Plextor

Plextor is possibly one of the few manufacturers that will support the 12x DVD+R recording speed, with the upcoming PX-712A. The company will launch the drive by May, targeting the market share before the first 16x DVD+R burners become available. The PX-712A uses Sanyo's chipset. It supports 12x P-CAV write for DVD+R (with potential for 16x CAV in the next model), 8x DVD-R, 4x DVD±RW and 48x24x48x for CD-RW. The Burn Proof Buffer Underun protection combined with an 8MB cache ensure the recording stability with CD/DVD.

The already introduced GigaRec, SecuRec and Silent Mode features are also supported through the updated PlexTools Professional v2.12. New here is the updated Q-Check feature. Beta/Jitter measurements as well as PI and PO error rates for DVD media are currently available through PlexTools. As in the case of the previous version of the software, users will be able to enjoy these features only with the PX-712A drive used as a media reader.

Plextor will also release some 8x DVD+R media (Taiyo Yuden) that will be used for recording at 12x. The 12x speed can be achieved more easily in hardware than the 16x, while 8x media can in most cases be used for 12x writing, as long as the writing strategy and the media combination are appropriate. We might see some problems with some 8x DVD+R brands, but firmware upgrades are in the pipeline for supporting more media IDs.

The drive will be available with white and black bezels.

In addition, the PX-712A will be available with a serial-ATA interface. Codenamed PX-712SA, it offers exactly the same features as the IDE model, and its price is expected to be slightly higher.

Below you can find a preview of the new PlexTools Proffessional v2.12 bundled in the PX-721A retail package. The P-CAV writing strategy is clearly indicated with the red line on the graph (write simulation):

Beta/jitter tests for DVD media.

PI and PO errors on DVD media