Plextor PX-708A DVD±RW Burner

Pros: The fastest combination of read and write speeds of any DVD recordable on the market.
Cons: There are none.

I've owned a few DVD recorders over the past few years. My first was the Pioneer DVR-A03, which burned DVD-R at 2x (30 mins per disc) and DVD-RW at 1x (60 mins). While these speeds aren't stellar, they got the job done for backing up my precious digital c ...

Pros: Quality, easy install, easy to use
Cons: Software is horrible, Drive is picky, pricey

INTRODUCTION It was getting to the point where I knew I had to reformat my hard drives and I cringed at the thought of losing gigs of files and music that I had collected in recent years. The solution wasn’t my clunky ol Yamaha CD burner that was a ...

Pros: Works as advertised. Worked on old 2x media, no coasters yet. Fast.
Cons: Documentation, included software pretty worthless.

After toiling away with a Pioneer A03 (OEM in my Compaq a few years ago), I finally decided I needed an upgrade. The A03 wasn't reading Blockbuster movies anymore, and burning even CD's had become painful. After doing a bit of reserach here and CNET, ...

Pros: Speed, stability, software bundle
Cons: Minor software issues

When I started to build my new PC I was looking to create something which will last for a year or two before becoming obsolete so I was compelled to buy newest technology. That is why I had to get DVD recorder and since I wanted the best I had to buy ...

Pros: Quality. Fast. Quiet. Quick tray eject. Compatible with most DVD's out there.
Cons: Pricer than others. You get what you pay for.

With so many DVD burners on the market, one has to wonder which is best. I am fortunate to own 6 computers in the house. From the kitchen to the home theater setup. 3 of these have DVD burners set up for those times I connect my camcorder to the computer ...

Pros: FAST(!!), reliable, easy to install, quiet, multi-format (+R,-R, etc.)
Cons: None so far!

I bought the Plextor PX-708A primarily to archive work-related data and it works wonderfully! It was very easy to install (even for a non-IT type such as myself). I was ready to burn DVDs within minutes. I have burned several DVD-R+ discs so far and ...

Pros: Quick burning time, reliable, comparatively inexpensive for the performance.
Cons: Not the cheapest drive.

Allow me to preface this review by noting that I am an industry professional. I have been involved in multimedia design for the last 5 years, and have been up-to-date with new storage technology to accomodate my piles of files. I purchased this drive ...

Pros: Installation.
Cons: Flaky Reads. Poor components. Questionable support practices.

With a brand name of Plextor I use to think quality, but not any more. This drive has been a headache from the beginning. I use to think that it was my PC. I'm running a Pentium 2.4 HT and with plenty of memory. But how could it be. I would try ...

Pros: Fast, quiet, crazy cool.
Cons: EXPENSIVE AND A HALF!

This will be short at sweet.

DVD R/RW = 8X/4X
DVD-R/RW = 4X/2X
DVD-ROM = 12X
CD-R/RW = 40X/24X
CD-ROM = 40X

Now, the rest of the story. It burns quickly and quietly. It's installation is VERY easy if you know how to install internal drives. It's drivers are easy to find and so are help manuals.

The package I received came with Roxio burn utilities which are HORRIBLE! Buy something better. I don't have any suggestions for what, just ANYTHING.

The fact that this drive can burn multi-formats is very cool. It almost makes the price less painful.

Do yourself a favor, never talk to strangers...er...if you have some hardcore DVD burn projects, this drive's for you. If you want to put a couple of home movies on a DVD for your relatives, spend less money on a 4X drive. They do the same thing and cost half the price.

Pros: Works well
Cons: Can't write in a universal format

A good drive but if you want to make a DVD for an older DVD player, you are out of luck. Most manufacturer's allow you to change the bitsetting so you can write in the older (universal) DVD-ROM format. But Plextor does not!

Pros: Solid and dependable, not a coaster yet. Came with Roxio.
Cons: Quiet mode is a hassle to deal with when ripping. Was pricey when bought.

I really like this burner, it has done well for me. Installation was a breeze, though I didn't much care for the included software. I still use it occasionally, I just didn't much like the additional startup menu baggage.
I have yet to burn a coaster. I'm not too keen on the default quiet mode. I wish I didn't have to go through the process of holding the button for four seconds so I can rip faster.
Quite the difference in prices now too! Such is technology. I was very happy to burn at 8x and not so happy when I realized I'd bought 2.4x media. I've burned well over 100 DVDs.
I did notice a huge difference in ripping speed after upgrading the firmware to 1.08. It was stuck at ~2700KB/s, whereas before it had ranged upwards of 8900KB/s. Quite the difference! Thankfully Plextor's website has all the previous versions, so I was able to go back to 1.06 and the nice ripping speeds.

Pros: Easy to install with a full compliment of additional software.
Cons: 8x media is still pretty high priced. 4x work great though.

The Plextor unit is worthy of the many rave reviews I have read. I purchased mine after wearing out one of my two HP DVD 200i's. I used to write to them simultaneously to increase production. Now I find myself happy with just the one drive. I have far fewer bad writes to dvd+r. Now can also write to -r, -rw. I am very happy this drive will actually use some of my older +rw media that for whatever reason wouldn't format in the HP unit. I get about 5 minutes per disk write time with verbatim 4x disks. I use the Record Now Max software I am already familiar with.

Its nice to by a drive that doesn't require a lot of fiddling around to make it work. Nice job Plextor.

Pros: Handles all types of media
Cons: Poor quality, unreliable

This drive was expensive to start with. It never performed all that well, occasionally not performing tasks as expected or failing during a task. It is used infrequently, so the problems really didn't get my attention at the time. Now, 18 months later, it won't even burn a regular CD. Plextor has issued a death certificate and won't touch it now that it's out of warranty. Avoid Plextor!

Pros: Could not get the drive to work to find anything good about it.
Cons: Fussy, Fussy Fussy. Only reads expensive DVDs. Plextor support leaves much to be desired.

Bought this drive, as I have had good success with Plextor
drives before. This one is VERY fussy about reading media.
It will NOT read any "non-recommended" media that is burned
beyond about 4gb in size. Bought some generic DVD-RWs from three different vendors. All have the same problem. They write OK. Data written can be read in other drives, just not this one.
After a burn (one the disk is ejected and reinserted), the
Plextor drive will report an empty disk.
Made a call to Plextor tech support (they are ONLY open 8:30-5pm PST). After suffering through the same song for 1/2 hour on hold, I was told that the drive ONLY works with approved media (that costs about 5x what generic disks costs). I was also told that they could not consider the drive defective until I "sacrificed" a DVD-R to their diagnostics (again, it had to be one of their "approved" disks).
Not being a wealthy individual, I think instead of spending 5x on media for this drive, I will instead spend the money on a drive that is less fussy. I suppose I can use this drive as a doorstop....

Pros: Fast, flexible, attractive appearance, low price, long warranty, works with Linux
Cons: none

I have a very short review of the Plextor PX-708A: this is the DVD burner you want. This device is incredibly flexible and meets all optical disc archiving needs. It is quiet when reading or writing, and has an attractive appearance. It comes with an IDE cable, two jumpers, and a manual that efficiently explains the best way to install everything. There is also a CD of software which I did not try.

The PX-708A works perfectly in my testing under Linux. Using kernel 2.6.1, cdrecord 2, dvdrtools, and dvd+rw-tools I am able to burn CDs and DVDs of all kinds.

My other DVD+R burner is an HP 200e. That burner is loud when operating and has a cheap-feeling tray action. It tends to delay ejecting discs for up to ten seconds. The documentation for the HP is also inferior to the Plextor's. I am very glad I upgraded from the HP to the new PX-708A.