detail information

On the second page of this Plextor Premium review we showed you a screenshot of Nero CD/DVD Speed in which the Premium drive achieved a maximum write speed of 52.52x. On this page we'll see what this write speed means in terms of write time when recording 700MB of data.

Writing Data:

For our data writing tests we simply set up a new compilation of 700MB using the Nero Burning Rom software. We used the DAO (Disc At Once) writing method. The disc was finalized and set-up as a non-multisession disc. In the screenshot below you can see the burn process completed successfully:

As you can see from the screenshot, the burn process was completed in 2 minutes and 38 seconds. Although this is not the fastest write time we've seen for a 700 MB compilation, it's pretty close the the TEAC CD-W552E (±2m:33s) and the Lite-On LTR-52246S (±2m:30s).

Write Quality:

Recording at 52x requires quality media to produce a reliable result. The Premium recorder supports several techniques (such as PoweRec) to ensure the data is written reliably to a disc. In this part of our review we're going to check the write quality of several discs, recorded with the Premium drive.

Normally we used Lite-On's WSES (Write Strategy Evaluation System) program to measure the amount of errors but for this review we're going to use the PlexTools Professional software. We did this for the simple reason that PlexTools works under Windows while WSES requires DOS to operate.

In the graphs below you can see an overview of errors occurring during the read process. Please note that every 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 CU 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.

Also keep in mind that the number of C1/C2/CU errors depends on a number of different factors. The combination of software, hardware and read speed have an effect on the results. Since we're using different software in this review and a different drive for reading the disc, the results may be (a little) different then when using the traditional WSES software. Nevertheless all programs will give you a good idea of the quality of the written disc.

Plextor - 52x certified - 52x write

The Plextor disc, manufactured by Taiyo Yuden, was of course recorder with excellent quality. The combination Taiyo Yuden and Plextor has always worked great and as you can see in the graph above, this is another fine example of that.

Imation - 48x certified - 52x write

The Imation discs, manufactured by CMC Magnetics, had a lot more C1 errors than the Taiyo Yuden discs but keep in mind that this is still an excellent result. The number of C1 errors is limited and there are no C2/Cu errors on the disc. Also notice that the Premium drive was one second faster when writing these CMC discs, certified for 48x recording.

MAM-E - 48x certified - 40x write

The MAM-E discs, manufactured by Mitsui, were certified for 48x recording. The Premium drive started the write process at 40x and even lowered the recording speed to 32x during the write process. As a result the number of C1 error decreases throughout the disc, resulting in another quality burn.

TDK - 48x certified - 52x write

The TDK discs were certified for 48x recording but the Premium drive wrote them at 52x. However, near the end of the write process the recorder slowed down the write speed to 32x. From the graph you can again see that the disc turned out just fine with no C2/CU errors and a low amount of C1 errors.

Maxell - 40x certified - 52x write

As some of our visitors will know Plextor recorders work better with media from certain manufacturers. One of these manufacturers is Maxell and this shows from our last graph. Although the disc was certified for 40x writing, the Premium drive had no problems recording them at 52x and did so with a very low amount of C1 errors. Another quality recorded disc.

Read Tests

Re-Write Tests