PleXWriter PX-W1210A IDE CDR-W - Page 7

CDR Tests

We mostly tested the PleXWriter PX-W1210A on it's capabilities to write CD's in different write speeds (4x, 8x, 12x)  and rewrite them with the new HS RW format.

- Recorder properties: (Screenshot from Feurio v1.50)

As we can see the PleXWriter PX-W1210A supports ALL current CDR/W writing modes. We think it's the first time this happens. What does this mean for you? Simple things. You can burn in whatever way you want to! From writing/overburning data CDs in 12x, to backing up CD's with CloneCD (using DAO-RAW), and making backups of your important documents with the fastest 10x HS RW writing speed and the ability to complete above tasks without facing buffer underrun problems (since the drive is equipment with "BURN-Proof" anti-coaster technology). We don't believe that you must have any other "burning" needs...(Maybe desire the SCSI version of the drive?)

Let's head over to the CDR tests now:

Procedure:
We tested the PX-W1210A with the latest software which supports it and with several media:

- Software used: Nero v5.0.1.3 /  Padus DJ v2.00.419 / CloneCD v2.5.5.2 / Feurio v1.36b
- Media: Princo 74 & 80min / Ricoh Platinum 74 & 80min / Mitsui Gold & SG / TDK / Verbatim / Plextor 4x-10x RW / DataBank 4x-8x RW

CDR-R Tests:
The PleXWriter came with WinOnCD v3.7.564 standard version. We installed it, but for the most tests we used the Nero v5.0.1.3. This version of WinOnCD (v3.7.564 Plextor version) supports the BURN-Proof feature of the drive but only after a reg entry (which is located in the WinOnCD folder), which is named "BurnProof-off.reg" and "BurnProof-on.reg". So you will need to run the "BurnProof-on.reg" file in order to enable "BURN-Proof". However even after running the reg entry there is no clue ,in WinOnCD, that the "BURN-Proof" feature is enabled. After that we started burning various CD's with different writing speeds with various modes (DAO, SAO, TAO). We post the results from a DataCD (74:06:54-652mb):

Next we tested the overburning capabilities of the PX-W1210A, creating 2 overburned CDs (74 & 80min). PX-W1210A burned them without any problem and the good news are that the new PleXWriter don't have the same bug as did the previous burners. It can read without any problems the overburned data from an overburned CD. In our tests (using CD Check utility) it read the 2 overburned CD and at the same time the PX-W124TS failed to read several files from the 2 CDs. Another welcomed  improvement over the past.

After that we tried to make several AudioCDs (including CD-Text) from mp3 files. No problems here too. We noticed that the CPU usage in this task was about 50% but that's natural since Nero decodes Mp3 on the fly. We tested the output CDs with Plextor's CD-Text compatible CD player and they appeared to be ok. Next we tried copying several CDs with Padus DJ v2.00.419. Even though it claims that it supports the "BURN-Proof" feature, it is not working in real life, and our tests resulted in several coasters. Otherwise DiscJuggler worked nice together with PX-W1210A.

The CloneCD v2.5.5.2 supports the drive AND the "BURN-Proof" technology (in real life too..). This mean that the drive supports "DAO-RAW" feature and with CloneCD you will able to backup most of your favourite CDs. However as in all Plextor CDR-W drive no simulation is supported. But this is not a real problem since we never had to do simulation burn with CloneCD (with drives who supports this feature):

The PleXWriter worked very good in all of our CDR tests. Making CDs in 12x write speed is very fast and with the additional help of "BURN-Proof" technology makes it much safer.

BURN-Proof Tests :
Are there such tests? Yes, but they are not really "CD related". We used the same method which was used in the Sanyo's BURN-Proof drives. That means:

1) Loading tons of programs while burning. Drive cpu utilization to 200%, if both soft/hardware are REALLY BURN-Proof enabled, we should have no problems out of this.
2) Stopping the burning (just press Ctrl+Alt+Del for 10sec) and unfreezing the PC. If the burning continues we are in a good way.
3) Test the quality of the produced CD. (Make an AudioCD and do step 2 from the 20%-30% total time. Then check the cd with CD Speed's CD quality mode).

The PX-W1210A of course completed the above tasks without any hickups. This guarantees you a burn without any coasters due to buffer underrun. We will still have problems with power cut. Hopefully Sanyo will do something about this issue soon. Maybe a "BURN-Proof version 2.0" ;)

Verdict of CDR Results:
The PleXWriter PX-W1210A supports all possible writing modes you can think of: DAO-RAW+Overburn+BURN-Proof+CD-TExt..You name it, it's included. Those are the best news that the power user can think of, a burner that supports every possible option, and does so with a charm.