After using Plextor products in the
past, I must say I was excited to try their latest DVD write
drive. I have always had great luck with their products, and
found them to be very compatible. Included in the package
was an IDE cable, mounting screws, extra jumper, eject tool,
1 CD-R disc, 1 DVD+R disc, software, and a very
comprehensive owners manual. Plextor really has the best
manual of the three and we all know there are a lot of
computer users out there that will need it.
Installation was smooth as expected, without any problems.
The drive is actually quite attractive, as there is a simple
black strip along the front of the tray to differentiate it
from the crowd. The tray is simple and solid, allowing easy
placement and removal of media.
Included Software
Roxio’s Easy CD Creator 5.3 DVD Edition
is a bundled software application that includes:
Easy CD Creator Basic – This is the
basic write/re-write software
DVD Builder – This application is used
for creating DVD movies to be used with home DVD players
DirectCD – This is packet writing
software that is great for backing up files
Roxio’s PhotoSuite 5 – With this you can
edit/create slide shows using from your digital camera.
Test Drive
The Plextor drive I tested is slightly
unique from the others. The drive only supports DVD+ media
types, and not DVD-. This could be good, or bad, depends.
DVD- drives consume about 70% of the market and more readily
available, but DVD+ media is said to be faster and more
compatible. While the war on media continues, some companies
have already released drives that can read both. I have
mixed emotions about this, and I am not quite sure what to
make of it. I did try to use DVD- media with the drive, and
it was unable to read it as advertised.
Here are the specifications for the
Plextor drive:
Plextor
PX-504A
DVD-R
-
DVD-RW
-
DVD-RAM
-
DVD+R
4x
DVD+RW
2.4x
CD-R
16x
CD-RW
10x
DVD-ROM (read)
12x
CD-ROM (read)
40x
The Plextor drive is fast, and very
compatible. The drive burned everything I tossed at it,
included .cue files using Fireburner. One thing I did not
like about the drive, for some reason while using RecordNow
software, drive speed selections were not listed in 2x, 4x,
etc. Instead, the options were min/mid/max. Not really a big
deal, but I like to see the numbers myself. After using the
drive for a few weeks, I have yet to make a coaster. I’ve
burned over 10 DVD-R discs, and all were a success. The
included software package is second to none, and very easy
to install. The only thing missing is WinDVD or any other
playback software, a program that should come with EVERY DVD
drive!
