Plextor PX-760A DVD Burner Review


 

 

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Review: Plextor PX-760A
Reviewed by: Dee-27
Provided by: Plextor SA/NV (b)
Firmware: 1.00 - 1.02
TLA# : 0000
Manufactured: February 2006

Plextor SA/NV (b) were kind enough to send us their latest flagship DVD Re-Writer, the Plextor PX-760A for review.

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The Plextor PX-760A supports 18x DVD±R, 8x/6x DVD+RW/DVD-RW and 10x/6x DVD+R DL/DVD-R DL writing technology, allowing Double/Dual Layer discs of 8.5Gb to be written. So far this DVD-Burner is the world's first official released burner that will allow 18x writing speed on the DVD±R format.

Company information: 

Let us take a look at some of the company information found at Plextor Europe's website

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Corporate Profile:

Company Name

Plextor Europe

Established

1994

Paid in Capital

EUR 2.478.935,25

President

Motoaki Kaneko

Number of Employees

30

Sales Amount

EUR 83.665.000 (FY 2003)

Business Outline

Plextor is a leading international manufacturer of extremely reliable, high quality recording equipment and is also one of the pioneers in the field of CD technology. From its parent company, Shinano Kenshi Co. Japan, Plextor has a built up tradition in the development and manufacture of advanced hardware and electronic precision equipment going back to 1918. With head offices in Japan, Europe and the United States the company mainly sells its products through a network of specialised computer dealers. Plextor Europe, established in Brussels, takes responsibility for sales, marketing and technical support in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Since opening its Brussels office in 1994, Plextor has introduced a number of award winning products, including CD/DVD-ROM drives, CD/DVD recordable drives, CD/DVD media and USB Flash Memory Drives (PlexFlash) and digital video converters.

Corporate Highlights:

1985

Founded TEXEL Corporation in Tokyo, as a subsidiary of Shinano Kenshi Co., Ltd., started with export business of background music equipment.

1986

Small offset printing press machines are introduced in domestic and overseas market.

1988

Osaka Branch is opened.

1989

Extended time recorders for phone conversation are introduced. CD-I audio and encording systems are introduced. CD-Background Music Players are introduced.

1990

CD-ROM drives are introduced. TEXEL America is established in Sunny Vale, California, USA.

1992

TEXEL America is relocated in Santa Clara.

1993

Printing Press Division is established. Plextor S.A. is established in Brussels, Belgium.

1994

TEXEL Co., Ltd., is renamed as Plextor Co., Ltd. TEXEL America is renamed as Plextor Corporation.

1997

Plextor Co., Ltd. office is relocated from Ueno to Yaesuguchi, Tokyo Station.

1998

CD Talking Book for people with visual impairments is introduced.

There are three Plextor companies in the world. Mission of each company is marketing and sales of:

  1. Plextor Co., Ltd. (Plextor Japan)
    • Business Audio Equipment, including Professional CD Players for background
      music, etc.
    • Digital talking book for people with visual impairments
    • Computer Peripherals, including CD-ROM, CD-RW drives, and CD-Tower Systems
    • Printing Press Equipment, including IC Card Offset Printing Systems
  2. Plextor Corporation (Plextor USA):
    Computer Peripherals, including CD-ROM, CD-RW drives, and CD-Tower Systems
  3. Plextor S.A. (Plextor Europe):
    Computer Peripherals, including CD-ROM, CD-RW drives


SHINANO KENSHI is a global leader in providing integrated motion control solutions, multi-media solutions, printing solution and textile solutions. The company is organized into four divisions, each dedicated to a specific market. They are:

  • Electrical Division - Small precision motors.
  • Electronic Equipment Division - CD-ROM, and CD-R/RW optical disk drives, and Professional Audio Equipment.
  • Printing Equipment Division - Offset printing presses.
  • Textile Division - Spun silk yarn.

SHINANO KENSHI was founded in 1918 to manufacture Spun Silk Yarn, which at the time, was one of the most "High-Tech" industries in the world. As the years passed, SHINANO KENSHI embarked on other industrial markets that would grow more progressively, while maintaining its proud history in the Silk Industry. These ventures insights led to the successful expansion into technology-driven, knowledge-intensive fields, such as Electrical Division, Electronic Equipment Division, and Printing Equipment Division. While maintaining and strengthening its core competencies, Shinano Kenshi has continued its global expansion by establishing subsidiary companies and promoting its products on a worldwide basis. These subsidiaries are chartered with the continual growth of Resellers and OEM's in their respective territories, who have come to rely upon Shinano Kenshi for performance, quality oriented and technically superior optical peripheral products. Marketing base toward abroad.

PLEXTOR is the worldwide brand for all products manufactured by the Electronic Equipment Division and Printing Equipment Division of SHINANO KENSHI.

The Electronic Equipment Division introduced its first CD-ROM optical disk drive under the TEXEL brand name in 1989. Faced with the prospects of a healthy and ever-increasing demand for its products, Shinano Kenshi identified the importance of this segment with the Professional and IT markets demanding performance-oriented products. Through every generation of optical disk drive, Plextor has continually sought ways in which its CD-ROM's and CD-RW's could stimulate market demand by offering higher speed and higher reliability devices, while winning numerous awards worldwide.

PLEXTOR CD-R/RW drives were introduced in 1998 with technologies developed by the corporation in support of the market growing demand for CD-ROM's. High performance drives enable our users to write and re-write data on a stable platform that has evolved throughout the years. Plextor has also invested heavily on the certification of CD-RW media to give our users a wide range of compatibility between the various manufacturers.

Plextor's CD-R & CD-RW optical disk drives have been tested worldwide and evaluated as the "Professional Choice" to satisfy even the most discerning customers. Plextor products have been adopted by financial institutions and government agencies, which require highly reliable data storage technology. Recording studios have come to regard the Plextor products as the "drive of choice", which they can rely upon for the accurate extraction and creation of Digital Audio.

PLEXTOR background music systems have achieved the number 1 position in the worldwide market. Unique data compression technologies help to achieve long playback times, while maintaining high quality sound in professional background music systems for restaurants and stores. Technology leadership has been maintained based on high performance, superior electro-mechanical technology of Plextor's in-house motor technology, robust structure and audio orientation are the distinct signs of a market leader. PLEXTALK is a CD-ROM based talking book developed by Plextor for users that are visually impaired. Over fifty hours of audio information can be recorded on a single CD by Plextor's DAISY operating system. PLEXTALK offers a bookmark function that allows the user to search for the spot where a reader wants to begin.
Plextor's Printing Equipment Division manufactures compact offset printing machines with a combination of sophisticated mechanical and electronic technology. It enables the user to achieve the same quality of printing that was formally available only with the craftsmanship of highly skilled workers. CARD PLEX printing systems provide IC card and single card printing solutions, while maintaining only the highest quality possible.

Plextor's subsidiary companies are responsible for maintaining the customer database, while simultaneously adding more value-add products than ever before.

* DAISY: Digital Audio-based Information System. A set of hardware and software to record, store, transfer and read digital audio books.

If you are interested in reading more company information, please visit: Plextor

Drive specifications:


These are the specifications of this drive, found at the Plextor webpage:

Write & Read speed:

 

Write

DVD+R

18x

DVD+R DL

10x

DVD-R

18x

DVD-R DL

6x

DVD+RW

8x

DVD-RW

6x

CD-R

48x

CD-RW

24x

 

Read

DVD-ROM

16x

CD-ROM

48x

Technical Specifications:

Interface

IDE/ATAPI

Data buffer

2 MB

Access Time

<100ms (CD); <150ms (DVD)

MTBF

60 000h

Disc Loading

Tray (50.000 times)

Bezel replaceable

Yes, black bezel included in retail version for FREE!

Digital Audio

Yes, S/P DIF output

Dimensions

146 x 41,3 x 170 mm

Weight

< 1kg

Warranty

2 year Fast Warranty Service (in EU, Norway and Switzerland: Collect & Return)
1 year in other countries

System Requirements:

  • PC/AT compatible
  • CPU: Pentium 4 - 1.4 Ghz
  • RAM: 256MB
  • HDD: 10GB free space
  • OS: Windows 98SE/Me/2000/XP

Compatible Formats:

DVD

DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, Multi-Border, Multi-Session, DVD+VR, DVD-VR, DVD+MRW (by firmware upgrade), DRT-DM

CD

CD-DA (CD-DA/CD+G/CD-TEXT), CD-ROM (Mode1/Mode2), CD-ROM XA (Mode2 Form1/2), Audio CD, Data CD, Photo CD, Video CD, CD-I, CD-I Ready, Mixed CD, CD-Extra, Multi-Session CD, Packet Write CD (Mount Rainier by firmware upgrade)), Bootable CD

Performance:

Included Software (Only for retail versions):

What's inside the box?


Now let's take a look at the drive packaging.


Box Front

Box Rear

Box Left

Box Right

Box Top

Below we can see the contents of the retail package.

  • The internal drive
  • Drive Support Disc (DVD)
  • Bonus Disc (DVD)
  • IDE Cable
  • Black Bezel  
  • Extra jumper
  • Mounting screws
  • Emergency eject tool
  • Brochure containing:
    • Installation
    • Fast Warranty Service
    • Support
    • Caution
  • Front Bezel Replacement Guide

Now it's time to take a look at the drive itself:


White Bezel


Black Bezel

The bezel of the Plextor PX-760A is attractively styled. On the tray we can see various logo's, and we can also see an emergency eject hole, a dual coloured green/amber LED for read and write, and an eject button.


Top


Label

On the top of the drive we found one label, and we can see that the drive was made in China, dated February 2006, TLA # 0000 (top level assembly)


Bottom


Rear

On the rear of the drive starting from the left, we can see a digital audio connector, analogue audio connector, jumpers for cable select, slave, and master; IDE connector, and finally the power connector. We can also see extra ventilation holes to ensure the drive runs cool.

Internal Layout:


Now let's take a brief look at the internal layout of the Plextor PX-760A.

In the above screenshot we can see the main printed circuit board (PCB) of the Plextor PX-760A

We will now take a look at the DSP chip found on the main PCB, the chip is manufactured by Sanyo and has the designation LC897496K

Software Suite:


Now it's time to take a look at the bundled software suite and comment if needed. Please note: we may not use the supplied software in this review.


The main support disc


Support disc splash screen

As we can see from the above screenshot, the main support disc contains:

        PlexTools Professional (full version)
        PlexTools Professional XL (trial version)
        Pinnacle Systems suite version 8.3LE (full version)

In the above screenshot we can see some of the additional software included. Applications include:

        Nero Express 6 SE (full version)
        CyberLink (trial version)
        Sonic (trial version)

In the screenshot above we have a full list of the software included, and this also lists which applications are full versions, and which are trial versions. 


Bonus Disc

On our Bonus disc we find applications (full and trial versions) from the following.

         Ashampoo
         Genie Soft       
          interVideo.

But let us continue this review and see how the PX-760A really performs.

There are many applications to install and try out, although Plextor wisely suggests you should not install them all at once.

On the next page we will take a look at the test machine, the software, and the drive features…………


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