Exclusive: Plextor 712A, First 12X DVD+R to Retail

Final Thoughts

After an intensive look at the PX-712A, we are very pleased to say that the drive performed well. Write quality was exceptional; we only saw extraordinary errors on the Memorex RICOHJPN media, and the disc was still readable. Other media, particularly the 8X Yuden disc (which we burned at 12X), looked nearly flawless.

Like most Plextor products, the final street price of this drive will be fairly expensive. Retail stores are selling the drive for around $200, but it will certainly come down to the $175 range in the next month or two. Currently, you can buy three NuTech DDW-082 drives for the cost of one PX-712A.

Make no mistake, this is an enthusiast drive. With enthusiast price comes enthusiast performance and enthusiast capabilities. The feature set on the PlexTools software (particularly VariRec) add several features to DVD authoring that you will not find anywhere else (at least for now). Combine that with 12X DVD+R write and 48X CDR write speeds, and you have the fastest, most well rounded retail DVD recorder on the market. With a small hint of déjà vu, we would not be surprised if the PX-712A stays on top of future 12X DVD+R devices for several months.

Unfortunately, the inability to recognize (and of course write!) DVD+R9 was a little discouraging. Even though we think that DVD+R9 will take a long time to catch on, the more savvy early adopters cannot rely on the PX-712A to deliver.

Special Thanks to Sony,Verbatim and Plextor for providing media for this review.