Plextor PX-W4012S (SCSI)

Positive Points:

• Finally a new Plextor drive with Ultra SCSI-2 interface!
• Complete package (software/hardware)
• Complete manual and in many different languages
• Two year full warranty for Europe, The Middle-East and Africa
• Supports 40X Z-CLV writing
• 4MB buffer plus BURN-Proof
• Supports VariRec technology
• Supports PoweRec technology (which can also be disabled and used to check the recommended write speed!)
• Good software package (Nero Burning Rom/InCD/PlexTools)
• Excellent DAE speed and quality
• Good write quality and media support
• Supports overburning up to 99 minutes!
• Supports Mount Rainier format
• Supports DAO-RAW writing
• Supports reading and writing of 8cm discs
• Supports reading and writing of CD-Text information
• Supports reading and writing of full SubChannel Data
• Could back-up SafeDisc 2 (before version v2.51.021)
• Could back-up tested audio copy-protections just fine

Negative Points:

• Needs weak sector amplification for SafeDisc v2.51.021 copy-protection and higher
• SubChannel Data reading could be faster (it’s now limited to 8x)
• Would have liked to see ultra-speed re-writing support (24x)

This time we can be quite brief with our conclusions. The SCSI Plextor drive performed very similar to the internal (IDE) Plextor PX-W4012A drive and since we already loved that model, it’s hard not to love this SCSI model. The SCSI drive has even been improved compared to the IDE model since it supports the Mount Rainier format out-of-the-box and does now fully support 99 minute CD-R media (the SCSI writer is Plextor’s first writer to fully support overburning!).

When reading discs the PlexWriter performed very well since it could read all types of media at full speed (even CD-RW media even though PlexTools reported that this would be limited to 32x). Audio could also be read at full speed without a problem and together with the PlexTools software with its DAE Error Recovery, Digital Audio Extraction will always be of the highest possible quality.

When it came to write performance the PlexWriter also didn’t disappoint us. Although the drive uses the Z-CLV write method it achieved an acceptable result when writing discs. The only thing that bothered us was the fact that the PlexWriter does not support the ultra-speed re-write standard of 24x and can only re-write at 12x. A maximum write speed of 40x doesn’t make a big difference compared to 48x, but 24x re-writing would have been a major improvement compared to 12x.

Despite the drive only supporting 12x re-writing, it showed good performance when we did our packet writing and Mount Rainier tests with InCD. When it came to copy-protections the Plextor drive performed as expected. It can copy the normal SafeDisc 2 protection just fine but it needs help with newer versions (2.51.021+). The audio copy-protections we tested could all be read just fine.

In conclusion we can say that the PlexWriter 40/12/40S is definitely a worthy upgrade for Plextor’s latest SCSI writer, the PlexWriter 12/10/32S. For a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $ 319 USD the drive is yours…