Plextor 708A: First exclusive look at 8X DVD+R
by Kristopher Kubicki on September 12, 2003 11:11 PM EST- Posted in
- Storage
Testing the Drive
We used the following configuration to test our DRW-0402P/D:Gigabyte GA-7VRXUsing CD Speed 2.02 and DVD Speed, we had run a battery of read, write and rewrite tests on the drive. The following read speeds are for a pressed HP System Recovery CD.
AMD Athlon MP 2100+
2 x 128 DDR Corsair XMS 2400
Maxtor 80GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache
Windows XP SP1
Click to enlarge.
The drive has no problems with CD media, as obtaining 40X CAV was no challenge. In fact, since we only used a 70min CD, reading speeds for 80min CDs might be even closer to 48X read. However, take notice of the horrible access times. What good is a 22MB/s burst rate if it takes 339ms to seek? Below is a table of some media read times and their respective mappings in Nero CD Speed.
| Average Transfer | Seek Random | Seek 1/3 | Seek Full | Media Length | |
| Pressed HP System Recovery (Turbo) | 30.25X | 110ms | 116ms | 339ms | 69:18.41 |
| Pressed DAE Global Underground 24 CD2 | 31.85X | N/A | N/A | N/A | 73:20.15 |
| Burned PNY 48X CDR Dummy File | 31.95X | 112ms | 119ms | 119ms | 74:00.05 |
| Burned Mitsubishi 32X CDRW Dummy File | 30.85X | 86ms | 110ms | 168ms | 71.28.40 |
| Pressed DVD The Matrix | 6.12X | N/A | N/A | N/A | 7.82GB |
| Pressed Mixed DVD The Animatrix | 6.14X | N/A | N/A | N/A | 7.92GB |
| TDK 4X DVD-R Data CD | 6.03X | 88ms | 102ms | 181ms | 4.38GB |
| FujiFilm 4X DVD+R Data CD | 6.05X | 91ms | 102ms | 182ms | 4.38GB |
| Imation 4X DVD+R Data CD | 4.61X | 136ms | 164ms | 311ms | 4.38GB |
| FujiFilm 4X DVD-RW Data CD | 4.62X | 139ms | 170ms | 316ms | 4.38GB |
| FujiFilm 2.4X DVD+RW Data CD | 6.11X | 387ms | 421ms | 717ms | 4.38GB |
We never really saw the 12X DVD read claimed by Plextor. On the other hand, the read speeds certainly do not disappoint either. Typical reads ended up around 8X (6X average), which out-performs the only 4-5X capable A06. For whatever reason, the CPU usage seems slightly excessive, and we really have no idea what is going on in the DVD+RW read test.
DVD access times are very good. The drive clearly seeks on DVDs 10-15% quicker than the Pioneer A06.
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Moonbeam - Saturday, September 13, 2003 - link
In the sentence:" As far as performance is concerned, the drive out-performs the ASUS DRW-0402P/D and the Pioneer A06 in virtually every way. Media recognition, compatibility and just raw burn times were all better on the A06."
I got the impression the author meant, instead of that last AO6 to put 7o8A.
KristopherKubicki - Saturday, September 13, 2003 - link
#6 - Correct I didnt mention Sony, but thats because Sony doesnt make their own drives =). I have an upcoming review to deal with that.Kristopher
tazdevl - Saturday, September 13, 2003 - link
Couple things... I have a Sony 510A, 510UL and the Plex 708A. Buffer size is pointless. Those comments regarding the buffer size that folks are making and are mentioned in the review don't mean squat. Buffer underrun prevents coasters from happening and based on the review it's obvious it's doing its job. A 8MB buffer is just a way to differentiate a drive from its competitors for ignorant consumers that have "bigger is better" Best Buy logic.-R has greater compatbility at this point with all DVD players. +R has compatibility issues with some older players. That's the nice thing about having a dual format drive. One format doesn't work, try the other.
Lastly the reviewer forgot to comment on Sony as being one of the DVD burning elite. They set the standatd for the industry when they released the Sony 500A/X which was the first dual format burner on the market for months. Also, with firmware 2.0F that enabled 4X burning for both formats (nice free bump for consumers), they started the speed wars in the DVD burning market.
Anonymous User - Saturday, September 13, 2003 - link
Anyone who buys a dual format drive is foolish. DVD+R only drives allow booktype settings to be set to dvd-rom, increasing compatibility SIGNIFICANTLY. Once the drive becomes dual format however, the feature gets scrapped.Mday - Saturday, September 13, 2003 - link
2.4x DVD burning is over 3MB ps. obviously 6x or 8x is 2-3 times that, or roughly 6MB to 9MB per second. with a 2 MB buffer, that's less than 1/3 of a second time. in computing terms, 1/3 of a second is a lot of time. however, since when do programs that access disc space only last 1/3 of a second...sony has an 8MB buffer. while burning at 4x, and with certain programs running, it hardly dips below 90%. of course i do implement a hefty disk cache and memory cache for nero as i burn. i would like to see nero have more than just 80 MB max dedicated for buffering in system memory.
Anonymous User - Saturday, September 13, 2003 - link
I'm waiting for 8X DVD-R burners to come out. DVD+R discs do not work on any of the IBM T20-22 Laptops we use at my office. All of them play DVD-R fine so I consider that a negative towards +R. My friends DVD player from Sony works great with -R but not +R as well.Budman - Saturday, September 13, 2003 - link
My 2X burner's getting slower. :(AgaBooga - Saturday, September 13, 2003 - link
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