 - Power2Go is the main disc burning program included with the PX-B940SA. With this software, users can create various types of CD's, DVD's and BD's or make backups of existing discs. Power2Go also offers enhanced security features, allowing you to password protect and encrypt the names of files on your discs.

CyberLink PowerBackup 2.5 - If you're looking for a quick and easy way to backup your data, PowerBackup is the answer. Depending on your needs, PowerBackup can do full, differential, and incremental backups as well as fast stream-to-disc archiving.

Backup jobs can be scheduled to run at regular intervals so the data is always protected. PowerBackup also offers more advanced features like file filtering, compression and password protection.

CyberLink InstantBurn 5 - InstantBurn is CyberLink's packet writing software. Like Roxio's Drag-to-Disc or Nero's InCD, it allows you to use your CD, DVD or BD writer as if it was another hard drive or a huge floppy disk. Once formatted, you can cut, copy, and paste or rename files and folders on a CD-RW, DVD±RW or BD-RE disc.

CyberLink PowerDVD 8 - CyberLink's PowerDVD is one of the more popular software DVD players on the market right now. Along with support for DVD's, it can be used to play back Blu-ray Discs and other high-def formats including H.264, HD MPEG-2, and WMV-HD. With its support for BD-Live, PowerDVD also gives you the ability to access additional content via the Internet.

Unfortunately, the version of PowerDVD bundled with the PX-B940SA only supports 2 speaker output. If you want to take full advantage of movies encoded with Dolby Digital or DTS, you'll need to buy the retail version of PowerDVD Ultra.

While lacking many of Plextor's more advanced technologies, the PX-B920SA still delivers a good number of features. This Serial ATA equipped drive offers some of the fastest Blu-ray reading and writing speeds available and is backwards compatible with all major CD and DVD formats, including DVD-RAM. The PX-B940SA also sports a 4MB buffer and includes a software bundle from CyberLink, but lacks bitsetting support for single layer DVD+R and DVD+RW media. Even then, the Plextor PX-B940SA scores a solid 8 out of 10 for its features.

Along with smaller cable size, one of the biggest benefits of Serial ATA is its ease of installation. Because it uses a point to point connection, setting jumpers has become a thing of the past. In most cases, installation is as simple as plugging in the SATA and power cables and turning the computer on. Needless to say, it took only a couple of minutes to install Plextor'ss Blu-ray Disc writer in our test computer. After making sure that the PX-B940SA was recognized by Windows, I was ready to start installing the software.

Software Installation:

As I mentioned earlier, the PX-B940SA comes with a CD full of software from CyberLink. If you have autorun enabled, the menu pictured below will automatically come up when you insert the disc. From here you can choose to install the bundled software, check out the drive documentation or view the TTDH setup instructions.

Clicking the "Install CyberLink BD Suite" button will bring up another menu where you can read about the various applications included in the suite. Otherwise, you can start the setup process by clicking the "Install Now" button.

After selecting your preferred language and entering your customer information, you'll be presented with a number of installation options. From here, you can choose to install InstantBurn, LabelPrint, Power2Go, PowerBackup, PowerDirector, PowerDVD or PowerProducer. Simply select the components you want and click next a few times. Once the files are copied over, you can start burning your own discs.

The Documentation:

The bulk of the PX-B940SA's documentation is located on the software CD in electronic format. Similar to the ones included with Plextor's other drives, the manual starts out by getting the user familiarized with their new drive. The first section goes over the PX-B940SA's capabilities, features and system requirements. Plextor has also provided some pretty good diagrams showing the various buttons and connectors located on the front and back of the drive. Everything is labeled clearly and the functions of each are easy to understand.

From here, the manual goes right into the physical installation of the PX-B940SA. With no jumpers to configure, this section is relatively brief. Nevertheless, it covers all of the basics including how to install it into an empty drive bay and hook up the cables. The manual continues on by going over the basic operation of the PX-B940SA. Along with information on how to use and maintain the drive, there is a short troubleshooting section as well as a list of frequently asked questions.

The PX-B940SA also comes with a "Quick Reference Guide." This small, fold out guide takes the user step by step through the installation process. While a little short on words,  there are a number of diagrams showing what to do. For most people, the "Quick Reference Guide" will be all they'll need to get the PX-B940SA up and running.

Like the other Plextor drives we've reviewed, the PX-B940SA was very easy to install. Even though Blu-ray is a relatively new technology, there were no problems getting the drive or the software installed and working correctly. If for some reason you do run into trouble, the documentation Plextor has provided is quite good, even though it is in electronic format. With this in mind, the PX-B940SA scores a 9 out of 10 for the installation portion of this review.

While CPU, memory, OS and other variables don't often make a huge difference, there are some nonetheless. We have a computer that is used only for testing hardware. We do this so all tests can be compared reliably.

Test System:

For Blu-ray Disc writers, the performance tests are normally broken down into six sections: CD read, CD write, DVD read, DVD write, BD read and BD write. Each benchmark test has been run three times. The score given is an average of the three. DMA has been enabled in device manager for all IDE devices supporting it.

CD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the CD-ROM benchmarks, CD WinBench 99 v3.0 and CD Speed v4.7.7.16 are used to test read speeds, access times and CPU usage. For DAE testing, CD Speed is used to give an overall speed rating.

CD Write Tests: To test the write speeds, Nero Burning Rom is used to write 650MB and 700MB to our test media. Times are recorded. To test rewrite scores, Nero is used again to time how long it takes to write 400MB of random files and directories. Then Roxio's Drag-to-Disc is used to test packet writing speeds. The same files are copied and pasted in Windows Explorer and timed.

DVD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the DVD benchmarks CD Speed v4.7.7.16 is used to test read speeds, access times, and CPU usage.

DVD Write Tests: To test the DVD write speeds, Nero Burning Rom is used to write a 4.38GB image to our test media. Times are recorded. Then Roxio's Drag-to-Disc is used to test packet writing speeds. For this, 4GB of random files and directories are copied and pasted in Windows Explorer and timed.

BD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the BD benchmarks, CD Speed v4.7.7.16 is used to test read speeds, access times, and CPU usage.

BD Write Tests: To test the BD write speeds, CD Speed's "Create Data Disc" feature is used to burn an entire BD-R/RE disc. Times are recorded.

CD Winbench 99 Scores:

The CD Winbench test is as close as we can get to testing every day usage. It fires off eight different applications using scripts. This tries to mimic the activities of a person loading these programs onto their own computer.

Plextor's new Blu-ray Disc writer gave us some mixed performance in our CD Winbench tests. In the transfer speed tests, the drive started reading at 13.6x (2040 / 150) and reached a maximum speed of about 38x (5710 / 150) on the outside. While this is fairly good for a drive with a maximum read speed of 40x, the PX-B940SA's access time and overall score were not as good as some of the other Blu-ray drives we've looked at. 

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - Pressed CD:

For this test I used a pressed CD containing one Mode 1 data track. The disc is 74:38 in size and is full of data and directories.

 

	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	31.40x 18.46x 41.39x	30.94x 17.80x 40.63x	36.43x 21.08x 48.18x	35.19x 20.35x 46.52x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	148ms 169ms 308ms	114ms 129ms 186ms	127ms 146ms 214ms	145ms 152ms 280ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	6% 9% 6% 71%	1% 1% 8% 9%	1% 1% 2% 5%	0% 1% 5% 2%

The PX-B940SA performed a little better in our CD Speed tests. While still not as fast as the drives from LG and Sony, it had no problems reaching a maximum speed of 41.39x. Unfortunately, its access times were a little higher than we'd like to see.

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - CD-R Media:

For this test I made a copy of our pressed test CD. I used 12x rated Memorex Gold 74 minute media for the tests.

 

	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	31.66x 18.40x 42.02x	25.32x 14.58x 33.57x	36.95x 21.17x 48.93x	35.96x 20.51x 47.65x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	162ms 177ms 374ms	161ms 187ms 335ms	122ms 145ms 225ms	161ms 169ms 304ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 3% 6%	2% 8% 6% n/a	1% 1% 2% 5%	0% 1% 6% 2%

The PX-B940SA was a little faster when reading CD-R media. Thanks to this speed boost, the drive was able to reach a maximum transfer speed of 42.02x.

Plextor's new Blu-ray drive had no problems recognizing our 99 minute CompUSA media. The PX-B940SA read our test disc from start to finish, reaching a maximum transfer speed of 42.59x.

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - CD-RW Media:

For this test I made a copy of a pressed test CD. I used some PNY 80 minute CD-RW media for the tests. 

 

	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	18.71x 11.01x 24.71x	18.72x 10.99x 24.74x	30.00x 17.48x 39.69x	24.85x 14.37x 32.82x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	157ms 180ms 319ms	155ms 179ms 319ms	119ms 142ms 215ms	153ms 163ms 303ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 2% 4%	0% 8% 6% n/a	1% 1% 2% 5%	0% 1% 2% 2%

While the PX-B940SA is rated at 40x when reading pressed and CD-R media, its CD-RW read speeds are limited to only 24x. This is pretty slow considering most of the Blu-ray Disc writers we've tested have been able to read CD-RW media at 32x or higher.

CD Speed v4.7.7.7 (DAE) - Pressed CD:

For this test I used Pure Funk. The CD is almost exactly 74 minutes. This helps to squeeze the maximum performance out of the CD.

Exact Audio Copy can tell us a lot about a drive's capabilities. You can see from the screen shot that while Plextor's new Blu-ray DIsc writer supports accurate stream and caches audio data, it does not have the ability to retrieve C2 error information from audio CD's.     

 

CD Speed	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S
Average: Start: End: DAE Quality: Accurate Stream:	31.26x 18.84x 41.23x 10 Yes	31.27x 18.84x 41.36x 10 Yes	30.25x 17.91x 39.96x 10 Yes	18.66x 10.96x 24.65x 10 Yes

The PX-B940SA did fairly well in our DAE tests. While not as fast as the Pioneer BDR-2203, it was able to rip pressed audio CD's at at respectable 41.23x.

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 (DAE) - CD-R Media:

For this test I used a copy of the Pure Funk CD. It's burned onto the same Memorex Gold 74 minute media I used in the CD Speed tests.

 

CD Speed	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S
Average: Start: End: DAE Quality: Accurate Stream:	31.02x 18.79x 41.05x 10 Yes	24.83x 15.09x 32.76x 10 Yes	29.90x 17.99x 39.43x 10 Yes	18.42x 10.88x 24.37x 10 Yes

Plextor's new Blu-ray drive was a little slower when ripping audio CD-R discs. Nevertheless, this didn't keep it from reaching a maximum DAE speed of 41.05x in our tests. So how did it do in CD Speed's advanced DAE tests? Take a look below.

The PX-B940SA completed CD Speed's advanced DAE tests with an average score of 28.82x. While the drive went through all of the tests without creating any errors, it was unable to pass all of the on the fly copying tests. If you look at the advanced features, you can see that the PX-B940SA was able to read the CD-Text and subchannel data but failed to read the lead-in and lead-out sections of the CD.

CD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 9.4.26.0 and Drag-to-Disc 9.0:

For this test I randomly generated 650MB and 700MB of files and directories to test the time it takes the drive to write and close a CD. All of the files are between 1MB and 25MB in size and no more than 10 directories deep. 

The PX-B940SA has a maximum CD writing speed of 40x. To reach this speed, it uses P-CAV, or Partial CAV, technology. By looking at the screenshot, you can see that the drive starts writing at 19.17x and accelerates, reaching 40x at about the 67 minute mark. This gave Plextor's new drive an average writing speed of about 32.20x.

To test the drive's writing times, I wrote our test data to some Taiyo Yuden media rated at 52x. The results are below.

To test the drive's writing quality I used Lite-On IT's KProbe2. Written by Karr Wang, this utility can be used to test the number of C1 and C2 errors on a disc. For these tests I used a Lite-On LTR-52246S (firmware 6S0F) and read the discs at 32x. 

Moser Baer 52x

Ritek 52x

Verbatim 52x

The PX-B940SA's writing quality was pretty good. By looking at the KProbe screenshots, you can see that the number of C1 errors stayed relatively low. More importantly, there were no C2 errors at all. 

For the rewriting tests I created 400MB of files on the hard drive and wrote them in DAO mode using Nero. To test the packet writing speeds I copied and pasted the same files off the hard drive onto a CD-RW disc using Drag-to-Disc from Roxio. Verbatim's 24x Ultra Speed CD-RW media was used for these tests.

While the PX-B940SA uses P-CAV when writing to CD-R discs, it uses Z-CLV, or Zone CLV, when rewriting at 24x. The drive starts rewriting at about 16x and then jumps to its maximum speed at the 13 minute mark.

Plextor's new drive didn't do as well as some of the other drives in our rewriting tests. Due to its Z-CLV writing method, the PX-B940SA took 2:38 to write 400MB with Nero and 2:41 to do the same with Drag-to-Disc.

The PX-B940SA also erases at 24x. At this speed, it took the drive 15 seconds to do a quick erase and 3:41 to fully erase the disc.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - DVD-ROM:

For this test I used a single layer, single sided data DVD-ROM disc that is 4.37GB in size.

 

	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	11.93x 6.65x 15.96x	11.93 6.64x 15.96x	12.34x 6.84x 16.51x	12.27x 6.80x 16.40x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	155ms 189ms 339ms	153ms 186ms 338ms	111ms 115ms 191ms	153ms 158ms 291ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	14% 13% 25% 46%	12% 13% 23% 44%	4% 8% 15% 27%	4% 6% 9% 18%

Plextor's new drive didn't perform as well as some of the others when reading single layer DVD-ROM's. While it came very close, the PX-B940SA had a hard time reaching its rated speed in our tests. Looking at the other scores, its seek times were also a little higher than we'd like to see.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - DVD-R and DVD-RW:

First, we'll look at the drive's DVD-R and DVD-RW reading performance. For this I made copies of our DVD-ROM test disk using some general use 16x DVD-R and 6x DVD-RW media from Verbatim and then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD Speed. For the DVD-RAM tests, media from Maxell was used. The results are below.

Verbatim DVD-R
 

	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	11.94x 6.64x 16.00x	11.95x 6.64x 15.98x	12.36x 6.88x 16.52x	12.28x 6.80x 16.42x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	165ms 196ms 353ms	165ms 198ms 352ms	116ms 125ms 191ms	166ms 170ms 317ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	14% 14% 25% 47%	16% 13% 23% n/a	4% 8% 15% 28%	4% 6% 10% 18%

Verbatim DVD-RW
 

	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	9.36x 5.21x 12.50x	9.36x 5.20x 12.52x	7.72x 4.28x 10.32x	6.15x 3.41x 8.23x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	167ms 378ms 388ms	167ms 394ms 385ms	106ms 124ms 199ms	156ms 228ms 352ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	14% 14% 25% n/a	14% 13% 24% n/a	4% 8% 15% 28%	4% 6% 10% 18%

The PX-B940SA had no problems reading DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-R DL media. In our tests, the drive read DVD-R discs at 16x, and both DVD-RW and DVD-R DL media at a respectable 12x.

Maxell 5x DVD-RAM
 

	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	4.77x 3.13x 5.00x	4.97x 4.73x 5.00x	4.65x 3.01x 5.02x	4.99x 4.96x 5.00x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	206ms 4ms 1ms	193ms 3ms 1ms	185ms 201ms 276ms	327ms 472ms 1135ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x:	23% 40% 71%	18% 30% 45%	21% 34% 53%	18% 14% 74%

The PX-B940SA has a maximum transfer speed of 5x when reading DVD-RAM discs. By looking at the screenshot you can see that it starts reading at 3.13x and quickly accelerates, reaching 5x at the 0.05GB mark. 

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - DVD+R and DVD+RW:

Next we'll look at the drive's DVD+R and DVD+RW reading performance. For this I made a copy of our DVD-ROM test disk using some 16x DVD+R and 8x DVD+RW media from Verbatim. I then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD Speed. The results are below.

Verbatim DVD+R
 

	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	11.95x 6.62x 16.02x	11.95x 6.67x 16.00x	12.37x 6.87x 16.53x	12.29x 6.78x 16.43x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	167ms 201ms 357ms	170ms 204ms 357ms	120ms 127ms 198ms	165ms 171ms 303ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	14% 14% 25% 46%	16% 13% 23% n/a	4% 8% 15% 28%	4% 6% 10% 18%

Verbatim DVD+RW

	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	9.38x 5.20x 12.55x	9.39x 5.23x 12.56x	7.73x 4.30x 10.33x	6.15x 3.41x 8.22x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	167ms 200ms 352ms	166ms 199ms 353ms	108ms 122ms 190ms	156ms 169ms 330ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	15% 14% 25% n/a	14% 13% 23% n/a	4% 7% 15% 28%	4% 6% 10% 18%

Verbatim DVD+R DL

The PX-B940SA's performance was very similar to what we saw with DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-R DL media. The drive read DVD+R discs at 16x and both DVD+RW and DVD+R DL media at 12x.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - DVD-Video:

For these tests I am using the US version of Transformers: The Movie on DVD. The disc is over 4GB and single sided.

 

	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	11.81x 6.57x 15.82x	11.81x 6.58x 15.79x	3.66x 2.03x 4.89x	4.55x 2.52x 6.09x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	157ms 192ms 341ms	149ms 176ms 327ms	134ms 167ms 228ms	149ms 163ms 311ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	14% 13% 25% 46%	12% 13% 23% 43%	4% 7% 13% 31%	4% 6% 10% n/a

The PX-B940SA didn't slow down very much when reading single layer DVD videos. It started out at about 6.57x and reached a maximum read speed of 15.82x. Plextor's new drive was also fairly quick when reading dual layer discs. By looking at the screenshot below, you can see that the drive's transfer speeds peaked at about 12x.

To see how well Plextor's new drive worked as a DVD player, I watched a few scenes from Transformers: The Movie and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace using the bundled version of PowerDVD. The PX-B940SA had no problems playing back either movie and was fairly quiet.

DVD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 9.4.26.0 and Drag-to-Disc 9.0:

To test the DVD writing performance of Plextor's new drive I used Verbatim 16x DVD+R, 16x DVD-R, 6x DVD-RW and 8x DVD+RW media. To get the writing times, a 4.38GB image was burned to our test discs using Nero.

When writing to DVD+R and DVD-R media at 16x, the PX-B940SA uses CAV. By looking at the screenshots above, you can see that Plextor's new drive starts writing at about 5.8x and accelerates, reaching its maximum speed at the end of the disc.

The PX-B940SA also features 8x DVD+RW and 6x DVD-RW writing speeds. While the drive uses CLV when writing to DVD-RW media, it uses Z-CLV to reach its maximum DVD+RW writing speed.

The PX-B940SA performed very well in our DVD writing tests. While not as fast as some of the 22x and 24x DVD writers we've looked at recently, it turned in some respectable times with both DVD±R and DVD±RW media.

To check the media compatibility of the PX-B940SA, I ran a few tests using some of the media available in my area. The media types, along with the average time it took the drive to write our 4.38GB image, are listed below.

So what about writing quality? Testing a drive's DVD writing quality isn't easy. Until now, there were very few options, unless you wanted to shell out thousands of dollars for a certified test machine. Thanks to KProbe, we can test a disc's PI (Parity Inner) and PIF (Parity Inner Fail) rates. For these tests I used a Lite-On SOHW-1673S and read the discs at 4x with the PI and PIF ECC sums set to 8 and 1 respectively. For comparison, I also tested the discs on a BenQ DW1640. When combined with Nero CD Speed, the DW1640 is able to report PI Errors, PI Failures, Parity Outer Failures and even jitter levels. For this test, the discs are read at 8x with both the PI and PIF ECC sums set to 8.

So what are "good" results supposed to look like? With KProbe, the PI errors should not exceed 280 and the number of PIF errors should stay below 4. When testing with CD Speed, the number of PI errors should stay below 280 as well. However, because it scans with an ECC sum of 8, a higher number of PIF errors is acceptable, as long as they do not exceed 32. Since POF errors are uncorrectable, we really don't want to see any of them at all.

I also put these discs through a "stress test" by reading them back at 16x with the DW1640. By reading these discs back at this speed, we can see if there are any readability issues caused by the number of errors or high levels of jitter. 

The PX-B940SA's writing quality was pretty good with most of the DVD+R media we tested. Aside from a few small spikes, the PI/PIF rates stayed within acceptable limits.

Lastly, here are some results from our DVD-R test media. While the writing quality varied from one manufacturer to another, the results were fairly good for the most part.

To test the PX-B940SA's packet writing performance I used Drag-to-Disc 9.0. Verbatim 8x DVD+RW, Verbatim 6x DVD-RW and Maxell 5x DVD-RAM media were used once again.

The PX-B940SA performed fairly well in our packet writing tests. While not the fastest drive we've tested, it turned in some respectable times when reading and writing to DVD+RW, DVD-RW and DVD-RAM media.

Double Layer DVD Write Tests - Nero Burning Rom 9.4.26.0:

To test the double layer DVD writing performance of the PX-B940SA, I used DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media from Verbatim and Memorex. I created about 8GB of random files and directories on my hard drive and then burned them to our test discs with Nero.

The BDR-2203 had no problems taking the top spot in this test. Thanks to its 8x writing speed, the drive took 15:51 to write 8001MB of data to DVD+R DL media and 16:38 to do the same with DVD-R DL discs. So what about writing quality? Take a look below.

The writing quality was pretty good with Verbatim's DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media. The error rates stayed within acceptable limits and, aside from a dip at the layer change, there weren't any readability problems. Unfortunately, Memorex's DVD+R DL media didn't fair quite as well. Looking at the screenshots above, you can see that there was a large PI/PIF spike at the layer change.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - BD-ROM:

To test the PX-B940SA's BD-ROM reading performance, I used the Blu-ray Disc version of The Fifth Element. This single layer disc is about 23GB in size.

 

	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	5.95x 3.33x 7.94x	5.93x 3.33x 7.85x	3.62x 2.02x 4.83x	6.99x 4.14x 7.99x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	78ms 208ms 350ms	68ms 198ms 346ms	93ms 4ms 3ms	91ms 171ms 479ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 8% 4%	0% 1% 5% 3%	0% 0% 1% 2%	0% 0% 1% 2%

The PX-B940SA performed reasonably well when reading single layer BD-ROM discs. In our tests, the drive started reading at 3.33x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 7.94x.

Plextor's Blu-ray Disc writer had no problems playing back The Fifth Element and The Simpsons Movie using the bundled version of PowerDVD. Just keep in mind that if your monitor is connected to your video card using DVI or HDMI, both need to be HDCP compliant to play AACS protected titles. If not, you can still play them by switching the connection to VGA or using software like Slysoft's AnyDVD HD.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - BD-R and BD-RE:

Next we'll look at the drive's BD-R and BD-RE reading performance. For this I created a few data discs using single layer BD-R and BD-RE media from Memorex and Panasonic and then ran our BD read tests with CD Speed.

Panasonic BD-R
 

	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	5.97x 3.41x 7.94x	5.94x 3.41x 7.78x	6.09x 3.47x 8.08x	7.02x 4.25x 7.98x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	76ms 215ms 363ms	84ms 223ms 368ms	104ms 4ms 3ms	95ms 165ms 464ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 7% 4%	0% 1% 6% 4%	0% 0% 1% 2%	0% 1% 1% 2%

Memorex BD-RE

	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	5.97x 3.41x 7.92x	5.91x 3.41x 7.41x	3.64x 2.07x 4.84x	2.00x 1.99x 2.00x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	79ms 220ms 369ms	81ms 221ms 361ms	116ms 4ms 3ms	101ms 219ms 391ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 7% 4%	0% 1% 6% 4%	0% 0% 1% 2%	0% 1% 2% 4%

Panasonic BD-R DL

Plextor's new drive had no problems reading BD-R, BD-RE and BD-R DL media. In all three cases, the PX-B940SA reached a maximum transfer speed of about 7.9x.

BD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16:

To test the BD writing performance of Plextor's new drive I used BD-R, BD-R DL and BD-RE media from Memorex, Moser Baer, Sony, TDK and Verbatim. To get the writing times, CD Speed's "Create Data Disc" feature was used. I also ran the discs through CD Speed's transfer rate test to make sure that the PX-B940SA could read them back. .

The PX-B940SA is the first drive from Plextor that can write to both BD-R and BD-R DL media at 12x. Looking at the screenshot above, you can see that the drive uses CAV when writing to BD-R discs at this speed.

The PX-B940SA performed very well when writing to BD-R media. It completed our tests in record time, beating the LG BH08LS20 by more than two minutes. Plextor's new drive didn't disappoint when writing to BD-R DL media either. Even with its writing speed limited to 8x, the PX-B940SA took a little more than 25 minutes to burn an entire 50GB disc.

The PX-B940SA completed our Blu-ray writing tests without any problems. The drive wrote to all of our test media at its rated speeds or better and, looking at the transfer rates, you can see that it had no problems reading the discs back.

Performance Revisited:

While Plextor's new Blu-ray Disc writer had a few rough spots, it performed pretty well throughout most of our tests. The PX-B940SA flew through our BD writing tests, turning in some very impressive times with BD-R and BD-R DL media. Reading Blu-ray Discs wasn't a problem for the drive either. The PX-B940SA was able to read single layer BD-ROM's as well as recordable BD media at speeds near 8x.

The PX-B940SA also did reasonably well in our CD and DVD read tests.  While its seek times were a higher than I would have liked, the drive read CD's at speeds as high at 42x and single layer data DVD's and DVD±R media at 16x. When it came to writing CD's and DVD's, the PX-B940SA held its own throughout most of our tests and the writing quality was, for the most part, quite good. With all things considered, the Plextor PX-B940SA gets a solid 8 out of 10 for the performance section of this review.

As a leader in the industry, we've come to expect a lot from Plextor. Over the years, the company has introduced some of the fastest and most feature packed optical drives available. With the PX-B940SA, Plextor has tried to continue this trend. While lacking support for many of their more advanced technologies, Plextor's new 12x Blu-ray Disc writer offers a number of useful features as well as some of the fastest BD reading and writing speeds available.

The PX-B940SA is the first drive from Plextor with the ability to write to both BD-R and BD-R DL media at 12x. At this speed, the drive took a little more than 11 minutes to burn an entire 25GB BD-R disc. The PX-B940SA also turned in some respectable times with BD-RE media. However, without compatible media, I wasn't able to test its full potential when writing to BD-R DL discs. Nevertheless, the PX-B940SA still performed very well in our tests, burning a full 50GB BD-R DL disc in about 25 minutes.

Using the bundled software, the PX-B940SA played all of the Blu-ray movies I had on hand, including those protected by BD+ and with BD-Live enabled features. The drive also performed fairly well in our transfer rate tests, reading single layer BD-ROM's as well as BD-R, BD-RE and BD-R DL media at speeds near 8x. 

Plextor's new drive also has the ability to read and write to all standard DVD formats, including DVD-RAM. The PX-B940SA performed very well when writing to DVD±R discs, taking about 6 minutes to burn an entire 4.7GB DVD. The drive also had no problems holding its own when writing to other types of media. However, the writing quality could have been better with some DVD+R DL discs. When it came to reading DVD's, the PX-B940SA was able to read single layer DVD-ROM's and DVD±R discs at speeds near 16x and other types of recordable media at 12x.

Reading and writing CD's wasn't a problem for the PX-B940SA either. In our tests, it read pressed and CD-R media at speeds as high as 42x and CD-RW discs at 24x. This level of performance carried over to our DAE tests, where the drive ripped audio CD's at speeds as high as 41x. As a writer, the PX-B940SA performed as expected. The drive turned in some respectable times with CD-R media and its writing quality was fairly good. Unfortunately, due to its Z-CLV writing method, it wasn't as fast as some of the other drives in our rewriting tests.

Plextor's new Blu-ray Disc writer also has its share of features. To prevent buffer underruns, the PX-B940SA is equipped with a 4MB buffer that is backed up by some sort of buffer underrun technology. The drive also has a good number of writing and rewriting speeds to choose from as well as the ability to set the book type of DVD+R DL media. To top it off, Plextor has included a great software bundle from CyberLink.

The PX-B940SA is available now and can be purchased through retailers like Amazon for less than $230.

Highs:

• Writes to BD-R and BD-R DL media at 12x
• Writes to BD-RE and BD-RE DL media at 2x
• Writes to DVD-R and DVD+R media at 16x
• Writes to DVD+RW media at 8x
• Writes to DVD-RW media at 6x
• Writes to DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media at 8x
• Reads single layer BD-ROM's at 8x
• Reads BD-R, BD-RE and BD-R DL media at 8x
• Reads BD-RE DL media at 6x
• Reads single layer DVD-ROM's at 16x
• Reads DVD±R media at 16x
• Reads DVD±R DL and DVD±RW media at 12x
• Features 40x CD-R and 24x CD-RW writing speeds
• Includes buffer underrun prevention technology
• 4MB buffer
• Includes software from CyberLink
• Supports bitsetting for DVD+R DL media
• Reasonably priced (for a Plextor)

Lows:

• Questionable writing quality with some DVD+R DL media
• Had a hard time reaching its rated BD and DVD read speeds
• Reads CD-RW media at only 24x
• Cannot set the book type of DVD+R and DVD+RW media
• Overburns to only 94:27
• Not supported by PlexUtilities software