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Plextor Plextor PX-716A

70

Good

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Pros
Firmware updates can boost speeds
Cons
Some write specs could be faster

Performance: Good: 70
Features: Good: 71
Design: Very Good: 85

Find out how these scores, and their relative weights, combine to produce the PC World Rating.

Performance
CD-R Mastering Write Average, for 694MB (seconds)	191.52
Dual-Sided Write-Once DVD Performance, for 7.9GB (seconds)	1631.16
Format Rewritable DVD (seconds)	21.3
Rewritable DVD Format Tested	+RW
Rewritable DVD Performance, for 3.4GB (seconds)	683.02
Single-Layer Write-Once DVD Format Tested	+R
Single-Layer Write-Once DVD Performance, for 4.35GB (seconds)	390.08
Two-Layer Write-Once DVD Format Tested	+R

Performance
Maximum rated DVD write speeds: As configured during testing. Some drives may be able to boost write speeds via a firmware update from the vendor's Web site.	16X DVD+R, 16X DVD-R, 4X DVD+R DL, 8X DVD+RW, 4X DVD-RW
Maximum rated CD write speeds	48X CD-R, 24X CD-RW
Tested performance	Very Good
Write-once DVD performance on double- or dual-layer media: Time (in minutes:seconds) to write 8.1GB to DVD using the bundled DVD mastering software.	Double-layer +R 27:11
Write-once DVD performance, single-layer: Time (in minutes:seconds) to write 4.35GB to DVD using the bundled DVD mastering software.	Single-layer +R 6:30
Rewritable DVD performance: Time (in minutes:seconds) to format a blank rewritable DVD disc combined with time to copy 2.64GB of data to the disc.	DVD+RW 11:44
CD-R write performance: Time (in minutes:seconds) to write 700MB to a CD-R disc.	CD-R 3:12
Installation/documentation	Very Good/Outstanding
Features	Outstanding
Drive type	Internal IDE drive
Hardware bundle	IDE cable, beige and black bezels, drive tray ejection tool
Bundled software	Roxio Easy Media Creator 7.1 Basic (with Creator Classic, Roxio DVD Builder, and VideoWave SE)
Support policies score	Fair
Support policies	One-year warranty, 9-hour weekday toll-free support

User Reviews for Plextor Plextor PX-716A

Reviewed by: FDUNN3

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: Works great for the short time it does.

Weaknesses: As this is the second Plextor drive I have owned (and Last) that has burned less than a stack of disks and died just out of warranty I would not recommend anything with Plextor's name on it.

Overall Evaluation: Plextor was a pioneer in the early days of optical storage and it's name WAS synonymous with quality and reliability but as so many others have done they have probably outsourced everything and their quality assurance is very bad.When you buy Plextor you pay anywhere from 3 to 4 times the cost of barnds with less of a legacy, BUT YOU GET THE SAME WARRANTY. If Plextor thinks their brand is worth paying such a premium for then why do they have such a short warranty.Do yourself a favor just buy a samsung, nec, acer, lite-on or the like. You will get the same warranty and IF your drive goes out in the same short time that the Plextors do then just buy another one. It's like getting a 3-4 year warranty with upgrades. Plextor just stinks and if you buy one then you deserve what you have to go through.
Reviewed by: Donaldronenbaum

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: Good quality CD/DVD burning.

Weaknesses: Breaks easily.

Overall Evaluation: I have bought several pairs of Plexter CD and DVD burning drives over the last five years. In more than half the cases the drives have failed within one year. I use them carefully and not very heavily. In one instance the tech support made me change media brands several times over the course of weeks, until they finally repaired the drive and admitted that it was faulty. Just recently the drive door on my PX-716A stopped working just four weeks after the warranty expired. Tech support refused to replace the drive. I have installed Sony rewritable drives on computers owned by friends and family. Those drives are all still working properly, and all cost only about half as much as Plextor. Save your money.