Plextor PX-740A

by Purav Sanghani on August 2, 2005 12:05 AM EST

About the PX-740A

Take a look at what Nero’s InfoTool shows about the PX-740A…

And here’s a snapshot of DVD Info Pro’s take on the PX-740A…


Click to enlarge.


Chipset Information

Plextor has changed chipsets for the PX-740A model from the Sanyo to Philips’ Nexperia PNX7860E chipset, which BenQ also used in their DW1640, which we included in our summer roundup.


Click to enlarge.

So, it seems like the PX-740A is just a re-badged DW1640. We can’t really say that “Plextor has stooped low”, since BenQ has made some pretty decent performing units in the past including the DW1640. With that said, the PX-740A obviously does not include any of the features that the PX-716A had, such as the GigaRec feature, which lets you burn larger amounts of media onto a standard CD.


Click to enlarge.

Take a look at what we should expect from the PX-740A…

Plextor PX-740A Feature List
DVD Write Performance DVD+R 16x: 22.16MB/s (CAV), 12x: 16.62MB/s (PCAV), 8x: 11.08MB/s, 4x: 5.54MB/s (ZCAV), 2.4x: 3.324MB/s
DVD+RW 8x: 11.08MB/s (ZCAV), 4x: 5.54MB/s (ZCAV), 2.4x: 3.324MB/s
DVD+R DL 8x: 11.08MB/s (PCAV), 4x: 5.54MB/s (ZCAV), 2.4x: 3.324MB/s
DVD-R 16x: 22.16MB/s (CAV), 12x: 16.62MB/s (PCAV), 8x: 11.08MB/s, 4x: 5.54MB/s (ZCAV), 2.4x: 3.324MB/s
DVD-RW 6x: 8.31MB/s (ZCAV), 4x: 5.54MB/s (ZCAV), 2.4x: 3.324MB/s
DVD-R DL 4x: 5.54MB/s (ZCAV), 2.4x: 3.324MB/s
CD Write Performance CD-R 48x: 7.2MB/s (CAV), 40x: 6.0MB/s (CAV), 32x: 4.8MB/s (PCAV), 24x: 3.6MB/s (PCAV), 16x: 2.4MB/s (ZCAV), 12x: 1.8MB/s (ZCAV)
CD-RW 32x: 4.8MB/s (PCAV), 24x: 3.6MB/s (PCAV), 16x: 2.4MB/s, 10x: 1.5MB/s, 4x: 600KB/s (ZCAV)
Media Read Performance DVD-ROM 16x CAV, 12x CAV, 8x CAV, 6x CAV, 4x CAV
CD-ROM 48x CAV, 40x CAV, 32x CAV, 24x CAV, 16x CAV, 10x CAV
Supported DVD Modes and Formats DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, Multiborder, Multisession, DVD+VR, DVD-VR
DVD+R: Disc at Once, Multisession, Incremental Recording
DVD+R DL: Disc at Once
DVD+RW: Sequential Write, Random Access Write, DVD-R: Disc at Once, Multiborder recording, Incremental recording
DVD-RW: Disc at Once, Multiborder recording, Incremental recording, Restricted Overwriting, DRT-DM
Supported CD Modes and Formats - CD-DA, CD-Extra, CD-ROM Mode-1, CD-ROM Mode-2, CD-ROM XA, Photo-CD, Video-CD, Multisession, CD TEXT, CD-I, CD+G, Mixed CD
- Track at Once, Disc at Once, Packet Write (variable and fixed), Session at Once
Access Time <150ms (CD/DVD)
Buffer 2MB
Interface EIDE/ATAPI

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  • Bozo Galora - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link

    Yet another DVD review with no Taiyo Yuden DVD media.
  • semo - Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - link

    yeah that bothers me too. mcc media are a good high grade specimen but ty are a lot more consistent. infiniti branded mcc media does not perform as good as verbatim branded ones (just like memory, some chips are ultra fast and ultra expensive and some are slow and just expensive).

    ty on the other hand don't deviate much from excellent (even the value grade ones). i have some unbranded 8x rated tyg02 dvd-rs that burned @ 16x in my dw1620 surpass the 16x mcc 03rg20 infinitis (burned at any speed) in quality.

    ty should be used more in reviews since it is very consistent. i'm half way through my tub of 100 and i never got a dvd with >500 pifs (usually less than 80). ty media is also very cheap in the us. in the uk it is more expensive but it is still half the price of even the cheapest junk sold in supermarkets or even cheaper and about the same price as mcc.
  • joex444 - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link

    I'm liking that 716's SATA inteface, though. Time to replace my NEC 1300.
  • larson0699 - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link

    PERHAPS its low price tag (in relation to PX-716A) has *something* to do with the fact that it's back to the old interface.

    Sorry, but SATA is totally 0wn1ng. *pets his 716A*
  • WileCoyote - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link

    Woah woah... time out. When did Plextor start rebadging drives? I always thought they were an OEM with top-notch quality. Now they're like everybody else? Sad.
  • dmxlite - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link

    Maybe because the BenQ drive is really good, and they needed something for the low end in their product lines.
  • kmmatney - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link

    So, are these only sold in 10 packs, or what?...
  • Hacp - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link

    I was hoping for something for Anandtech to review....... Cameras and Optical drives are just boring :(.
  • yacoub - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link

    hahah yeah, I almost fell asleep by the third page. Oh well it's still a very useful review for the review database here so when you're looking for a DL DVD burner drive in the future you can read it.
  • DeeSlanger - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link

    Instead of bitching about , Why dont you suggest or ask them if they can review some thing for Hacp...

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