detail information

Because the external Plextor PX-W4824TU performs the same as the internal model, which we reviewed here, some of the positive points are based on the results we got with the internal model.

Positive Points:

• Nice looking drive and very easy to use because of USB 2.0 interface
• Nice and complete software package (includes for instance five 48X CD-R discs)
• Complete manual and in many different languages
• Two year full warranty for Europe, The Middle-East and Africa
• Supports 48X Full-CAV writing of data and audio
• Supports 24X P-CAV re-writing
• Supports 48X Full-CAV reading via SpeedRead
• 4MB buffer plus BURN-Proof
• Good features:
  • PoweRec (which can now also be disabled and used to check the write speed of the inserted media!)
  • VariRec
• Good software package:
  • Ahead's Nero Burning Rom & InCD
  • Plextor's PlexTools
• Good DAE quality
• Excellent seek times
• Excellent Mount Rainier performance
• Supports DAO-RAW writing
• Supports writing of 8cm discs
• Supports reading and writing of CD-Text
• Supports reading and writing of full SubChannel Data
• Could back-up SafeDisc 2 (before version v2.51.021)
• Could read tested audio protections just fine
• Drive has an extra strong front bezel to protect from possible injury due to exploding discs

Negative Points:

• Can be picky with media that's not recommended by Plextor
• Cannot fully overburn to 99 minutes (max is 94:56 minutes)
• Doesn't reach 48X reading until 80-minute mark
• DAE and CD-RW reading is limited to about 42X
• Failed to back-up SafeDisc v2.51.021 and above even with CloneCD's 'Amplify Weak Sectors' option enabled

Because the external Plextor PX-W4824TU drive is based on the internal PX-W4824A drive we can give you about the same conclusions as we did before. The Plextor 48X drives have been improved a lot compared to their previous 40X models. The Plextor PX-W4824A and TU drives are the first Plextor drives to support the ultra-speed re-writing format, full CAV writing, the Mount Rainier format and have the fastest random access times ever seen (>65ms).

As always with Plextor drives the package is very complete and it includes everything you need to get started writing right away. You get a generous amount of five 48X CD-Recordable discs, an ultra-speed CD-ReWriteable disc, excellent software and a very complete manual located on the Plextor CD-ROM. European Plextor drives come with the PlexTools software and as you will have seen during our review this software can be very handy. It for instance allows you to enable SpeedRead, PoweRec, DMA, etc. Besides that the PlexTools software can also come in handy when dealing with certain audio protections...

Some things that were a little disappointing were the drive's read speeds. When SpeedRead is enabled the Plextor drives will not reach 48X reading until the 80-minute mark of the disc. We would have liked to see the Plextor PX-W4824TU drive reaching 48X at the 68-minute mark as Plextor uses as indication to reach 40X. Digital Audio Extraction and the reading of CD-ReWriteable media was also limited to about 42X.

When it came to writing the Plextor PX-W4824TU showed a good result. It's not the fastest drive we've seen but we can only compare the drive to 48X Lite-On recorders we've reviewed. When we compare the drive to 40X drives the write times are pretty close. What did bother us was the write quality. When we used CD-R discs that were recommended by Plextor we had an excellent result. However when we used other discs that were not on the list the quality sometimes wasn't that good. Although all discs could be read fine after they were written the C1/C2 error tests showed a lot of C1 errors.

When dealing with copy-protections the Plextor PX-W4824TU performed pretty much as expected. Reading of SafeDisc protected titles was extremely fast and even has been improved a little with the latest firmware. One thing that did disappoint us was the fact that the Plextor PX-W4824TU drive still failed to make a fully working back-up of the SafeDisc v2.51.021 protection and above, even with CloneCD's 'AWS' function enabled. When it came to audio protections we got a better result. The protections we tested (Key2Audio, Cactus Data Shield 200, Doc.loc) could all be read without any problems.

Finally the Plextor PX-W4824TU drive is extremely easy to use because of the USB 2.0 interface. You only need to connect one cable to your computer, plug in the 12V power supply and the drive is ready to be used. You must keep in mind though that reading and writing at the maximum speed will require a fast and stable system. Onboard USB 2.0 support is recommended.

Update: With firmware 1.03 the 'AWS' problem has been fixed. More information on this thread on our Plextor forum!