- Fast 8x Recording on 4x DVD+R Media
- Strong CD-R Recording and Reading
- Excellent Technical Support
- DVD Recordable Reading Speeds Lower Than Specifications
- 8x DVD+R Recording
- 4x DVD-R and DVD+RW Recording
- 2x DVD-RW Recording
- 40x CD-R Recording
- 24x CD-RW Recording
- 40x CD-ROM and 12x DVD-ROM Reading
- 2MB Buffer
- E-IDE (ATAPI) Interface
- Roxio Easy CD and DVD Creator 6 Software Bundle
- Unlimited Toll-Free Technical Support
2/3/04 - The Plextor PX-708A was one of the first optical drives on the market to support 8x DVD burning. The intriguing part about this is that the PX-708A is able to reach the 8x recording speed with standard 4x DVD+R media. This is a huge advantage over newer 8x DVD burners that require the new 8x DVD+R media.
The specifications for the PX-708A are fairly impressive. DVD recording speeds are 8x for DVD+R, 4x for DVD-R and DVD+RW and 2x for the DVD-RW format. CD recording speed are also fairly impressive at a 40x for CD-R media and 24x for CD-RW. Reading speeds are listed at 40x for CD and 12x for DVD. The drive uses a standard E-IDE ATAPI interface and comes with a standard 2MB buffer.
During testing, the PX-708A performed flawlessly in all recording tasks. Recording speeds were at or very close to the specifications. Noise from the drive during operating was also very low which is something that many drives tend to lack. Reading speeds were also impressive for CD media but a bit disappointing for the DVD media, around 6 to 8x rather than 12x.
The software bundle included with the drive is from Roxio and includes Easy CD and DVD Creator 6, PhotoSuite 5 SE and Drag-to-Disc for Windows. Burning a video CD in the application was not difficult and it was able to play in an older DVD player.
Anyone looking for a good high-speed DVD burner should take a look at the Plextor PX-708A. This is one superb drive. For additional comments and benchmarks, check out the Full Review.
