Got|Apex? Review: Plextor PlexWriter 48/24/48A E-IDE (PX-W4824TA/SW ) 11/14/2002

[Leon]

Thanks for reading the review. Please post any questions or comments in this thread.


http://www.gotapex.com/reviews.php?rev=misc/Plex48/index.html

[LegendKiller]

Good review LP, too bad the drive was loud. Personally, I haven't nor will I buy another plextor after they dumped SCSI from their latest drives. I love my Ultraplex 40x and 8/20 writer, but it seems quality has been lacking since scsi exited the building.


LK

[LPMiller]

Oh I dunno. Every drive right up to the 40x was pretty solid, if pricey. I think the 48x, with it's loud, cheaper internals, show the kind of dent Lite On and others have been making. People aren't spending as much on burners as they used to, unless there is a gimmic like with the Yamaha's.

It's funny, because I just got in an Asus 52x to test - and naturally, it's a loud drive. But it's just loud, it isn't shuddering and making scary noises like the Plextor did.

[johnnymk]

Referring to the inability to copy a copy-protected disc:
I couldn't copy a CDG disc which had multi-session copy protection with CDRWIN. So I tried CloneCD with a Yamaha and an HP burner. Only the HP burner was recognized to be compatible with CDG discs. The Plextor reader was not even compatible, which amazed me.
Anyway, I attempted a burn and it only read the music, not the words. So I figured that I would check the two boxes in CloneCD concerning sub-code something or other. And it worked!!
I don't know if there are a variety of copy protections, but Clone CD seems to be fussy with the choice of readers, writers and selections within the program.

[LPMiller]

Well yeah, it is fussy, but for a reason. For it to work, the reader needs the ability to hand RAW DAO and SAO reading and writing. Even now, not all drives can do this. CloneCD, CDMate, and BlindWrite need that ability before they can have a shot at doing a 1 to 1 copy. Even then, a lot of times you need to futz with the settings to get anywhere.

Theoretically, when you can read and write at the RAW level, you can bypass the copy protection. However, it's a bit of a contest, which is why CloneCD and BlindWrite are updated all the time.

CD+G discs are a little different. Not to many CD+G's are done anymore, except the occasional one by the record companies. These discs lead many to assume they are copy protected, when their computer can't read them, but usually the problem is the drive, not the disc. Drives that aren't quite up the CD standards can choke on CD+G discs.