detail information

As mentioned before the Plextor PX-W4012TU can write discs at a maximum speed of 40x max. This is of course when using the drive under the USB 2.0 standard. When you use the older USB 1.1 standard the drive is limited to 4x writing and re-writing. In this part of our review we'll test both modes. A screenshot of the reported write speeds with the PlexTools software:

We set-up a basic write process using the latest Nero Burning Rom version 5.5.8.2. We used the DAO (Disc At Once) method for writing the disc. The disc was finalized and set-up as a non-multisession disc. In the screenshot below you can see the burn process completed successfully using the USB 2.0 standard:

The disc was written without problems in 3 minutes and 21 seconds. Next we created a new compilation and just plugged-in the Plextor PX-W4012TU drive in a standard (1.1) USB port. The drive is now limited in writing as you can see from the write time (15 minutes and 10 seconds) in the screenshot below:

To test the both created discs we fired up Nero CD Speed, inserted the back-up discs in the Plextor drive and started a normal 'Transfer Rate Test' to see if the disc had been written without any errors. Both disc were read just fine. In the screenshot below you can see the disc created with the USB 1.1 interface being read by the Plextor drive:

The Plextor PX-W4012TU has no major problems reading back the disc (there's a small drop off at the end) and reaches a top read speed of 42.72x.

Comparing:

Next we did some more tests comparing the Plextor drive to some of our previous reviews. As a comparison we've added write times of both Z-CLV and P-CAV writers. The Plextor PX-W4012TU is a Z-CLV writer as we already mentioned and these kind of writers are slower than the P-CAV writers. Let's compare them and see how much difference we're talking about:

As you can see from the table, the P-CAV writers are faster than the Z-CLV writers. When we compare the Plextor PX-W4012TU to other Z-CLV writers we can see it's a little slower than the TEAC CD-W540E (this drive switches zones a little sooner) but the drive is faster than the Lite-On LTR-40125S (using firmware FW ZS0A).

Writing Audio:

The next thing we're going to check is the Plextor PX-W4012TU's audio writing abilities. As already mentioned on page 3 (features) of our review, this Plextor drive supports the 'VariRec' recording technique. VariRec allows you to change the laser power when writing audio at 4x (in TAO or DAO mode) and with it you should be able to improve the quality of the recorded disc and make it more compatible with picky CD-players like a car stereo.

To test the Plextor's VariRec feature we ripped the tracks (in WAV format) of an audio disc with Exact Audio Copy (Secure Mode) and then started a new audio session in Nero Burning Rom version 5.5.8.2. When writing audio you can see an option to enable the VariRec settings:

When pressing the VariRec button you get the following screen where you can set the VariRec options:

As you can see from the screenshot, the recording speed is limited to 4x when writing in the VariRec mode. We did our first test with the default setting (0) which is recommended using some quality Hi-Space special gold audio media. We then wrote the same disc using some 'ordinary' That's Write CD-Recordables at maximum speed. Below you can see the screenshot of the Plextor PX-W4012TU writing in the VariRec mode and the normal mode:

VariRec recording

Normal audio recording

We then listened to both copies and tried them both in a car stereo (Sony CDX-L400X). Both discs played fine and we couldn't hear any difference in quality. The same results as we got with Yamaha's 'Audio Master Quality Recording' mode. We can therefore give you the same conclusion as we did with our PleXCombo PX-320A review: audio back-ups created with the Plextor PX-W4012TU sound just as good as the original disc regardless if VariRec is enabled or disabled. In our opinion that's a good result.

Playing Audio:

Another feature we tested was the Plextor PX-W4012TU's digital audio playback. The external drive has two stereo RCA Jacks with which you can connect the device to your sound system (audio cables are not included). We connected the drive to our stereo, inserted an audio disc and waited for the drive to play it but unfortunately nothing happened. We tried it with the drive attached to the computer and as standalone. Both methods failed for some reason we're unsure of.

Conclusion:

So what can we conclude from all of the achieved results? Well the Plextor drive is not the fastest writer we've reviewed since its Z-CLV write method is slower than the P-CAV method. When we compare the drive to other Z-CLV writers the drive performs well. It's very close to the TEAC and faster than the Lite-On LTR40125S (using firmware FW ZS0A). The Plextor PX-W4012TU can write a full 700MB disc in about 3 minutes and 21 seconds.

For the audio part we can give you the same conclusion as we did with the PleXCombo PX-320A review. When writing audio Plextor offers its new VariRec technology to increase overall quality and playability of audio back-ups. We, just like with Yamaha's 'Audio Master Quality Recording' mode, again couldn't tell the difference between a normal audio write and a write with VariRec enabled. All disc sounded just fine and played fine in our stereo and car stereo. We did like Plextor's VariRec a little better than Yamaha's 'Audio Master Quality Recording' because with the Plextor technology, the buffer underrun technique is enabled while Yamaha has it disabled. Of course no major issue since the writing is done at a low 4x but it gave us a 'safe' feeling.

Now that we've finished our normal read and write tests, it's time to test the drive for its ability to read copy-protections.