Plextor 708A: First exclusive look at 8X DVD+R
by Kristopher Kubicki on September 12, 2003 11:11 PM EST- Posted in
- Storage
Final Thoughts
Plextor deserved every ounce of hype and praise for this drive. Not only did Plextor dethrone long time DVD burning champions Pioneer and NEC, they also outpaced them. Pioneer and NEC are both expected to produce 8X capable DVD+R and DVD-R capable drives in November (DVR-A07 and ND-2300A, respectively), but Plextor has the upper hand with market saturation and aggressive pricing. Consider that the Plextor 708A costs around $280 for its fall debut, we can only assume it will cost less when the yet to be announced A07 and ND-2300A actually hit store shelves. NEC should also release their 8X DVD+R ND-1500A (which is not capable of DVD-R) early November as well.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 708A. The new Gigabyte W0404A (40X CD-R, 4X DVD+R, 4X DVD-R) is a close competitor, but unfortunately, it cannot compete with 8X DVD+R. Next week, we have some interesting optical storage solutions from Gigabyte and ASUS, but the Plextor 708A certainly raises the bar.
One other topic we might want to touch on is DVD+R in general. The DVD+R forum was slow to announce 4X DVD+R a year ago, but pulled ahead with DVD+R 8X products hitting the shelf at least 2 months before DVD-R 8X. Considering drives like the 708A don’t even need 8X verified media to obtain 8-minute DVD burn times, DVD+R will surely gain even more favor in the eyes of consumers. While the DVD format wars are far from over, Philips, HP and the other members of the DVD+R forum clearly won the battle today.
Special thanks to CompuHQ for letting us know about their Plextor 708A special. By using the coupon code "ANANDTECH10" you can save an additional $10 on the 708A.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
41 Comments
View All Comments
n0d3 - Wednesday, May 5, 2004 - link
Just one thing i'd like to say (half a year later he he he)Plextor burners always have been slow with their access times. There's a good reason for that aswell. Anyone who has ever owned any plextor knows this. Plextor makes high quality drives. You can 'feel' that when you pick them up. Quality components are heavier. The head and those moving parts, aswell as other parts I'm sure, are heavier then the other manufacturers drives. That's where the quality comes from. That's the price you pay.
And I don't blame them at all. Sure you can use your burner as reader aswell ... but why? I don't wanna wear out my laser for reads. I get a reader to do just that, read. That way, my laser will last me even longer.
I must say though, I got the PX116 DVD-Reader and it's not that great. I read that it's a pioneer drive internally, and allthough denied by plextor, it just doesn't seem to be of the same quality. For example, I burned a mp3 cd with my 24x plexwriter, and then the dvd-reader couln't read the cd fully. And no firmware upgrade or any firmware on their page what so ever. Oh well ...can't have them all I guess. I'll just e-mail them again.
hjstaruk - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link
I entered coupon code "ANANDTECH10" at CompuHQ. No $10 off, only message "Sorry, we were unable to validate the Coupon Code you entered"KristopherKubicki - Saturday, September 20, 2003 - link
#32: Im not sure if you even read the review.The good thing about the burner is that it burns 8X on most 4X media. It also does a lot of things the A06 cannot, like 40X CDR, 4X DVD+RW, etc, etc.
Kristopher
Anonymous User - Saturday, September 20, 2003 - link
Hi,the guys at www.cdrinfo.com reviewed a newer revision of the Plextor 708A, hardware and software wise. You might enjoy reading their thoughts about this burner.
Regards,
Ron
- who has nothing to do with the mentioned website.
Anonymous User - Friday, September 19, 2003 - link
Any news on the TDK drive? Will you test just the internal version, or their combo USB2/1394a version as well?Anonymous User - Friday, September 19, 2003 - link
nice on paper i must say but if you check on forums for feedbacks it's not the same story, pionner stays the champs.and what is the utility of a x8 burner when there are no medias x8 and when your hard disk is too slow, and i'm not talking about compatibility problems when you play the video...
blackjack - Tuesday, September 16, 2003 - link
attn TIA (post no 29)In answer to your questions, I would recommend the 708A. Relatively it ejects quickly (much better than my previous plextor cd writer which was really slow (24/10/40a - see my last post).
I find the drive really quiet, infact just watching a dvd and its virtually silent, my cpu fan is much louder (although I do have my case temporarily open).
Finally, it is smooth operating and it seems pretty robust.
I don't think you will be disappointed, I'm not.
Thank god I held on for a bit longer and didn't buy the pioneer a06 (even though its not a bad drive) Hope that helps
tazdevl - Tuesday, September 16, 2003 - link
1) Who really cares. The difference when you eject a disc between the drives is literally less than a second.2) The AVR06, 708A and 510 are all very quiet drives. I've been very impressed with the lack of noise levels. I've got a case lined with Pax Mate and low speed papsts, the drives are very quiet, though I'd have to say the 708A and the 510 are the quietest of the bunch.
3) Trays are meant to be opened and closed and are tested as such for thousands of cycles. They break if you screw around with them. Don't screw around with them.
Anonymous User - Monday, September 15, 2003 - link
For those of you who have used the 708A (or the Sony 510 or Pioneer A06 as well), would you recommend any of these drives as a primary, all-purpose optical drive? Specifically:1) How fast to eject a disk (relatively speaking)?
2) How noisy is the drive (I have an older Plextor CD burner, and when it spins up is sounds like a freaking electric string trimmer its so loud!). If this 708A is this loud, you could never use it to play a DVD movie or CD music!
3) Smooth operating, substantial tray construction (not likely to break if used daily).
TIA
stanislav_kosev - Wednesday, October 17, 2012 - link
for the cd manufactured purpose we are using just plextor, check our web site for mote info: http://www.insightvision.biz/cd-manufacturing