detail information
| Posted by | Dennis |
| Posted on | 22/04/03 13:16 |
| Number of views | 11709 |
Positive:
- Nice looking and quiet drive
- Supports 4x DVD+R and 2.4x DVD+RW recording speeds
- Excellent hardware and software package
- Complete manual and in many different languages
- Two year full warranty for Europe, The Middle-East and Africa
- Buffer underrun technology to prevent buffer underruns
- Good overall read speeds (data and audio)
- Good write quality
- Excellent re-write performance
- Supports PoweRec technology
- Supports DAO-RAW writing
- Supports reading and writing of 8cm discs
- Supports reading and writing of CD-Text information
- Supports reading and writing of full SubChannel Data
- Could read Key2Audio and Cactus Data Shield audio copy-protection without problems
Negative:
- Created some errors in Nero CD Speed's Advanced DAE Test
- DVD+R(W)/DVD-Video read speeds could be higher
- Mount Rainier format not supported
- Cannot fully overburn to 99 minutes (max is 89:50 minutes)
- Needs weak sector amplification to copy SafeDisc 2 protection
- Failed to read Doc.loc audio copy-protection and PlayStation media
Conclusion:
As we've come to expect from Plextor they have put together an excellent package for the PX-504A drive. The manuals are complete, you get a two year warranty on the drive and it's shipped with a superb software package.
When reading various media the Plextor drive performed pretty well. Although the drive didn't reach its maximum speed with audio CDs and CD-ReWriteable discs, it showed decent speeds and had no problems reading CD(-R) media at maximum speed. The PX-504A's performance with DVD media could have been better since it can only reach its maximum speed (12x) with DVD-ROM media. All other DVD media (DVD±RW/DVD-Video) is read at a limited speed of about 5x maximum.
When it came to write and re-write performance of the drive we have nothing to complain. The Plextor PX-504A supports 16x CD-writing and although this is no record breaking speed, it's fast enough for people that don't burn that much or already have another CD-recorder. A benefit of the 16x recording speed is that the drive's write quality at this lower speed was excellent. The PX-504A's DVD-recording performance was great since recording a complete DVD movie can be done in less than 15 minutes while re-writing a complete DVD+RW disc is done in just over 23 minutes.
The Plextor PX-504A showed a bit of a mixed result when it came to our advanced tests. Although the drive had no problems reading and writing most copy-protections, it couldn't read PlayStation discs at all. We saw the same thing with the audio copy-protections. Although the drive had no problems reading the Key2Audio and Cactus Data Shield protection, it failed with the Doc.loc copy-protection. Overburning is also not completely supported by the drive since it cannot read discs that are larger than 89 minutes. Perhaps Plextor can improve the drive's performance on this area with a future firmware upgrade.
The price of the Plextor PX-504A drive is about $ 250 while the NEC ND-1100A drive, on which this Plextor drive is based, can be purchased for about $ 175. Of course, when you buy a Plextor drive you know you'll get an excellent package, good support and full warranty on your drive. We'll leave it up to you to decide if you're willing to pay the increased price.
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