Plextor 16x DVD-R media review

Conclusion

So what did I think about this latest 16x DVD-R offering from Plextor? Well according to all the results of the tests carried out during this review one thing that was continiously noted was the very low amount of potential errors during the Disc Quality tests and there a good range of compatiability across the used review recording devices. OK, no NEC based recording device could read the LG GSA-4166B recording as shown in the transfer tests but I didn't find any other devices that shared the NECs decision to refuse to transfer and the reported quality of the recorded Plextor 16x DVD-R media was very good.

The Plextor PX-760A Premium was able to deliver a quite impressive 18x recording speed for this media and is certainly the drive of choose for bragging rights with your friends but I do feel the quality can be improved upon. At the time of releasing this review Plextor should of released firmware 1.02 for the PX-760A with the improvements I speak of. Of Course I wil be quick to point out thathat I have no other 18x capable recording devices to compare this recording against and so just how good or bad the 18x recording was is open to debate and personal opinion. The quality concious may not like the extra potential errors brought into the recording near the end but I found no problems that should get in the way of good short term archiving and the extra 30 seconds saved may appeal to the duplication market or simply someone in a hurry. Long term archivability is another matter and only time will tell as with any media reviews at CDR-Zone.COM.

The Philips DVDR 1660 offered a quite slow recording at 16x with its Solidburn technology adding about 20 seconds onto the recording but the recording quality is to be considered very good indeed. Philips offer no way to disable Solidburn officially and also recomend having it enabled for best results. Anyone with Nero CD-DVD Speed or QSuite 2.1 installed may find that they can disable Solidburn and achieve recording times closer to 6 minutes and 15 seconds with very good results on this media. Please rememeber to turn it back on again though if changing to a lower grade of media!

The Pioneer DVR 110 with firmware 1.39 achieved a very good level of recording quality in a very respectable time at 16x and is to be considered a very reliable recording device for the Plextor 16x DVD-R media on a consistent basis. It is normal to see Plextor DVD-R media well supported by Pioneer and the trend continues here. The NEC ND-4570A also achieved a good level of quality and low potential errors. The Jitter might be lower near the beginning for the very quality concious but I have no cause to be concerned at all with any recording carried out on it.

Although no NEC drive could read its recording, the LG GSA-416B did offer an excellent level of quality with low potential errors and jitter. I would have no issues recording the Plextor 16x DVD-R media on the LG, but I would hope that if LG or NEC are reading this review then they could do something about the problems found.

To sum up, the Plextor 16x DVD-R media delivered what I had hoped for. Another very good Plextor recordable media. As they source their media from Taiyo Yuden, I can only hope that this continues to be true but I will also point out that some early batches of Taiyo Yuden based 16x media can be variable in potential error levels compared to what I shown here in this review. Later batches such as the Plextor 16x DVD-R media in this review show exactly how good the media can be but be aware you may not get the same with other batches. I can only hope that the level of quality achieved with this batch continues throughout all the future batches produced.

About Plextor:

Plextor is a leading international manufacturer of extremely reliable, high quality recording equipment and is also one of the pioneers in the field of CD technology. From its parent company, Shinano Kenshi Co. Japan, Plextor has a built up tradition in the development and manufacture of advanced hardware and electronic precision equipment going back to 1918. With head offices in Japan, Europe and the United States, the company mainly sells its products through a network of specialized computer dealers. Plextor Europe -established in Brussels- takes responsibility for sales, marketing and technical support in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Since opening its Brussels office in 1994, Plextor has introduced a number of award winning products, including CD/DVD-ROM drives, CD/DVD recordable drives, CD/DVD media and USB Flash Memory Drives (PlexFlash). In addition to optical storage, flash memory and, more recently, digital video converters, Plextor is now offering portable hard disks for any user requiring extra mobile storage and a professional network hard disk for small businesses.

Sponsors of this review

I would like to take this moment to thank the companies who provided the media as well as most of the hardware for this review. Without the generous and ongoing support of these companies this review would not of been possible in such detail - Thank you!

• Medea International for supplying the Infinti Electric Blue 16x DVD-R media used in this review.
• SVP communications for providing the Plextor 16x DVD-R media as well as the Pioneer DVR 110, NEC ND-4570A and LG GSA-4166B DVD writers used in this review.
• Plextor Europe for providing the Plextor PX-760A Premium DVD writer used in this review.
• Philips For providing the Philips DVDR 1660P1 DVD writer used in this review.