PleXWriter PX-W4012A IDE CDR-W - Page 8

CDR Tests - Page 3

- Comparison of different writing technologies

The above graph shows the main differences between the 24x Z-CLV, 24x P-CAV, 32x Z-CLV and 40x Z-CLV recording technologies. The above recording times are the best you can have with the tested recorders. The PleXWriter PX-W4012A is the faster recorder at 40x (Z-CLV) writing speed and with 74min CDs the drive is:

- 32secs faster than PleXWriter PX-W2410A
- 27secs faster than Yamaha CRW3200E
- 13secs faster than Philips PCRW3210
- 5secs faster than CyberDrive CW058D

With 80min CDs, the time differences with the rest of the recorders are different:

- 43secs faster than PleXWriter PX-W2410A
- 34secs faster than Yamaha CRW3200E
- 16secs faster than Philips PCRW3210
- 12secs faster than CyberDrive CW058D

The above results show that, the 40X recording performance is close to the one you have at 32X and of course worth to experience if you currently use the 24X writing speed. The Plextor PX-W4012A is 5-12secs faster than CyberDrive CW058D and 13-16secs than Philips PCRW3210 recorders (both 32x recorders).

- Overburning Tests

Using Nero, we saw that the drive can overburn up to 95mins

- CD-Text Results

We created several AudioCDs with CD-Text enabled. The Plextor PX-W4012A supports read/write CD-Text AudioCDs without any problems.

- 8cm Media Tests

For this proposed we used a 8cm RW media and we burned up to 185MB. The Plextor drive didn't have problems to write/read when 8cm discs are inserted.

- CloneCD Writing Tests

The CloneCD v3.3.4.1 reports that the drive supports the DAO-RAW feature. We performed our usual tests and we confirmed that both drives support the DAO-RAW writing mode at the following CD protections: SafeDisc 1.0, LaserLock 1/2 and SecuROM 2. Under DAO-RAW mode, the drive uses the 32x speed, not the maximum 40x:

- SD2 Support

For the SD2 test we used the "No One Lives For Ever", "Max Payne" and "Serious Sam - The Second Encounter" game titles. We used the Plextor PX-W4012A both as reader/writer at the maximum reading/recording speed and at 4x reading/maximum recording speed. The produced backups were tested with various DVD-ROM and CD-ROMs.

* No One Lives For Ever

The No One Lives Forever has the SD2 v2.05.030 build protection. Plextor PX-W4012A doesn't have any problem to produce a perfect backup. The produced backup worked without any problems with the following drives:

* Max Payne

The Max Payne has the SD2 v2.30.033 build protection. The produced backup with maximum reading/writings didn't work so well since the game failed to be installed (crc errors during setup process). The produced backup at 4x reading/maximum writing speeds worked without any problems with the following drives:

* Serious Sam - The Second Encounter

The Max Payne has the SD2 v2.51.021 build protection. The produced backups either at the maximum reading/writing or at the 4x reading/writing speeds worked in some drives and failed in others:

We also tried the Amplify Weak Sectors (AWS) setting of CloneCD and also second software that is capable of RAW reading/writing (PadusDJ v4.0x) but the results were more or less the same.

As the test results showed, Plextor PX-W4012A can backup earlier builds of SafeDisc 2 protected CDs but not the latest v2.51 builds (and possible future builds too). Reading at 4x won't help with the latest SD2 versions, but probably will create accurate backups of earlier v2.3x builds. We don't know if this "problem" can be fixed with a newer firmware update..