detail information

Test machine:

For this review we will be using a computer with the following configuration:

Hardware:

⋅         Motherboard: ASUSTeK A8N-SLI DELUXE (nForce 4 SLI chipset)
⋅         Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (Venice) 1000 MHz Hyper Transport
⋅         RAM: 2 GB Corsair TWINX 2CL DDR
⋅         GFX: Leadtek Winfast 6600 TD (PCI Express nVidia)
⋅         Sound: SoundBlaster Audigy 2
⋅         Hard disk: 1X 200GB Seagate Barracuda (SATA): 1X 120GB Maxtor (SATA).

System set-up:

The Plextor PX-750A was connected as Secondary Master and identified itself as PLEXTOR DVDR PX750A. DMA (Direct Memory Access) and autorun was enabled for all devices.

NOTE: This motherboard has 8 IDE channels; although the screenshot states the Plextor PX-750A is connected to a Primary IDE channel. It is in fact connected as Secondary Master

And another screenshot from Nero InfoTool below:

From the screenshot from Nero InfoTool above, we can see the Plextor PX-750A supports Mount Rainier, and DVD-RAM read/write. The drive came shipped with firmware version 1.00.

Firmware Update:

We checked Plextor's website and found a later firmware version. (1.01) so we proceeded to update the firmware.

Below we can see the firmware update process in action.

Reviewers note
Firmware version 1.02 was released the day after this review was completed. From the information from the Plextor website, firmware version 1.02 was said to improve the DVD reading quality of the drive. We therefore rerun the reading tests with firmware version 1.02 before this review was published.

Out review PC was once again restarted after the firmware update process had completed.

Installed Software:

Windows XP Professional is installed on the computer along with Service Pack 2 for Windows XP. We will be using the following software in this review:

• Nero Burning ROM version 6.6.1.3
• Nero CD/DVD Speed V4.10
• Nero InfoTool v4.00
• Slysoft CloneCD v5.2.5.1
• Exact Audio Copy v0.95 beta 2
• K-Probe v2.5.1

Features and techniques:

Buffer underrun proof

The buffer underrun proof technologies offer a solution to prevent writing failures during the burning process for CD and DVD by pausing the burn if the data to the drive write buffer is slowed or stopped. The drive resumes the burn process after the drive write buffer is refilled.

PlexTools Professional

This software tool offers a complete suite of recording applications and supports your drive's advanced quality check functions. Audio extraction, various recording modes, and copying of files or disc images can be selected. Read/Write speed testing allows you to select the best media for your drive and examine the quality of your recordings. (www.PlexTools.com)

PlexTools Professional XL

Based on the existing solid code of PlexTools Professional, PlexTools Professional XL offers more features and extra options. The new layout with resizable windows and improved graphs, enhanced audio functions and project options, as well as the unique update check system, is designed and tuned for the demanding user. (www.PlexTools.com)

Disc Writing Technology:

In the following tests, we take a look at the disc writing technology used by the Plextor PX-750A.

For these tests we simply burned a disc with Nero CD-Speed's 'create data disc" function.

CD-Recordable:

The Plextor PX-750A uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 40x. This gives an average write speed of 30.23x, and as we can see, it took the PX-750A 3 minutes 14 seconds to write the disc.

Below we have 3 other drives for comparison.

The Samsung SE-W164C uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 48x. This gives an average write speed of 37.22x.

The Samsung TS-E552U uses P-CAV (Partial-Constant Angular Velocity) to write at its rated speed of 40x. This gives an average speed of 34.39x.

The LG GSA-5160D uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 40X. The drive wrote the last zone at 40.41X and this gives an average speed of 31.70x.

 For comparison we have made the following table: 

As we can see from the table, the Plextor PX-750A is about average when it comes to writing CD-R's.

CD-Rewritable:

The Plextor PX-750A uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write CD-RW at its maximum speed of 24x, with an average write speed of 17.81x and a total write time of 5 minutes and 13 seconds.

Below are some other drives for comparison.

The Pioneer DVR-110 uses Z-CLV (Zone Constant Linear Velocity) to write CD-RW media at its maximum speed of 32x, with an average write speed of 24.90x and a total writing time of 4 minutes and 3 seconds

The Samsung SE-W164C uses Z-CLV (Zone Constant Linear Velocity) to write CD-RW media at its maximum speed of 32x, with an average write speed of 28.32x and a total writing time of 3 minutes 35 seconds.

The NEC ND-3540A uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) writing technology to write at 32X for CD-RW discs, the average speed is 29.75x.

For a better overview we present the following comparison table:

As we can see from the table, the Plextor PX-750A was the slowest drive when writing CD-RW's.

16X DVD+R Writing speed:

The Plextor PX-750A uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at the maximum supported speed of 16x. This gives an average write speed of 11.84x and a writing time of 6 minutes and 13 seconds.

16X DVD-R Writing speed:

The Plextor PX-750A uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD-R at the maximum supported speed of 16x. This gives an average write speed of 11.83x and a writing time of 5 minutes and 58 seconds.

Below are some write graphs from some other drives for comparison.

The Pioneer DVR-110 uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD-R at the maximum supported speed of 16x. This gives an average write speed of 11.59x and a writing time of 6 minutes and 1 second.

The NEC 3540A uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at 16x. This gives an average writing speed of 11.81x and a writing time of 5 minutes and 58 seconds.

The Philips DVDR16LS uses CAV, (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at 16x. The average speed is 11.33x and total writing time is 6 minutes and 8 seconds. The average speed is lower and the writing time is higher than it could have been due to the Walking OPC generation 2 using some time to constantly adjust the writing quality, we could see this as constant dips in the speed curve.

The LG GSA-4163B uses P-CAV, (Partial-Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD-R at 16x. The average speed is 12.90x and total writing time is 5 minutes and 20 seconds.

Below, we made a comparison table:

*1 - Actual writing speed was max 14x due to USB-Bridge limitations.
*2 - Actual writing speed was max 13x due to USB-Bridge limitations.

From the table above, we can see that the Plextor PX-650A is about average when it comes to burning DVD±R media.

8X DVD+RW writing speed:

The Plextor PX-750A uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+RW at 8x. The average speed is 7.69x and total writing time is 7 minutes and 38 seconds.

Below are three drives for comparison.

The Lite-On SHW-16H5S uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+RW at 8x. The average speed is 7.74x and total writing time is 7 minutes and 35 seconds.

The Pioneer DVR-110 uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+RW at 8x. The average speed is 7.81x and total writing time is 8 minutes and 43 seconds.

The NEC ND-4550A uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+RW at 8x. The average speed is 7.98x and total writing time is 7 minutes and 15 seconds.

We made the table below for easy comparison.

The Plextor PX-750A was above average when it came to writing DVD+RW at 8x.

6X DVD-RW writing speed:

The Plextor PX-750A uses CLV, (Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-RW at 6x. The average speed is 5.92x and the total writing time is 10 minutes and 37 seconds.

Below are three other drives for comparison.

The Lite-On SHW-16H5S uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-RW at 6x. The average speed is 5.83x and total writing time is 10 minutes and 55 seconds.

The Pioneer DVR-110 uses CLV, (Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-RW at 6x. The average speed is 6.01x and the total writing time is 9 minutes and 53 seconds.

The NEC ND-4550A uses Z-CLV, (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-RW at 6x. The average speed is 5.80x and total writing time is 11 minutes 6 seconds.

We present the table below for easy comparison.

The Plextor PX-750A was above average when writing DVD-RW media

8X DVD+R DL writing speed:

The Plextor PX-750A supports 8x writing speed on DVD+R DL media.

The Plextor PX-750A used Z-CLV, (Zone Constant Linear Velocity) to write the Verbatim DVD+R DL disc at 8x. The average speed was 6.80x and the total writing time was 17 minutes and 51 seconds.

Below are three other drives for comparison.

The Pioneer DVR-110 uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+R DL at 8x. The average speed is 7.00x and total writing time is 18:06 minutes.

The NEC ND-4550A uses Z-CLV (Zone Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+R DL media at 8x which gives an average write speed of 6.55x and a total write time of 18 minutes and 40 seconds.

The BenQ DW1640 uses P-CAV (Partial Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R DL at its maximum speed of 8x. This gives an average write speed of 7.32x and a total write time of 15 minutes and 36 seconds.

4X DVD-R DL writing speed:

The Plextor PX-750A used CLV, (Constant Linear Velocity) to write the Verbatim DVD-R DL disc at 4x. The average speed was 3.93x and the total writing time was 27 minutes and 58 seconds.

Below are three other drives for comparison.

The Lite-On SHW-16H5S used CLV, (Constant Linear Velocity) to write the Verbatim DVD-R DL disc at 4x. The average speed was 4.02x and the total writing time was 27 minutes and 32 seconds.

The Pioneer DVR-110 uses Z-CLV, (Zone Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-R DL at 8x. This gives an average writing speed of 7.06x and a total write time of 17 minutes and 55 seconds.

The NEC ND-4550A uses Z-CLV (Zone Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-R DL media at 6x which gives an average write speed of 5.67x and a total write time of 20 minutes and 41 seconds.

We present the table below for easy comparison.

The Plextor PX-750A was around average when writing DVD±R DL media

5x DVD-RAM writing speed:

According to the specifications of the Plextor PX-750A it should be able to write DVD-RAM media at 5x.
For this test we used Nero CD-DVD Speed to create a test disc. To test the drives maximum write speed, we turned off 'write with Verify"

The Plextor PX-750A uses CLV (Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-RAM at its maximum speed of 5x. This resulted in an average write speed of 4.98x and a total write time of 11 minutes and 8 seconds

Below are three other drives for comparison.

The Pioneer DVR-110 uses CLV (Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-RAM at its maximum speed of 5x. This resulted in an average write speed of 4.83x and a total write time of 11 minutes 28 seconds.

The NEC ND-4550A uses CLV (Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-RAM at its maximum speed of 5x. This gives an average write speed of 4.87x and a total write time of 11 minutes 28 seconds.

The LG GSA-4167B uses P-CAV (Partial Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD-RAM at its maximum write speed of 5x. This gives an average write speed of 4.57x and a total write time of 12 minutes 28 seconds.

We included the table below for easy comparison.

As we can see from the table above, the Plextor PX-750A was the fastest drive at writing our DVD-RAM media.

Book type (Bitsetting):

The Plextor PX-750A supports auto Bitsetting, and supports DVD+R/RW/DL media with DVD-ROM book type.

Here is how you could check if your discs are really written with DVD-ROM book type:

Start Nero CD-DVD Speed and click the Disc info button and you should get the following screen:

DVD+R DL with book type DVD-ROM.

Another quick test is to start Nero CD-Speed and look at the disc information:

This should say DVD-ROM.

Now let us take a look at the reading performance of the Plextor PX-750A on the nest page….