Plextor 708A: First exclusive look at 8X DVD+R
by Kristopher Kubicki on September 12, 2003 11:11 PM EST- Posted in
- Storage
Burning
Click to enlarge.
There you have it, 8X DVD+R — exactly 8 minutes to burn 4.38GB. CD Speed incorrectly identifies the 8X Z-CLV (zone constant linear velocity) mode as 6X CLV due to PoweRec. As you may have read on the previous page, PoweRec redefines the laser intensity and spin at its own discretion.
However, we do have a complaint or two about the tiny buffer on the drive. During the above burn, we did not touch the PC at all. Below is a graph of 4X DVD+R media while we had a Microsoft Office document open. The spikes are the points where we saved the sub-100kb document. We are happy that the burn did not under-run; but, has optical storage taken a step backward?
Click to enlarge.
Below are the CD-R, CD+RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R and DVD-RW speed tests. We used CD Speed with the same configuration as the previous test.
| Average Transfer | Media Length | |
| Imation 52X CDR Data CD | 29.31X | 79.49.74 |
| PNY 52X CDR Data CD | 29.24X | 79.49.74 |
| Mitsubishi 32X CDRW Data CD | 23.78X | 73:43.00 |
| Mitsubishi 24X CDRW Data CD | 23.66X | 73:43.00 |
| FujiFilm 4X DVD-R Data CD | 4.01X | 4.38GB |
| TDK 4X DVD-R Data CD | 4.00X | 4.38GB |
| FujiFilm 4X DVD+R Data CD | 7.70X | 4.38GB |
| Imation 4X DVD+R Data CD | 7.69X | 4.38GB | FujiFilm 4X DVD-RW Data CD | 4.05X | 4.38GB | FujiFilm 2.4X DVD+RW Data CD | 2.41X | 4.38GB |
The drive had no problem at all burning other 4X DVD+R media at 8X. Perhaps because the 8X DVD-R format is not officially standard, the 708A does not have the proper strategy logic to burn 8X DVD-R. As future BIOS upgrade to enable 8X DVD-R certainly seems feasible, it is obvious that no one will know until the DVD dash R forum gets their ducks in a row.
Full erase of a DVD+RW takes 24:23 minutes. A similar time was recorded for DVD-RW.
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tazdevl - Monday, September 15, 2003 - link
TDK is just a rebadged NEC. Only difference is that TDK updates their firmware a tad bit more often and does a better job supporting their drives in general than NEC.In any case, both are not in the same league as Sony, Pioneer, Plex or TEAC.
Anonymous User - Monday, September 15, 2003 - link
Can someone please do a review on the Plextor 708A, Sony DRU510, the new Pioneer and the new Lite-On DVD+-R/RW. Somebody tell Anand.tazdevl - Monday, September 15, 2003 - link
Litle light reading... according to NPD Sony has a 39% share of the DVD burning market.#1.http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/7974
Ian@CDRlabs - Monday, September 15, 2003 - link
Ah yeah. You guys wanted to get the "first exclusive look." :)I have to agree with tazdevl about Sony's DVD writers. While they have used drives from other companies in the past, the DRU-5xx series is their own design. A design just as ground breaking as the Plextor.
Ian
KristopherKubicki - Sunday, September 14, 2003 - link
#23: They did sent it to us. Unfortunately, they sent it to us UPS ground ;) Rather than wait around for our sample I thought it best to go grab one before every review site on the net had a unit.I believe the unit is still in transit =)
Kristopher
Anonymous User - Sunday, September 14, 2003 - link
If you had to buy it, why did you say they sent it to you? Just curious. Anandtech is a well-respected site -- you certainly don't have to pretend like manufacturers are doing you favours. In fact, the idea that you guys go out and buy stuff to review just makes you look more impartial and might shame a few people into giving you review samples in the future.
Falco. - Sunday, September 14, 2003 - link
KristopherKubickiif u have to buy the tdk.. u can have mine relatively cheap :-)
KristopherKubicki - Sunday, September 14, 2003 - link
#20: I have the OEM drive here. Its in an upcoming review.Kristopher
tazdevl - Sunday, September 14, 2003 - link
#7 I think you're getting into semantics. Your point makes no sense.Sony doesn't manufacture their own drives, they outsource manufacturing to other companies, which is not unusual. However, the design is their own and they don't private label anyone else's drives.
KristopherKubicki - Sunday, September 14, 2003 - link
I will see if TDK can send us a drive. We actually went out and bought our 708A, so we may end up doing the same for the TDK.Kristopher