detail information

Positive:

• Good package, includes great software such as Nero 6, Pinncale Studio 9SE, PowerDVD and PlexTools.
• Two year warranty with on-site collect & return service (for Europe, the Middle-East and Africa).
• World's fastest DVD recorder. Supports 12x DVD+R, 8x DVD-R, 4x DVD±RW, 48x CD-R and 24x CD-RW. Drive has an 8MB buffer.
• Excellent read performance with DVD media, read up to 12x for DVDR(W) media and up to 16x for single layer DVD media.
• Supports many technologies such as BURN-Proof, Mount Rainier, PoweRec, VariRec, GigaRec, SecuRec and Q-Check (CD and DVD error measurement).
• Good CD and DVD media compatibility. Good write quality.
• Excellent performance with copy protected data and audio discs.
• Supports overburning up to 99 minutes.
• 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.

Negative:

• Has a tendency to limit read speed for audio discs.

Conclusion:

When Plextor first announced their PX-712A drive last month we saw a lot of reactions of people who were wondering why Plextor released a 12x drive while 16x burning is just around the corner. People were also wondering why Plextor didn't release a double layer burner and decided to release a single layer burner again. We cannot answer these questions but luckily we can say that Plextor has released a great drive which supports great technologies, making it a very interesting drive for many people.

The Plextor drive supports many technologies that we also found on the Plextor Premium drive. It comes with an 8MB buffer and a good selection of software, including Plextor's own PlexTools software. With PlexTools you can control every aspect of your Plextor drive and it allows you to thoroughly test your drives. The software can also be used to measure write quality using the PX-712A drive, another great feature.

The read performance of the PX-712A was great, especially with DVD media. The drive read all of our discs at 12x maximum and could read single layer DVD discs at 16x maximum. The drive also performed well with CD-ROM media although it did have some problems with audio discs. This was however the only problem we could find.

When it came to write performance we were very impressed by the drive. The Plextor PX-712A wrote all of our 4x DVD+R discs at 8x and, more importantly, it did so with good quality. The highest amount of errors were created with Ritek DVD+R discs but the amount of errors was still within the standards. All of the other discs we tested were perfectly written. You can also be sure that Plextor will often release new firmware versions that will improve the drive's media compatibility even more.

During our advanced tests the Plextor PX-712A again performed very well as it had no problems with or data and audio copy protections, with overburning discs and with burning 8cm discs.

The price of the Plextor PX-712A is around US$ 180. Plextor drives have always been known to be more expensive than other drives but when we look at how well the drive performed and the great technologies it supports we think this price is more than justified. Because the drive performed very well during all of our tests we can't do anything else than give it our Editor's Choice Award.