CDRlabs is currently certainly the authority when it comes to reviews of optical storage products, and today they proof this again because they have the world wide exclusive review of the much anticipated Plextor PX-W4824TA. This latest Plextor drive writes at 48x, rewrites at 24x and reads databack at a maximum of 48x.
The expectations of this drive are high and many people were waiting for a review. Unfortunately the drive does not perform as well as expected and CDRLabs found that it's one of the slowest 48x writers at the moment. Rewriting was however fast and also the amount of features of this drive is very good, but if it's enough ? Here's a part of the review:
When it comes to features, Plextor's new 48x writer definitely delivers. Like Plextor's 40x writer, the PX-W4824TA features Plextor's VariRec technology. Along with the black tray and improved PCB, VariRec's ability to manually tweak the laser power is perfect for those looking for the best in audio quality. The drive's BURN-Proof buffer underrun protection worked very well to prevent coasters and its PoweRec technology delivered some very good writing quality, no matter what media we used. The PX-W4824TA is also the first drive from Plextor to feature their new SpeedRead technology. With SpeedRead we were able to bump the drive's read speeds from 40x to 48x at the touch of a button. |
What it comes down to is this: The Plextor PX-W4824TA is a very good drive. It's not the fastest 48x writer around, but it has a long list of features that cannot be found anywhere else. If you're more concerned with writing quality than speed and you're not afraid to spend a little more to get compatible media, the PX-W4824TA is for you. On the other hand, if you're more concerned with speed and you want to use whatever media is on sale that week, you might be better off with a drive like the TDK veloCD 48/24/48. The choice is up to you
Again a good review of our friends of CDRLabs, you can read the entire review here.
If you want to learn how the drive handles copy protections, then wait for our review ! (some comments already revealled that you better don't expect to much from it however).
Source: CDRlabs.com
