It seems
like only yesterday we were showing you
the performance and quality of
Plextor's 16X Burner. However,
like most PC technologies, perpetual and
incremental performance enhancement, is a
requirement to survive in the High Tech
jungle.
Plextor, world renowned for top
quality high performance recordable
drives, is not about to sit on its
collective laurels while the competition
passed by.
Soon after
the release of the Plextor 16X recorder,
we had gotten wind that 20X drives, from
the likes of Richo, Acer and Yamaha, were
waiting in the wings. It took Plextor less than 5 months to deliver
their answer to that call, the
PlexWriter 24/10/40A. This is our
take on this exciting new Plextor Burner
that promises to burn a full CD in the 4
minute range.
Specifications
/ Features Of The
PlexWriter 24/10/40A
Turning and Burning
E-IDE
(ATAPI-4) interface
"Burn
Proof" Technology - Eliminates
buffer under-run errors and allows
for better multi-tasking in the
Windows environment while creating a
new disc.
"PoweRec II", an exclusive Plextor
technology, guarantees the highest
quality write across a broad base of
media
3-in-1
drive: 24X CD-R, 10X CD-RW, 40X max
CD-ROM
140ms
Average Random Access
4 MB
Buffer
Capable
of Digital Audio Extraction at 40X
max
Supports
CD-DA; CD-ROM (Mode 1); CD-ROM
(Mixed Mode); CD-ROM XA (Mode 2,
Form 1 and Form 2 and Mixed Form;
CD-I; Photo CD; Video CD; CD-Extra;
CD+G; CD Text
Compatible
with a large number of CD-R and CD-RW
media
Flash
ROM allows for easy upgrade over the
Internet
Upon inspection of the feature set for
the 24/10/40A, you'll notice that the on
board Memory Buffer has been double from
2MB on the 16/10/40A, to 4MB on this 24X
unit. Of course, this buffer is also
backed up by Plextor's patented "Burn Proof"
technology, which allows for the ability
to multi-task while burning a ROM and yet
still produce a perfect disc, versus the
proverbial drink "coaster".
PowerREC II:
Finally,
Plextor introduces us to yet another
first in CD Recordable Technology, "PowerREC
II". Frankly, we never heard of
even PowerREC #1 for that matter.
However, this seems to be a solution to
a problem with CD-R drives, since their
introduction. For many years, end
users have relayed stories of specific
CD Media that was basically useless in
particular CD-RW drive. Perhaps it
was just a bad case of the "flakies" or
outright refusal to burn at a decent
speed without totally wasting an
otherwise perfectly good CD-R.
Many times, there were certain brands of
CD-R discs that just weren't friendly to
certain CD-RW drives. Plextor's
answer to that is "PowerREC II".
Here's
what Plextor claims this technology
delivers.
"All Plextor
CD-RW drives contain a media catalog of
all certified media, listed by
manufacturer and part number. This
catalog is stored in ROM and is used to
set the appropriate "Write Strategy" for
the disc being recorded. This feature
not only enables the drive to
successfully burn a disc at high-speed,
but assures the user that the disc has
been written as precisely as possible,
improving the playback ability on all
other CD drives, even those of poorer
quality. This assurance comes even
though the disc media itself might
contain some imperfections.
Plextor's 24/10/40A CD-RW drive also
features a highly sophisticated
algorithm that checks the quality of the
media at each stage of its Z-CLV write
process. Once a zone has been reached,
the drive will optimize its laser power
to begin writing at the highest speed
possible, while maintaining superb write
quality. A feedback mechanism,
controlled by firmware, monitors the
results of the write process for
conformity."
There you have it folks. Does this
sound to you like a little marketing
spin or real innovation? We have
an inkling that it is a little of both
but we'll let you be the judge.
Let's see
how these new features pan out in our
testing.
