Plextor PX-740A

by Purav Sanghani on August 2, 2005 12:05 AM EST

DVD+/-R Dual Layer Media

MKM 001 (DVD+R DL)

Being able to write to a dual layer disc at 8x is phenomenal, but we would have liked to see it carry that speed over to the second layer. The PX-740A managed to write the first layer at 8x speeds while having to drop to 4x when it reached the second layer. It still shaves off write time, but it could use some more work.

2.4x +R DL - MKM 001 Write

2.4x +R DL - MKM 001 Read

2.4x +R DL - MKM 001

The read back shows a successful disc, which makes us more than happy, especially in light of our experience during the summer roundup. It seemed as though no other drive wanted to write to dual layer as bad as the BenQ and Plextor drive.

MKM 01RD30 (DVD-R DL)

The PX-740A stuck to 4x speeds, but completed the disc successfully. For now, a successful dual layer write is good enough for us at 4x, but we’re looking forward to the next generation units that will write data to all media quicker and more efficiently. Who knows, maybe a future firmware update may fix this speed issue.

4x -R DL - MKM 01RD30 Write

4x -R DL - MKM 01RD30 Read

4x -R DL - MKM 01RD30

The screenshots of Nero’s CD-DVD Speed and Plextor’s Plextools can be downloaded here.

DVD+/-RW Media CD-R Media
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  • n7 - Thursday, August 4, 2005 - link

    Moral of the story: The BenQ DW1640 still pwns :)

    Heck, it's good enough that Plextor (who is really quite a joke nowdays) is using the BenQ drive :)
  • quanta - Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - link

    The Mt.Rainier spec has been around for a while now, and it still doesn't support Mt.Rainier? So much for a manufacturer with 'high end' optical drives. But then again, what do you expect from someone ?http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?p=1000879#...">suing PxLinux developer with DMCA?
  • Den - Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - link

    Why is it that the drive being reviewed is not in most of the error rate graphs? And I think the headings are with the wrong graphs for some of the article too. This is pretty sloppy work even by web standards...
  • Den - Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - link

    Just to be more specific, no plextor on the error rate graph for MCC 03RG20 on page 5, or Ritek 008 (DVD+RW) on page 6, or c1 or c2 errors on page 8.
  • semo - Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - link

    that sentence does not sound right to me...
    quote:

    Our test unit ran us about $76.00 excluding shipping costs, which is not bad, but compared to some retailers offering BenQ's DW1640 for about $10 less, the PX-740A does give more bang for the buck.

    surely the dw1640 gives more bang for the buck if it is cheaper and since the plextools does not even work with the 740a (because of the dumb rebadging).
  • shabby - Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - link

    I bought the 1640 for $53 cdn, its impossible that it costs even more in the states.
  • LX - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link

    Since hardware-wise this drive is the same as the BenQ DW1640, it may make more sense to buy the BenQ (cheaper) and flash it with either the latest BenQ or latest Plextor firmware (yes, it works)
  • dmxlite - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link

    Flashing the 1640 with the 740 firmware works? Cool. I'll keep that in mind, since it looks like the 740 firmware is a bit better in some cases than the 1640's.
  • WooDaddy - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link

    Ok... I think we've been scammed yall. Dual layer media has been out for prolly 2yrs now and it is still $4-5 a pop. For the same amount of time, single layer has dropped almost 70%. I'm really tired of all these new burners that are expensive to actually use (for dual layer).

    It's like having a Ferrari for $20k but gas costs $5k a gallon.
  • andrep74 - Monday, August 8, 2005 - link

    Blame all the people that decided to steal DVDs using Netflix or Blockbuster, renting them as fast as they could for $15/mo and ripping the ones they _would_ have bought, burning them to DVD-(+)R instead.

    In reality the only (obvious?) use for DL-DVD is making exact copies of commercial DVDs, including the menus and extra features that were usually ignored during the above process; now DL carries an extra "tax" to help movie companies recover their "losses".

    So, yeah, some assholes won in the short term, but now we _all_ pay for their theft in the long term. Don't think others' actions don't affect you.

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