RW reading tests

- Nero CD Speed v0.84 Test: (Plextor S88TU and TEAC 280PU CD Speed graphs)

For the RW tests, we used TDK's HS-RW media. The TEAC CD-RW280PU has its reading speed locked to 8x (CLV) with HS-RW media, while PleXWriter goes from 7X-10X and is actually slower:

CloneCD Reading Tests

- Procedure:
We used CloneCD (v3.0.8.2) and 5 original CDs - Euro 2000 (SafeDisc 1), No One Lives For Ever (SafeDisc 2), Rally Masters (LaserLock 1), Desperados (LaserLock 2) and V-Rally 2 Expert (SecuROM 2) - in order to test the reading performance of the PleXWriter PX-S88TU and TEAC CD-RW280PU. We also tested its reading performance with backups of the original CDs, since the reading speed varies between the original and the backup media. The following pictures show reading/writing capabilities for both drives:

- SafeDisc 1/2 Results:

The PleXWriter PX-S88TU is a great performer with SD1 protected CDs. The drive needs only 3.3mins to finish the task and skips errors very fast. The TEAC CD-RW280PU skips errors very slowly and needs 48mins to end the task.

With SafeDisc v2.0 protected CDs, the PleXWriter PX-S88TU showed a strange behaviour. With our normal test disc (NOLF), the drive needed over one hour to make the image. The bad news was that the drive kept reporting bad sectors than the actual ones (which ended at 10041). We made another test with "Max Payne" original CD, and this time the drive needed only 4mins to make the image but again reported more bad sectors than the actual ones. With backup CD, the drive didn't show any problem. The TEAC CD-RW280PU continues to skip error slowly and needs 45mins to end the task.

LaserLock 1/2 Results:

In the LaserLock protected CDs test, the TEAC CD-RW280PU is faster than the PleXWriter, at least with the original CD. With the backup CD, the PleXWriter outperforms the TEAC with ease. Remember that LaserLock errors are very hard for any drive to skip.

With LaserLock 2 protected CDs, the TEAC seems faster, again with the original CD. PleXWriter gets its revenge and ends first with the backup CD.

SecuROM Results

Both drives can read SubChannel Data from Data/Audio tracks without any problems. The TEAC CD-RW280PU is a lot faster than PleXWriter with both pressed/backup CDs.