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Plextor PX-712A


Date
: 05/10/04 – 04:59:12 AM

Author
:

Category
: Optical Devices

Page 1 : Introduction

Manufacturer: Plextor
Price: $209

Plextor is not the most common name floating around in our labs, however it has made several debuts. Tim had taken a look at the Plextor 24/10/40A and the Plextor 16/10/40A. Plextor has been kind enough to send me a sample of their latest and greatest drive. Plextor has been producing optical drives since 1989 and since that time are now considered by many the high-end leader in optical performance and quality.

So enough about the company and lets see what the
PX-712A
packs!

What we have today is the
Plextor PX-712A
. The most noticeable feature of this drive is that it can write at 12x +R. This is one of the first 12x drives to become available and soon there will be more showing up. What we want to find out today is how well this drive can perform and whether it makes sense to jump onboard the 12x ship this soon. Read on as we do our best to answer these questions.

Page 2 : Package

The whole package comes tucked away in a standard optical drive box you see at every store. Itâs been drop tested to ensure safe arrival. This really means keep the box if you need to send the drive back for any reason.

Inside the box, you will find two things. The most obvious one is the unit itself and the other one is a bag full miscellaneous goodies. More specifically, you will get a 40- pin IDE ribbon, a blank DVD+R, 4 mounting screws, an extra jumper, emergency ejection tool, software, and manual.

The emergency ejection tool is quite handy. It allows you to pop open the drive when the ejection button isnât working and when you donât have a paper clip handy. Donât ever use this when the drive is operating. I donât even want to imagine what could happen. If you were to be hit with a CD or DVD, I suspect pain, lots and lots of pain!

If you look at the manual, you can immediately tell Plextor put a lot of thought into this. This isnât your two page pamphlet, although you do get a fold out quick reference guide as well. For the actual manual we have 125 pages of reading! I do suggest reading through this document as it contains a lot of valuable information.

The included jumper is used to set the DMA. By default, the drive will operate at Ultra DMA, however if you need to change it because of an older system then just pop the jumper in. The second use of the additional jumper is for the self-diagnostic test.

What I would have liked to see in this package is some more media. Maybe one of each supported media types. However, if this were to happen the costs would undoubtedly go up.

Page 3 : Specifications

Minimum System Requirements:

Pentium III 800 Mhz CPU or faster, Pentium 4 1.6 Ghz or faster recommended
Minimum 128 MB RAM
IDE ATAPI Interface
6 GB free space for DVD
1 GB free space for CD
Win XP, 2000, Me, 98SE supported

Media Information

Date transfer rate: PCAV, CLV write, CAV read, CLV read
DVD Maximum Read: 16X (9.28-22.16 MB/sec)
DVD+VR and DVD-VR real time editing supported
DVD-RW DRD-DM (Distributed Real Time Defect Management) supported
DVD-Video disc Maximum Read with CSS: 2X
DVD+R/RW: 12X Write(8.31-16.62 MB/sec), 4X Rewrite
DVD-R/RW: 8X Write(8.31-11.08 MB/sec), 4X Rewrite
CD-R Maximum Read: 48X
CD-DA Maximum Read: 40X
CD-RW Maximum Read: 32X
CD-R: 48X Write (3-7.2 MB/sec)
CD-RW: 24X Rewrite (3-3.6 MB/sec)

Recommended Media

The technology for optical drives has surpassed the technology for the media. With speeds such as 12X DVD+R, finding the media will not be easy. Plextor has included a list of media that it will definitely support.
12X DVD+R: Taiyo Yuden, Richo, Maxell (Although sold at 8X, PoweRec will select the write speed to be 12X)
8X-2.4X DVD+R: Mitsubishi Chemical/Verbatim, Taiyo Yuden, Ricoh, Maxell
4X-2.4X DVD+RW: Mitsubishi Chemical/Verbatim, Ricoh
8X-2X DVD-R: Mitsubishi Chemical/Verbatim, Taiyo Yuden, Maxell, TDK
4X DVD-RW: Victor, Mitsubishi Chemical/Verbatim
2X-1X DVD-RW: Victor, Mitsubishi Chemical/Verbatim, TDK
48X-4X CD-R: Maxell, Mitsubishi Chemical/Verbatim, Taiyo Yuden
16X-4X CD-R: Maxell, Mitsubishi Chemical/Verbatim, Taiyo Yuden, Ricoh (By disabling PoweRec, different write speeds can be obtained but at a compromise to the quality)
24X CD-RW: Mitsubishi Chemical/Verbatim
10X-4X CD-RW: Mitsubishi Chemical/Verbatim, Ricoh
All rewriteable media are rewriteable up to 1,000 times

Media Size Support

CD: 12 cm
DVD 12 cm

Initialization and Access

Random CD Access Time: less than 100 ms
CD Initialization Time: less than 13 seconds
Random DVD Access Time: less than 150 ms
DVD Initialization Time: less than 13 seconds

Burst Read/Write: 33MB/sec (Ultra DMA Mode 2) 16.6 MB/sec (PIO Mode 4/DMA Mode 2)

Buffer: 8MB

Dimensions and Weight

Dimensions: 146mm x 41.3mm 190mm (WxHxD)
Weight: 2.20 lbs

Reliability

MTBF: 60,000 hours
Tray Loading: 50,000 load/unload cycles
1 Year Full warranty (parts and labour)
Unlimited toll-free tech support

Regional Settings

Maximum of 5 changes

Front Panel

Eject: Auto Eject/Manual Emergency
LED Indicator:
-Yellow when initializing, reading or ejecting
-Green during standby and for Buffer Underrun Proof Technology or Lossless Linking/Zero Link is active
-Blinking amber when writing disk

Software Package

PlexTools Professional
Roxio Easy CD & DVD Creator 6
PhotoSuite 5 SE
Roxio Drag-to-Disc
Dantz Retrospect

From this detailed page, you can tell Plextor has packed quite a punch in there product. Iâm not done yet, letâs move onto the features!

Page 4 : Features

Drive Features

PoweRec (Plextor Optimized Writing Error Reduction Control)

What a handful this abbreviation is. PoweRec allows you to adjust the laser power and writing speed for the specific media you may be using.

VariRec

Similar to PoweRec, VariRec allows you to change the writing strategy leaving you with the best possible quality on the disc. VariRec allows you to adjust the recording power to above or below the default level.

Silent Mode
If you find the drive is too loud for your needs, you can tune it down some by controlling various speeds of the drive. You have the power to slow down the writing, reading, spin up, spin down and tray speed. All of which is configurable through the PlexTools Professional software.

SpeedRead
As supported in the older models, SpeedRead is again supported with the PX-712A. This allows you to play CSS DVD-Video discs at levels higher than the typical 2X. To enable, you can find the option in the PlexTools software or hold the eject button for 3 seconds while there is no media inside. Confirmation is given by 3 green blinks by the LED.
If you decided to reset your computer, you will need to reactivate SpeedRead if you want it again.

Flash Memory
Every so often a new firmware is released and this allows you to upgrade it without opening the drive. Not necessarily the best idea to open an optical drive if you donât know what you are doing. They are rather tricky to put back together.
FYI Iâm using firmware version 1.00.

Black Tray
Plextor engineers believe the typical white tray created too much distortion in the optical drive. With the new black ones, it absorbs the reflections from the laser beam resulting in higher reading and writing qualities.

Self-test diagnostic for ATAPI model
Self-explanatory for self-testing! One of the first things to do if you think youâre experiencing difficulties with your drive.
To use this feature, you have to turn off your system, remove the IDE cable and change the jumpers. Put one jumper on Cable Select, and using spare jumper put that one on Slave. Power up the system while pressing the eject button and insert a Plextor recommended blank DVD or CD media to write on. If the LED blinks amber three times, you need to put in another media because the one in the drive is not blank. If all goes well, after the diagnostics the media will be ejected. If the disc is not ejected, one green blink from the LED indicates a read or write error and two green blinks indicates an initialization error.

Q-Check tests
At 12X DVD+R recording, you may have doubts about the quality of it. You can now put your fears to ease by checking the quality yourself. There are four different Q-Checks available.
Q-Check C1/C2/CU measures errors on commercially pressed CDs. C1 and C2 are different forms of error correction and CU is uncorrectable errors. C1 errors are relatively low level, C2 errors generally imply poor media or the drive is not reading or writing properly, and CU errors may mean the disc has been damaged.
Q-Check FE/TE measures the focusing and tracking error of the laser. This can be tested on both DVDs and CDs. Focus errors is how accurate or inaccurate the laser is. Poor media or a failing drive will contribute to the number of focus errors. Tracking errors determine how well the laser moves in a spiral motion. Again, poor media or a failing drive will contribute to these errors.
Q-Check Beta/Jitter Test determines the degree of beta and jitter on CDs and DVDs. Beta shows how powerful the laser is. If beta value is too high or low then the difference between the data and the unburned region is undistinguishable. The jitter determines how uniform the data has been written onto the media. In this case, the lower the value; the higher the write quality.
Q-Check PI/PO tests DVDs for parity inner (PI) and parity outer fails (POF). This is the DVD equivalent of the C1/C2 error check on CDs. PIâs can be corrected while POFâs are considered failures. Having some of both is considered normal as long as there are not too many.

Lossless linking for DVD+R/RW
Allows you to edit and play DVD+R/RWs on standard DVD-ROM players.

Zero Link for DVD-R/RW
Essentially the same as Lossless linking but applies to DVD-R/RWs.

Variety of recording modes
TAO, DAO, SAO, Multi-session, variable and fixed packet writing, CD-MRW (Mount Rainier) support. You name it and Plextor probably has it!

Buffer Underrun Proof Technology

Run as many applications as you like and with this old but amazing technology, you will rarely, almost never, get a coaster

OPC and ROPC
Optimum Power Control and Running OPC adjusts the laser power for the absolute best writing strategy

CD-TEXT
An extension to audio CDs where additional track information is provided. Sure beats the days of finding out the tracks are labeled 1, 2, 3 etc etc.

CD+G
Another extra to audio CDâs. With CD+G you can add graphics along with the audio data. With the correct player, you can play audio files while watching the graphics. Pretty much perfect for karaoke fans.

GigaRec
This feature allows you to store much more data than the rated CD capacity. You can also decrease the disc capacity and increase writing quality. This feature is applicable to CD-Rs only and can only be written at speeds of 4X or 8X in DAO mode. The downside of this feature is that Buffer Underrun Proof Technology is disabled and buffer underruns can occur. As well, once written with GigaRec, you must use software that recognizes GigaRec in order to access the data.

SecuRec
Password protect your files so only you have access to them. You must activate the password before writing to the media and only write using DAO for data (ISO 9660) CDs. To read the media, which has been password protected, you must install PlexTools or SecuViewer and unlock the password before accessing through Windows Explorer.

Overburn
If GigaRec isnât enough, you can always go back and use the classic Overburn technology to fit more data onto a single disc. A classic support all new drives support.

Mt. Rainer
This is pretty much the latest thing with optical drives. Every review you encounter has a short little blurb on whether or not the drive supports Mt. Rainer. And yes, Plextor does support Mt. Rainer. A few of the things Mt. Rainer supports is automatic media formatting done in the background, drag and drop support within Windows Explorer, and file saving directly to the media through the âsave asâ function when selecting final destination. The rest of the details can be found at the Plextor University.

Page 5 : Installation

The installation was a breeze. If youâve ever built your own system or even installed your own optical drive, this should only take a few minutes. In total, it took me about 5 minutes, and three of those were to find a Philips screwdriver! I simply popped the case open, removed the old drive, slid in the new one, and screwed it down.

Plugged in the necessary cables into the back and youâre done.

Looks very sharp compared to the crusty beige case colour.

Within WinXP, the drivers pretty much took care of themselves. Hereâs the breakdown of the system I used. I decided to use my low end machine where the parts landed somewhere in between the minimum and recommended processor speed.

Test Machine

Processor: Duron 1.2 Ghz 12*100
Motherboard: Iwill KK-266A
RAM: 512 MB PC 133
IDE 0 Master: Maxtor 40 GB 7200 RPM 2 MB
IDE 0 Slave: Fujitsu 10 GB 5400 RPM 2 MB
IDE 1 Master: Plextor PX-712A
Video: ATi Radeon 7000 PCI
WinXP Service Pack 1 + Via 4.45

I used a fairly simple procedure for the following benchmarks. I first wrote on the media using the Nero CD-DVD Speed Test. With the same piece of media, I executed the seek time, CPU usage, and burst times. I then used the PlexTools software to find the number or C1/C2/CU or PI/PO errors.

Seek Times
Random: Time to random position on disc
1/3: Time from beginning to 1/3 disc length
Full: Time from beginning to end of disc
CPU Usage
Usage at 1X, 2X, 4X and 8X
Burst Rate
Transfer rate from adapter to drive
Q-Check C1/C2/CU
CD quality check
Q-Check PI/PO
DVD quality check

Page 6 : DVD Benchmarking

I started with only one 12X DVD+R and the stores in my area donât sell any of the recommended brands. I was able to write at 12X and it reached top speed after writing 2.5 GBs. It topped off at 12.10X and it was about to close the DVD. Well, just as that happened, Nero decided to crash and I didnât get a chance to do a print screen and post an image. It takes around 7 minutes to write a full DVD.
Iâll try and hunt down a store that sells the media, but so far I havenât had any luck

You will notice the 12X support on the media.

Seek Time

The full seek time of 184 ms is a tad bit above the claimed random seek time of less than 150 ms. However, the actual random seek time of 100 ms is far below the claimed seek time.

CPU Usage

I was amazed to see the CPU usage peak 51% at 8X. You must keep in mind that Iâm testing the drive on a CPU just above the minimum requirements and well below the recommended processor speed. Toss this optical drive in a 3+ Ghz machine and you probably wonât see the usage anywhere near 50%.

Burst Speed

The PX-712A takes off at 23 MB/sec. This is slightly above the 16X read speed, which tops off at 22.16 MB/sec.

Q-Check PI/PO

The written media is put through one final test. The Q-Check PI/PO determines the number of errors during the recording. PlexTools states there are 110819 PI and 0 PO. The number may seem large, but keep in mind that all of these errors are fixable. Itâs most important to see the PO count as 0.

Page 7 : CD Benchmarking

CDs are a little more accessible to me than DVDs, I started with a 48X Black Memorex and did a data creation test with Nero.

Write Speed

The writing starts off at just over 21X and finishes off at 48.12X, just as specified. The total time takes just under 3 minutes. If you canât wait that long for a CD then I donât know what youâre going to do!

Using this CD I ran all the other tests just like the DVD Benchmarks.

Seek Time

The random seek time is just as specified. It seems like Plextor has done their homework when coming up with their specs and ensuring that they are correct. The full seek time was about twice that of the random, but itâs not too big of a deal.

CPU Usage

The Nero speed test really doesnât do justice to the CPU Usage on CD medias. At 8X it only takes 6% of a Duron 1200 Mhz processor. Iâd really like to see how much CPU usage is needed at full speed.

Burst Speed

The burst speed hits 19 MB/sec. Not to shabby.

Q-Check C1/C2/CU

Again, the final test I did on the newly written media is the error check. We can see that the Plextor PX-712A provides almost perfect CDs with very little flaw. Reasonable C1 reading is 220 errors/sec and I scored a mere 3.8/sec. I had a few C2 errors because of the media sitting in the spindle out in some sunlight but no uncorrectable flaws as a result of the burning.

GigaRec

I decided to test out the GigaRec feature bundled with the Plextor PX-712A. I fired up the PlexTools software, enabled 1.3X GigaRec and just loaded up another 48X Memorex CD. I put on just over 900 MB worth of data as you can see in the above photo.

Page 8 : RW Benchmarking

DVD+RW

Write Speed

This was what I was trying to produce for the DVD+R write test just before Nero decided to crash on me. This time I used a generic 4X DVD+RW to produce these results. You can see the steady 4X write from beginning to end.

This is the rest of the benchmarks put into one image. The seek time on the DVD+RW was a touch higher than the DVD+R. The random seek time is still well below the specified 150 ms. The rest CPU usage and Burst Rate are essentially the same as the DVD+R.

Q-Check PI/PO

I was quite surprised to see that the PI count was almost 4 times higher on the DVD+RW than the DVD+R. Regardless, the media was still readable with 0 PO failures.

CD-RW

Write Speed

The takes very little time at all for the media to obtain its maximum write speed for 24X. The average write speed was about 23.9X, not very far from the 24X maximum.

Apart from the full seek test, the reading difference between the CD-R written at 48X and the CD-RW written at 24X is not noticeable.

Q-Check C1/C2/CU

The real difference between CD-R and CD-RWâs is the quality of the writing. I was quite surprised to see absolutely 0 C2 errors, while about double the C1 errors. At an average of 6.0 errors/sec peaking at 73 errors/sec with a total of just under 27,000 errors, this is still no cause for concern. It should be noted that most of the errors occurred while the write speed was approaching its limit. None of the errors affected the media.

Page 9 : Conclusion

After a fair bit of testing, and mammoth amounts of DVD writing, I must say Iâm very impressed with this drive. The noise level is quite acceptable and if you have lots of fans going on in your case, you probably wonât notice the drive operating. With an 8 MB buffer onboard coupled with its buffer underrun proof technology this drive leaves no room for coasters.

Advantages

Blazing fast 12X DVD+R, 8X DVD-R
Blazing fast 48X CD-R and 24X CD-RW
GigaRec for massive storage on CDs
Mt. Rainer Technology

Disadvantages

High-speed media is rare and expensive
Drive may be too expensive for some users to afford

Without any doubt Plextor has a top quality drive surpassing any other company. It truly is the King of Quality.