Plextor 708A: First exclusive look at 8X DVD+R

Final Thoughts

Plextor deserved every ounce of hype and praise for this drive. Not only did Plextor dethrone long time DVD burning champions Pioneer and NEC, they also outpaced them. Pioneer and NEC are both expected to produce 8X capable DVD+R and DVD-R capable drives in November (DVR-A07 and ND-2300A, respectively), but Plextor has the upper hand with market saturation and aggressive pricing. Consider that the Plextor 708A costs around $280 for its fall debut, we can only assume it will cost less when the yet to be announced A07 and ND-2300A actually hit store shelves. NEC should also release their 8X DVD+R ND-1500A (which is not capable of DVD-R) early November as well.

As far as performance is concerned, the drive out-performs the ASUS DRW-0402P/D and the Pioneer A06 in virtually every way. Media recognition, compatibility and just raw burn times were all better on the 708A. The new Gigabyte W0404A (40X CD-R, 4X DVD+R, 4X DVD-R) is a close competitor, but unfortunately, it cannot compete with 8X DVD+R. Next week, we have some interesting optical storage solutions from Gigabyte and ASUS, but the Plextor 708A certainly raises the bar.

One other topic we might want to touch on is DVD+R in general. The DVD+R forum was slow to announce 4X DVD+R a year ago, but pulled ahead with DVD+R 8X products hitting the shelf at least 2 months before DVD-R 8X. Considering drives like the 708A don’t even need 8X verified media to obtain 8-minute DVD burn times, DVD+R will surely gain even more favor in the eyes of consumers. While the DVD format wars are far from over, Philips, HP and the other members of the DVD+R forum clearly won the battle today.

Special thanks to CompuHQ for letting us know about their Plextor 708A special. By using the coupon code "ANANDTECH10" you can save an additional $10 on the 708A.