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To test the Plextor PX-W4012S' write quality we simply used Nero Burning Rom or CloneCD to write several discs at maximum speed. For each disc we then used Lite-On's C1/C2 error scan program called WSES (Write Strategy Evaluation System) v1.07. This program can accurately scan a disc for errors and it's a better method of checking the write quality then when using Nero CD Speed for instance. The created discs were scanned using a Lite-On LTR-52246S drive (WSES only works with Lite-On drives) at 40X reading.

Note: The display scale were using for our error measurement is 60 for C1 and 20 for C2. Please keep this in mind when you, for instance, compare our tests to other reviews. The scales may be different and you can thus not compare the results just by looking at the created graphs!

Introduction:

C1 and C2 errors are not really on a disc. They occur during reading. The more difficult it is for a drive to read a disc, the more errors will occur while reading that disc. A good disc should report low error rates even at high scanning speeds. But don't forget that a bad disc can also have low error rates after burning. A good disc will still report low error rates if you put the disc into direct sunlight, while a bad disc will damage and/or may degrade after some months. The results below are thus not an indication whether or not the used disc is of a good quality. It's merely an indication if the burn process was done properly.

In the figures below you will see a graphical overview of errors occurring during the read process. Please note that every created/burned disc will always have C1 errors. These are errors that are corrected by the drive and they will not effect the disc in a bad way as long as their amount is limited. C2 errors are however very bad for a disc and are harder to read and correct. When there are too many C2 errors present on the disc it means you have bad burned disc and it can't be read in the test drive you're using as a reader. Although a low amount of C2 errors can still be recovered by the drive, a zero amount of C2 errors is always preferred!

The Tests:

700MB Plextor CD-R80:

• Manufacturer: Taiyo Yuden
• Certified Speed: 48X
• Write Speed: 40X (3m:22s)
• Code: 97m24s01f
• Disc Type: CD-R
• Recording Layer: Dye Type 1: Long Strategy (Cyanine, AZO)
• Capacity: 79:59.72 (703 MB)

These discs were delivered with the Plextor drive and were certified for 48X recording. The Plextor PX-W4012S drive (of course) wrote the discs at maximum speed and as you can see from the graph below, created a perfect quality disc:

700MB Maxell CD-R:

• Manufacturer: Hitachi Maxell
• Certified Speed: 40X
• Write Speed: 40X (3m:24s)
• Code: 97m25s29f
• Disc Type: CD-R
• Recording Layer: Dye Type 9: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine)
• Capacity: 79:59.74 (703 MB)

The next disc we scanned was a Maxell CD-R certified for 40X recording. The Plextor drive wrote the disc at maximum speed (40X) and created another quality disc as you can also see from the following graph:

700MB Mitsui/MAM-E CD-R:

• Manufacturer: Mitsui
• Certified Speed: 48X
• Write Speed: 40X (3m:23s)
• Code: 97m27s58f
• Disc Type: CD-R
• Recording Layer: Dye Type 8: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine)
• Capacity: 79:59.74 (703 MB)

The next disc we scanned was a recorded Mitsui/MAM-E disc. From the graph below you can see that there are more C1 errors than on the previous two discs but keep in mind that this is still a good result: the number of errors is low and there are no C2 errors:

650MB Taiyo Yuden CD-R:

• Manufacturer: Taiyo Yuden
• Certified Speed: 24X
• Write Speed: 32X (2m:57s)
• Code: 97m24s01f
• Disc Type: CD-R
• Recording Layer: Dye Type 1: Long Strategy (Cyanine, AZO)
• Capacity: 74;43.01 (656 MB)

Plextor and Taiyo Yuden discs are a good combination and, as you can see from the graph below, this Plextor SCSI writer is no exception. A perfectly recorded disc:

650MB TDK CD-R:

• Manufacturer: TDK
• Certified Speed: 48X
• Write Speed: 32X (3m:08s)
• Code: 97m15s05f
• Disc Type: CD-R
• Recording Layer: Dye Type 5: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine)
• Capacity: 79:59.72 (703 MB)

Although the TDK discs are certified for 48X recording, the Plextor PX-W4012S wrote them at 32X. The recorded disc was however again of perfect quality:

700MB Hi-Space CD-R:

• Manufacturer: MPO France
• Certified Speed: 24X
• Write Speed: 4X (20m:22s - VariRec)
• Code: 97m25s07f
• Disc Type: CD-R
• Recording Layer: Dye Type 7: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine)
• Capacity: 79:59.00 (702 MB)

As a final test we scanned a Hi-Space disc that had been recorded at 4X using the Plextor's VariRec technology. Although the number of errors increases at the end of the disc, their amount is still limited and there are no C2 errors. Another disc burned well:

Writing Tests

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