Final Words
With the new DVD-R DL format and updated write speeds, we are all tempted to upgrade to a new writer as soon as we see one drop below the $60-$70 mark, but many don't see the difference in performance from drive to drive. Our Summer 2005 16x DVDR roundup showed that a drive that has won the Gold Editor's Choice award in the past may not come close to the top of the list. New drives with new updated firmware will top the charts if they do what they are supposed to do. Plextor has done it again; not by using their own hardware, but using hardware that is equally as effective as well as affordable.With the exception of the Platinum brand DVD+/-R media, the PX-740A proved to be a competitor with drives such as NEC's ND-3540A and Pioneer's DVR-109D, and being at the same level as BenQ's DW1640. Even when using mid-quality media, the PX-740A does not disappoint as many of the new generation drives have thus far.
Our test unit ran us about $76.00 excluding shipping costs, which is not bad, but compared to some retailers offering BenQ's DW1640 for about $10 less, the PX-740A does give more bang for the buck. Plextor's firmware team has taken the same hardware BenQ uses to a higher level of quality and speed. On the down side, thePX-740A does not support the PlexTools utility so it's a trade-off between features and performance. But those who don't care too much for the benchmarking characteristics of Plextor's other units, the PX-740A will fit the bill just fine.
Overall, though, Plextor offers a great drive at an affordable price and that's what will attract customers in the end. We recommend the PX-740A to anyone looking for great performance and write quality at a decent price.
Special thanks to Marken Communications for supplying us with Verbatim brand test media.
Special thanks to Antarra Communications for supplying us with Ridata brand test media.
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n7 - Thursday, August 4, 2005 - link
Moral of the story: The BenQ DW1640 still pwns :)Heck, it's good enough that Plextor (who is really quite a joke nowdays) is using the BenQ drive :)
quanta - Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - link
The Mt.Rainier spec has been around for a while now, and it still doesn't support Mt.Rainier? So much for a manufacturer with 'high end' optical drives. But then again, what do you expect from someone ?http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?p=1000879#...">suing PxLinux developer with DMCA?Den - Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - link
Why is it that the drive being reviewed is not in most of the error rate graphs? And I think the headings are with the wrong graphs for some of the article too. This is pretty sloppy work even by web standards...Den - Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - link
Just to be more specific, no plextor on the error rate graph for MCC 03RG20 on page 5, or Ritek 008 (DVD+RW) on page 6, or c1 or c2 errors on page 8.semo - Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - link
that sentence does not sound right to me...surely the dw1640 gives more bang for the buck if it is cheaper and since the plextools does not even work with the 740a (because of the dumb rebadging).
shabby - Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - link
I bought the 1640 for $53 cdn, its impossible that it costs even more in the states.LX - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link
Since hardware-wise this drive is the same as the BenQ DW1640, it may make more sense to buy the BenQ (cheaper) and flash it with either the latest BenQ or latest Plextor firmware (yes, it works)dmxlite - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link
Flashing the 1640 with the 740 firmware works? Cool. I'll keep that in mind, since it looks like the 740 firmware is a bit better in some cases than the 1640's.WooDaddy - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link
Ok... I think we've been scammed yall. Dual layer media has been out for prolly 2yrs now and it is still $4-5 a pop. For the same amount of time, single layer has dropped almost 70%. I'm really tired of all these new burners that are expensive to actually use (for dual layer).It's like having a Ferrari for $20k but gas costs $5k a gallon.
andrep74 - Monday, August 8, 2005 - link
Blame all the people that decided to steal DVDs using Netflix or Blockbuster, renting them as fast as they could for $15/mo and ripping the ones they _would_ have bought, burning them to DVD-(+)R instead.In reality the only (obvious?) use for DL-DVD is making exact copies of commercial DVDs, including the menus and extra features that were usually ignored during the above process; now DL carries an extra "tax" to help movie companies recover their "losses".
So, yeah, some assholes won in the short term, but now we _all_ pay for their theft in the long term. Don't think others' actions don't affect you.