Entered CNET Catalog: 05/18/2003
SKU: 0765075106643
Manufacturer: Plextor Corp.
Manufacturer description
The high-speed 3-in-1 drive features 52X CD-Write, 32X CD-Rewrite, and 52X-max CD-Read. Available as an internal 5.25-inch half-height drive with an ATA/ATAPI-5 interface, the new PlexWriter Premium is designed for users who require the highest levels of performance, reliability, and functionality. PlexWriter Premium includes PlexTools Professional software to enable a unique combination of user-controllable recording features. The PlexWriter Premium drive makes installation faster and easier than ever before. The drive is designed for flexible PC installation, with ATA/ATAPI-5 interface, support for horizontal or vertical drive bay orientation, and Plug and Play compatibility with Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP operating systems. The unit features an 8MB data buffer and burst data transfer rates of 16.6 MB/sec (PIO Mode 4/DMA Mode 2) or 33.3 MB/sec (UDMA Mode 2). Superior 40X digital audio extraction (DAE) eliminates pops, clicks, and hisses for superior sound quality. All PlexWriter drives support a wide variety of CD writing modes, including Track-at-Once, Disc-at-Once, Session-at-Once, Multi session, and variable/fixed packet writing.Product summary
The good: First 32X rewriter; solidly built; SecuRec utility password-protects discs; PlexTools utility offers extensive control over all aspects of the burn process; burns up to 1GB on standard CD-R media.
The bad: Mediocre write performance; 1GB discs can't be read by most non-Plextor drives and players; expensive.
The bottom line: The Plextor PlexWriter Premium, the first available 32X rewriter, sports a powerful software package but mediocre performance.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 07/23/2003
Installing the Premium drive is as easy as setting up any internal drive: pop open the case, screw the drive into a free bay, attach the IDE and power cables, close everything up, and install the software--about a 15-minute procedure. The drive's manual and the quick-start guide are concise and informative; even beginners should have no problem figuring out the process. Plextor doesn't include a drive-to-sound-card cable, but most software plays CDs digitally across the IDE bus anyway. The company does include mounting screws, a handy emergency-eject tool, and an IDE cable for those rare systems without one. The Premium works with Windows 95 and later, and it supports Mount Rainier (Philips's CD-RW-as-floppy initiative), but background formatting has yet to be implemented, and EasyWrite MRW certification has not yet been secured.
Even beginners should have no problem with the PlexWriter Premium's routine, well-documented installation.
The front panel of the Premium is the typical putty color and sports a headphone jack, a rotary volume control, a Power/busy light, an emergency-eject port, and a tray-eject button. The back panel has all of the standard connectors: digital and analog audio ports, drive jumpers, and IDE and power connectors. The Premium is solidly built; Plextor has even reinforced the drive door to prevent the rare disintegrating CD from shooting out at you.
Once you dig into the guts of the Premium, there's enough to keep you exploring the possibilities for a week. One of the most intriguing features, at least initially, is GigaRec, which ups data density, letting you pack about 114 minutes of audio or 1GB of data onto a standard 700MB CD. GigaRec's usefulness is limited, however, because most currently available players and drives are unable to read GigaRec discs; the higher the density, the lower the possibility of its being read. Also, during our initial tests, GigaRec could write at only a slothful 4X, and at a half-hour per disc, we quickly grew tired of it. However, Plextor has since issued a firmware upgrade that boosts GigaRec's write speed to 8X, making the technology a bit more useful.
GigaRec will boost your data density, but writing with it is slow going.
Plextor's SecuRec feature is more intriguing and practical. It lets you password-protect your CD-Rs (but not CD-RWs) to keep sensitive data away from prying eyes. One caveat: You must be running PlexTools and using a Plextor drive to read a SecuRec-protected disc.
Power users will also love Plextor's PlexTools Professional 2.01, the company's jack-of-all-trades software package. Not only does it master data and audio CDs, it extracts audio to both MP3 and WMA formats; provides access to the VariRec laser power settings, SecuRec, and GigaRec; displays info on inserted media; lets you set the inject/eject speed of the disc tray; and more. PlexTools' interface isn't as slick or as showy as the one you'll find in the Roxio Easy CD Creator software, which Plextor also bundles, but for those who want to get things done quickly, PlexTools is the superior application.
PlexTools offers remarkable control over the drive's many features.
Aside from posting the second-fastest time ever for installing Microsoft Office 2000 Small Business Edition, the Premium was a disappointment in our tests. Using Roxio Easy CD Creator, it took nearly a minute longer than many similarly rated drives to write our large audio test file to CD-R. It also lagged noticeably in our packet-writing test--despite its industry-first 32X CD-RW rating. No 32X CD-RW media was available for testing, but with 24X media the Premium proved considerably slower than the competition.
The drive's writing woes are likely due to a combination of firmware and software issues; the bundled Roxio DirectCD program seems to bring out the worst in the Premium. After installing Plextor's 1.03 firmware upgrade, we did a quick, unofficial retest using Ahead Software's InCD (not included) and shaved nearly a minute and a half off the official packet-writing times, although other 24X-rated drives were still faster. Using PlexTools to write an audio CD took less than two minutes, but this was still slower than other, less-expensive drives in its class.
Write tests (Shorter bars indicate better performance)
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Time to install Microsoft Office 2000 SBE (Shorter bars indicate better performance)
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DAE (digital audio extraction; 26-minute, 58-second track) (Shorter bars indicate better performance)
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All write tests are run with both the drive's recommended media (submitted by the manufacturer) and with Verbatim media, rated at the drive's maximum speed. For more details on how we test CD-recordable drives, see the Plextor backs the Premium with the industry-standard, one-year warranty. Toll-free phone support is available Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. PT. Although the warranty is unremarkable, the company's online support is among the best in the industry, with software and firmware downloads, e-mail support, FAQs, and helpful technology articles on a range of CD/DVD-related topics.
Plextor offers comprehensive online support.
To find out more about how this product's warranty really stacks up and what you should look for in a vendor's service and support, take a look at our hardware warranty explainer.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6out of 6 user reviews
one of the best in features
Pros: good features excellent accuracy good software
Cons: somehow slow not suitable for locked cd's it takes long time to take image
out of 6 user reviews
Incompatible with INTEL PERL Motherboard
Pros: Drive is smoothest and quietest i've ever seen / heard.
Cons: This drive will not work in an Intel D865PERL motherboard. This is one of the newer Intel m/b's and supports my 3.2 ghz processor. Unfortunately, when the drive in installed in this system, three system problems occur: 1) Hard disk activity light alway
out of 6 user reviews
Premium means just that.
Pros: Wonderful and reliable drive, Plextools Professional is a useful program for heavy computer users. Price has headed south recently, adding to an all ready good buy.
Cons: Don't plan on using the Roxio Easy CD Creator that came with the drive, use either Ahead's Nero or NTI's CD-Maker for burning CDs.
out of 6 user reviews
Smooth as silk!
Pros: Reading software reduces errors on bad disks like no other drive (re-reads bad sectors, adjusts read speed). 1GB recording good for long music and doesn't affect sound quality. This is the quietest deck...I can't hear it open even when I'm sitting right t
Cons: Bundled proprietary softwear is really for geeks, and they warn you that some settings may ruin your cd's. If that's so, why offer the options? Roxio softwear doesn't test the finished cd for playability (i.e. errors) automatically. You have to switch to
out of 6 user reviews
Very fast and stable
Pros: Quite tray comes out fast and smooth,I burned a 700 meg disk in just over 2 minutes with a 48 speedDisk
Cons: Only in white had to break out the model paint to paint the cover black
out of 6 user reviews
Outstanding performance!
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