4x DVD+RW Roundup (Plextor PX-504A, Mitsumi DW-7801TE)

Review Pages

1. Introduction - Mitsumi DW-7801TE
2. Introduction - Plextor PX-504A
3. Data CD Reading Tests
4. CD Error Correction Tests - Mitsumi DW-7801TE
5. CD Error Correction Tests - Plextor PX-504A
6. DVD reading tests
7. DVD Error Correction Tests - Mitsumi DW-7801TE
8. DVD Error Correction Tests - Plextor PX-504A
9. CloneCD Reading Tests
10. DAE Tests
11. CD Recording Tests
12. Writing Quality Tests - Mitsumi DW-7801TE
13. Writing Quality Tests - Plextor PX-504A
14. HS-RW Writing Tests
15. DVD Recording Tests
16. Conclusion

4x DVD+R/RW Roundup - Page 5

CD Error Correction Tests

Plextor PX-504A

- EAC CD-R Test Disc

As in the previous case with the Mitsumi drive, the Plextor PX-504A reported many errors and many of them were muted. The number of skipped samples was also high resulting to an overall score of 52.4 points out of 100.

Errors total	Num: 116273052
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)	Num: 608287	Avg: -30.6 dB(A)	Max: -7.2 dB(A)
Error Muting Samples	Num: 84312	Avg: 1.2 Samples	Max: 622
Skips Samples	Num: 433	Avg: 37.9 Samples	Max: 2934 Samples
C2 accuracy	50.5%
Total Test Result	52.4 points (of 100.0 maximum)

The C2 accuracy reported is only 50.5%.

- ABEX TCD-721R

Errors total	Num: 915917
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)	Num: 48235	Avg: -73.1 dB(A)	Max: -6.7 dB(A)
Error Muting Samples	Num: 3012	Avg: 1.1 Samples	Max: 40 Samples
Skips Samples	Num: 16	Avg: 6.0 Samples	Max: 6 Samples
C2 accuracy	99.1 %
Total Test Result	67.9 points (of 100.0 maximum)

The score for the Panasonic drive is 67.9, which is an average performance. The total errors were less than in the previous test, as it was expected. The average level of the Loudness errors is -73.1dB(A).

This time the C2 accuracy reported is 99.1%. Although the accuracy is close to 100%, it cannot be considered as safe for applications that are based on retrieving C2 information.

- ABEX TCD-726

The total amount of errors is smaller in the case of the TCD-726 disc. The scratches on the disc is not as heavy as in the TCD-721, and the rest defects and fingerprints seem not to produce many errors while reading. The Loudness errors were only 2 and the average level was -19dB(A), which is an acceptable level. In addition, only 2 samples were muted and their average length was small. The performance for the Plextor drive is high. (89.3 points).

Errors total	Num: 2
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)	Num: 19	Avg: -48.4 dB(A)	Max: -31.1 dB(A)
Error Muting Samples	Num: 0	Avg: 0 Samples	Max: 0 Samples
Skips Samples	Num: 2	Avg: 6.0 Samples	Max: 6 Samples
C2 accuracy	100.0 %
Total Test Result	89.3 points (of 100.0 maximum)

- Conclusion

Test Disc	Reading Speed	Score
EAC CD-R	Max	52.4
ABEX TCD-721R		67.9
ABEX TCD-726		89.3
Average Score		69.86

Test Disc	C2 Accuracy
ABEX TCD-721R	99.1%
ABEX TCD-726	100%

The Panasonic LF-D521 gets an average score of 69.86 points out of 100 at our CD error correction tests.

On the other hand, the C2 accuracy seems to be low in most cases.

CDSpeed Advanced DAE quality test

- ABEX 721R

According to the Nero test, the quality score for Plextor PX-504A is 85.9 points, while the C2 accuracy is low (79.80%). The Plextor drive gave back less compare errors than the Mitsumi DW-7801TE, and the sync errors occurred were only 116.