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CD/DVD Write Tests -
Plextor PX-708UF |
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The Burning Question... |
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Nero
CD-R & DVD+R Write Tests:
The first test we ran was a CD-R write test, recording 703MBs of MP3 music files from the hard drive to
Maxell 48X media. With the DVD+R write test, we
recorded 4.42GBs of MP3s onto TDK media rated for 4X.
With CD recording, the Plextor
drive managed to complete the task in a little over 3
minutes, burning at a full 40X. While that seems to be
a very good score for CD recording, it's the DVD performance
that steals the show. Even with 4X media inserted in
the drive, the Plextor PX-708UF ran the test at a full 8X
write speed utilizing their PoweRec technology, completing
the task in approximately 8 minutes. If you thought
the CD-R test was impressive, you could burn the same amount
of data on a DVD+R in less than a minute and a half!
The Plextor PX-708UF is a
quality, high-performance external burner. In virtually all of the
tests the drive kept pace with the internal comparison drive, sometimes
running more efficiently and faster. That isn't to say the drive
wasn't without its problems though. We did find DVD Data testing to
be the most taxing of all the tests, causing increased CPU utilization and
slower seek times. Where this may be an issue is with the mobile user
who would be concerned with CPU usage affecting battery life. You may
also note that the we did not include any MP3 encoding tests in this review
as well. We found with the PX-7808UF that when we attempted to rip a
CD, the fastest the drive would go is 1X, while the Teac drive could hit in
excess of 30X. This is an issue that could quite possibly be rectified
with a firmware upgrade and we will let Plextor know about this.
Our overall experience with the
Plextor PX-708UF DVD±R/RW CD-R/RW Dual Format Drive was
very good. Much of the drive's performance rivaled an internal drive,
while gaining the advantage of portability. From a price perspective,
we've seen the PX-708UF selling at several retailers for
approximately $320, roughly $100 more than its internal
counterpart, the PX-708A. Considering the high-end performance
and flexibility of USB 2.0, FireWire and dual format DVD recording
capabilities, we think this would be money well spent. We give the
Plextor PX-708UF DVD±R/RW CD-R/RW Dual Format Drive a Hot Hardware Heat Meter Rating of a 9. Discuss This Article in Hardware's PC Hardware Forum! | 
