detail information

For our final (advanced) tests we're going to test how the Plextor drive performs with data and audio copy-protections. Besides that we'll also take a quick look at GigaRec and overburning. Last but not least we'll also see if the drive can handle 8cm discs. Let's start with the data copy-protections:

Copy-Protected Data:

For our copy-protected data tests we used good old CloneCD to read and write several popular copy-protections. In the picture below you can see that the Plextor Premium is fully supported by CloneCD:

The Plextor Premium supports the DAO-RAW96 recording mode which means that the drive can write uncorrected data and SubChannel Data. In the table below we've summed up all of our results and after the table we will clarify our results. SpeedRead was enabled via the PlexTools software:

Protected Data	Game Title	Protection (version)	Read Time	Back-up Works
	Desperados	LaserLock	44m:47s	Yes
	The Sims: House Party	SafeDisc v2.10.030	1m:51s	Yes
	Mafia: The City Of Lost Heaven (CD1)	SafeDisc v2.70.030	2m:04s	Yes
	Neverwinter Nights (CD3)	SecuRom v4.76.00.0051	2m:55s	Yes
	Final Fantasy VIII (CD1)	PlayStation LibCrypt	3m:00s	Yes

The Premium's read performance with copy-protected data was pretty much as expected. The drive was struggling with the LaserLock protection but it was extremely fast with the SafeDisc protection. The reading of SubChannel Data cannot be done at full speed (something that older Plextor drives also cannot do) but luckily the drive is not limited to 8x reading like the Plextor PX-W4012TA drive. When it comes to writing the protections we can see one major improvement compared to older Plextor recorders; the PlexWriter Premium can copy SafeDisc 2 without weak sector amplification!!

Copy-Protected Audio:

For our protected audio disc tests we used the PlexTools software with the 'Enable Single Session' option enabled. We simply inserted the audio discs in the Premium drive and waited if the drive could recognize the disc and if so, could extract the audio tracks. In the table below we've summed up our results:

The audio copy-protections we tested were no problem for the Premium drive. Doc.loc gave us the most problems since it took quite a while for the Premium to recognize this disc and rip the audio tracks. Ripping was however done without any errors so all in all, an excellent result.

Overburning/GigaRec:

We can be very short when summing up the results with the Premium drive and 99 minute media. Since the drive can burn 111 minutes of audio to a standard 80 minute disc (using GigaRec), it will come as no surprise that the drive can handle 99 minute media without problems, although the write speed is limited to 40x when overburning.

Another feature we need to take a look at is the Premium's GigaRec support. As we already described on page two of this review, this technique allows you to stretch the capacity of a standard recordable disc up to 40%. This means that a standard 700MB / 80 minute disc can be stretched to hold up to 990 MB / 112 minutes:

From the screenshot you can see that GigaRec recording is done at 4x, without using BURN-Proof. Keep in mind that the playability of GigaRec discs depends on the reader and the used GigaRec setting. In our example we used the maximum setting (1.4) which could be read fine in our stereo.

We also tested the disc in a Lite-On LTR-52246S drive which could read the disc but would detect the wrong disc length. A PlexWriter PX-W4012TA could recognize the disc correctly and the Premium drive could of course also read the disc fine, but at a limited read speed:

8cm Discs:

As a final test we tested if the Plextor drive could read and write 8cm discs. We used Nero Burning Rom and after that we used Nero CD Speed to do another transfer rate test. Both tests were completed without a problem.

Re-Write Tests

Conclusion