detail information

Positive Points:

• Very nice looking drive
• Very portable and easy to use because of USB 2.0 interface
• Complete package (software/hardware)
• Complete manual and in many different languages
• Two year full warranty for Europe, The Middle-East and Africa
• Supports 24X Z-CLV writing
• 2MB buffer plus buffer underrun protection
• Supports PoweRec technology
• Good software package:
  • Ahead's Nero Burning Rom & InCD
  • Plextor's PlexTools
• DAE quality was good
• Write quality was good
• Supports Mount Rainier format
• 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 back-up all SafeDisc 2 versions when the 'weak sectors' were amplified

Negative Points:

• DAE (Digital Audio Extraction) is limited to 8X
• Read performance of SafeDisc copy-protection could be better
• Needs 'amplify weak sectors' to copy SafeDisc 2 protection
• Drive cannot read heavily scratched and low quality discs
• Drive couldn't read any audio copy-protected discs
• Mount Rainier performance could be better
• Cannot fully overburn to 99 minutes (±92 minutes is the max)

Before we continue with our final words we would first like to point out that the Plextor PX-S2410TU drive we reviewed was based on the TEAC CD-W224E drive. When we opened up the Plextor drive we could see the CD-W224E model number printed on the recorder label. Plextor using other manufacturer's laser units for their slim line recorders is no surprise since we saw the same thing with the other slim line Plextor recorder, the PX-208TU drive. This explains some of the un-like Plextor performance we saw during our review.

As always with Plextor drives, their package is very complete and includes everything you need to get started right away. The drive comes with an excellent software package here in Europe (unfortunately Plextor America includes Roxio's Easy CD Creator with their drives and they also do not include the PlexTools software). As always the drive's manual is very complete and Plextor Europe gives a two year warranty period on their drives.

When it came to read and write performance we had a bit of a mixed result. Reading normal data discs was of course no problem but when it came to reading audio the drive was limited to only 8X reading. This of course makes DAE take a really long time. Writing was of course also no problem but when it came to writing exotic media we had some problems. Although Nero CD Speed reported that the drive could overburn to 99 minutes this simply didn't work. Writing 8cm also gave us some problems but, as said during the tests, we're not completely sure what caused this.

The reading and writing of copy-protections could have been better. Although we were able to copy most data copy-protections just fine (with some help of the software sometimes) the reading of the SafeDisc copy-protection could have been a lot better. When it came to reading audio copy-protections the Plextor drive's performance was simply not good at all. The drive failed to read every protection we tried.

Another thing that also needs to be improved is the drive's performance when reading scratched and low quality discs. When the drive encountered an uncorrectable error it completely froze up and made reading impossible.

Of course the Plextor drive does also have its positive points. When you're looking for a very portable drive that will look great attached to your notebook you can't really go wrong with the Plextor PX-S2410TU drive. Its performance was decent and because of the drive's great design, it will give you an opportunity to brag about to your friends

When you're however looking for a new external drive for your desktop computer and you don't need portability, then you'd better stick to another external drive like the Plextor PX-W4824TU for example.

The lowest price on Price Watch for the Plextor PX-S2410TU drive is $187 (checked January 9^th 2003).