Is plextor still the best?

[JorgeElPrimero]

I am in the market for the fastest and most reliable cdrw. Is plextor still the best or should i seriously consider some other brand like the TDK 24x10x40. Opinions please.

 

[LXi]

Well, they are still one of the best, but I dont think they're the absolute best anymore. TDK, TEAC and Yamaha all made excellent burners compare to Plextor. The TDK 24x10x40 is currently the fastest available, Yamaha's 20x10x40 is also a good one, so I dont think Plextor is the only choice if you want a world class CD-RW.

 

[acejj26]

you can find cheaper or faster drives than the plextor, but in my mind, you cannot find any better drives. plextor drives are very quiet and responsive. i am sure you won't find a bad drive among the TDK and Yamaha offerings, but with Plextor, you know what you are getting: a very high-quality drive.

 

[learningstill]

Hi Jorge, I know a site that recently posted an article review on the Plextor External SCSI writer. It is a good article and if you are interested, the article can be found http://www.8wire.com or http://www.8wire.com/article_render/?aid=2006

 

[FlippyBoy]

I have a Plextor (8432A), and my friend has a Yamaha (dunno model, but its 8x scsi). His no longer works (burns all coasters, wont read a less than perfect disk) and mine is still going strong - no coasters when I leave my system alone (ide sucks), and will read cds that no other drive will read. Obviously, he could have gotten the one bad one out of a thousand, but this only reinforces my perception of Plextor as the best drive maker out there.

 

[BuckMaster]

My vote gos towards Plextor.

 

[Finality]

Plextor or the TDK both are excellent choices at good prices.

I nearly bought one of the Yamaha 16X SCSI burners.

2 problems with it its very noisy and they 16X speed is not a true CAV speed. While it does burn faster than a 12X its not as fast as a true 16X drive. I'm sure the same applies for the 20X as well.

The TDK should be awesome. But is it really worth an extra $120+ to save a minute off the burn time?

 

[LXi]

<<2 problems with it its very noisy and they 16X speed is not a true CAV speed. While it does burn faster than a 12X its not as fast as a true 16X drive. I'm sure the same applies for the 20X as well.>>

No drive at 16x is true CLV, not even Plextor and TDK, they and others use the tech called Zone CAV, which also slows down to 12x at some point of the burning. Zone CAV is similar to Yamaha's P-CAV, except its a bit faster. The Yamaha 16x was a disaster, but they recovered very nicely with their 20x. Still using P-CAV tech, because the transition between speeds are smoother than Zone CAV, and their SafeBurn technology is better than BURNProof because it leaves a much smaller gap during pause/resume, they also reduced noise level. Refer to this CDRLabs review.

 

[nnnyyy]

Another vote for plextor and TDK. Yamaha might be better nowadays but their 16x was garbage.

 

[damocles]

What do you think of Ricoh's?

 

[Sugadaddy]

Plextor is the best IMO, I love my 12/10, but I'd still get the TDK. 24X, DAMN!!!

 

[Phodimo]

I was told that Lite-On and Plextor have the same electronics and &quot;wheel work&quot;. But the Lite-on's are much cheaper.

 

[telecom]

i have a ricoh 20x very fast.

 

[StrangeRanger]

Plextor's a great drives yes, but are no longer the &quot;only&quot; drive to buy. Don't forget Richo and Sanyo. Besides, the TDK's are Sanyos. Sanyo is actually the grand daddy of cdr technology, not plextor. Yamaha makes excellent drives too. I run both a yamaha and plex side by side and haven't had a single problem with either drive.
j
**EDIT** Like it was mentioned, do not forget that 16-24x drives are not truly running at that speed. It depends on the position of the laser what speed it's burning at. Is 1 minute less of burn time really that important to you?

 

[vinayag]

As mentioned above, the Lite-on shares a lot of the electronics with the plextors thus giving great speed and relibility, not to mention burn proof technology for a far lesser price !

But if you are smart, you would buy a Cendyne 12x10x32 CD-writer from Amazon. This Cendyne is actually a rebadged lite-on for even lesser price ! In fact that is all that Cendynce does. One of their earlier series were actually rebadged ricohs and the 12x10x32's are all lite-on's. I ordered one at Amazon and to my satisfaction, the cendyne box had the lite-on writer inside with a burnproof sticker right across the face. Works like a charm !!!

 

[Kinesis]

I have a plextor CDRW 12/10/32 and love it. I saw someone say IDE sucks? Umm...why? I surf the net, email, download, while I burn on my IDE writer with no problems. Burn Proof is cool!

 

[(M)]

My first burner was a Yamaha 4416S. It gradually died (a slow, painful death) after it was 18 months old (I paid $400 for the damn thing). My opinions of Yamaha are tainted by this experience.

I now have a Plextor 10/12/32A (paid $180). Yeah, It's IDE, but I've never had a buffer underrun (that caused a coaster). It's fast and it works every time I need it. I've probably burned about 200 CD's on it and it still works as good as new (reading &amp; writing). My vote for Plextor.

(M)

 

[DoOLiE11]

my vote for plextor too

i have a plextor 8/20
and a plextor 40x cdrom to match it

they both rule!

 

[BlakkIce]

is the TDK 24x out if it is time to trade in this Yamaha 16x to Compusa hehe (it broke lol)

 

[Muzzy]

They are as long as you don't install those gawd dang softwares that came with them, go and get yourself Nero. Go here
Link, then do search for Nero.

 

[pjs]

I would vote for Plextor as well BUT it seems to me as though they are neglecting the SCSI user. Where are the 16X or faster SCSI burners?? Well, Plextor?

My 8x20 scsi burner is still going just fine, but I would like someday to upgrade to a 16X or faster writer with burn-proof. A friend is wating for me to upgrade as well, so that the 8x20 burner will find a new home.

Paul

 

[NelsonMuntz]

<< I was told that Lite-On and Plextor have the same electronics and &quot;wheel work&quot;. But the Lite-on's are much cheaper. >>


I don't think that this is the case. Check this link. Pay attention to the first paragraph. I'm not really knocking Lite-On because they do have a great price/performance ratio.