Customer Reviews

Plextor PX-716SA DVD+\-RW Dual LayerSerial ATA Drive

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As far as I can tell, Plextor seems to be the only company making SATA DVD writers. This PX-716SA, and its PX-712SA little brother are the only options I know of. I don't know why other companies don't make these writers with SATA connections. It's not the data transfer speed that I'm interested in (irrelevant for these devices). It's just the convenience of those small SATA data connectors (that and the ability to turn off the PATA side of my disk controller). The only thing that worries me about the 716SA is the lack of a digital audio out SPDIF connector. That connector is used to directly transfer digital audio from CDs to the sound card without having to go through the system bus. Without it, the system has to handle the load. I don't know if will be a problem since I hardly ever use that function. But, still, it worries me. Time will tell.

Update: After using the drive for a while to play music CDs, I'll have to say that the lack of that SPDIF connector makes no difference: the music plays just fine.

For those interested, I installed the drive as follows into my XP SP2 system:

- Important first steps: I copied the serial number from the top of the drive and then backed up all my data.
- To ensure no problems with software, I uninstalled my CD/DVD writing software (Ahead Nero Burning ROM 5.5.10.56) from Start | Control Panel | Add or Remove Programs. It wasn't necessary, but I then rebooted.
- For the hardware, I turned off the computer, opened it up, disconnected my existing CD drive from power, sound card, and IDE port. I then unscrewed and removed the drive.
- To add the new drive, I used the provided power cable adapter to convert a 4-pin power lead to the SATA 15-pin lead and plugged that into the drive (it's keyed so it only goes in one way). I used the provided 7-pin SATA interface cable to connect the drive to the second SATA interface (also keyed) on my motherboard (MSI 865PE-Neo2-FIS2R). Using the four provided screws, I screwed the drive into my computer case and closed everything up.
- When I started the computer, the first thing I did was press the DELETE key to enter its AMI BIOS setup. Since I no longer used a PATA drive, I went to Ingegrated Peripherals | On-Chip IDE Configuration and changed the ATA Configuration from "P-ATA + S-ATA" to "S-ATA only" and the On-Chip ATA(s) Operate Mode from "Legacy Mode" to "Native Mode" (possible because XP natively supports the interface). Everything else stayed the same. I did a Save & Exit and let the computer boot into Windows.
- I expected Windows to tell me it had found new hardware. That didn't happen. I went to Start | Control Panel | System | Hardware | Device Manager and saw that the new drive was there (labeled as a PX-716A (not SA)). It also appeared to be running version 1.07 firmware. Plextor's site has 1.08 firmware, so I downloaded and installed it (that software confirmed the drive had 1.07 firmware). Afterward, I had to reboot.
- After booting, I put the provided DVD into the drive and, from its menu, registered the software (you need the serial number from the top of the drive (it was also on my packing slip and on the box)).
- According to that menu, the PlexTools Professional software was 2.17. Plextor's site has version 2.23, so I downloaded and tried to install it. It wanted a previous version to update. So, I cancelled that installation and installed what came on the DVD (which turned out to be 2.20, not 2.17). I rebooted and installed the 2.23 update. Again, I had to reboot afterward.
- The drive comes with Roxio's Easy Media Creator 7 Basic software (which does all kinds of DVD authoring stuff I don't need) and DVDMax Player 2 (which I might use later). I didn't bother installing them. I just re-installed my Nero Burning ROM 5.5.10.56 and did a couple of backups. I only had some 8x single-layer DVD media on hand, so I could "only" back up 4.7 GB at half the speed the drive is capable of. But, that worked fine. At some point, I'll try some 16x media (for speed) and some double-layer media (for capacity -- 8.5 GB).

So far, I'm very pleased with the drive. I rate it as four stars out of five. If it had that SPDIF connector and a less "bloated" CD/DVD writing software package, I'd probably give it five stars out of five.

Update 2: After reading through the PDFs that came with this drive, I found that I was mistaken about the tools provided. I was under the impression that the PlexTools software was just a utility to set various drive settings. It turns out that it also provides CD/DVD playing/extracting/writing/copying tools. As such, I really don't need my Nero software: I can use PlexTools instead. Because of this, I'd increase my rating from four stars up to five stars. Unfortunately, Amazon won't let me edit the actual star rating of this review. So, even though this review shows four stars, it really should be FIVE STARS *****.

I installed this drive in a small form factor pc that I built in September. I've burned less than thirty CD/DVD's since and now the drive refuses to read or write any disks. I have always heard about the quality of the Plextor drives so what a disappointment this one is. Plextor customer service responded quickly to my email and suggested the cause was bad media and that I should use only media that Plextor had tested. I reviewed their approved media and found the media I was using was listed there. To make sure I didn't have a bad batch of DVD+R's I tried several of them in my HP laptop where they worked just fine. I wrote back to Plextor with more information about the drive, how I updated the firmware to the latest version and when that didn't work tried several earlier versions of the firmware to see if there was a compatibility issue.....nothing worked. Plextor suggested testing the drive with it's on-board testing feature which required disassembling the pc and detaching the SATA cable. The drive test failed. A quick review of the pc hardware forums revealed that this is a problematic drive and I recommend a careful reading of the reviews of this and other Plextor drives before paying a premium price for this product.

I've been using the Plextor PX-716SA for a little over a year already. Burnt many cdrs, cd-rws, dvds, and dvd+rws discs without any problems. Always burns at a fast, consistent rate. This is the only optical drive I have on my computer so it has no problems reading any discs that I insert too. It's also quiet when read discs inserted into it and burning discs compared to other optical drives I've used in the past. The original drive I had did die on me a couple of months ago, but Plextor's tech support was helpful when I needed to get a replacement drive under warranty.

Recieved this item new in the box. I initially didn't notice anything wrong with the drive since I never used it. Started using it and it would burn nothing but coasters even with media disc they recommend. I have been complaining to Plextor about this since June and they would tell me there is a firmware update or something along the lines coming out in the near future. Install that and then call us back if it still has an issue. Did that a couple of times and the realized they are just avoiding having a bad drive returned. Tech support said the motherboard chipset was bad or something and it wasn't their problem. So I went out and purchased a Samsung DVD drive that out preforms the paper weight's advertised speed, reviews, ect. Best thing is the Samsung drive cost about 1/4 of what the Plextor one did. So I call up Plextor and told them about the Samsung drive and they were telling me the warranty is up and the reseller I purchased the drive from wasn't an authorized dealer. But yet the drive came to my house in an unopened brand new sealed Plextor box. Recieved one star because there is no option for zero stars.

This item has performed well thus far. I haven't put it through a thorouh testing yet, hence the 4 stars. But at this point I expect no issues. The fact that it was reasonably priced, SATA connected and from a trusted name got to buy this product. And since I haven't had any issues, I would buy another.

This burner is rock solid. I use it to back up my DVD collection. The burner does not seem to be affected by multi tasking with my PC. I'm so happy with it that I've removed the other 2 burners (one of which is a light scribe HP burner...dont waste your time..). This also does a great job with ripping music from CD's. I cant remember what software comes with this but I have really come to trust and support Nero Burning ROM.

I had always wondered why plextors were so expensive and was sure I'd never get one though in my heart I lusted after a SATA burner. I was given this drive as a gift (well, I was given gift cards for Amazon). This is an incredible drive, quiet and quick with a good software package. I'm very impressed and cheap as I might be I have to admit this drive is well worth the price.

I bought this drive because it's shorter than the popular NEC-3550a drive and the SATA/power connectors are on the left side of the drive. I'm using it in an HTPC case which has very little clearance for an optical drive, but this Plextor works perfectly.

Pros:
- Shorter than other comparable DVD drives.
- Connectors are on the left side, which may help people with desktop style cases where the CPU cooler is close to the drive.
- Fast read speeds and relatively quiet for DVDs and CDs

Cons:
- I don't like the software package. No Nero? No PowerDVD?
- Slight compatibility issue with my ASRock 939SLI32-eSATA2 motherboard. After installing the 716SA, my system takes a long time to detect the drives during POST.
- Expensive.

I have one Sony DVD Drive and one Plextor CD Drive, I have always had Plextor drives and never had any problems with them, I wanted to get another Dual Layer DVD Drive to make it possible to copy DVD to DVD instad of DVD to Hard Drive to DVD, and the nicest thing about this Plextor DVD drive,is that it is ATA and therefore I was able to keep my Plextor CD Drive too.
I had excellent service from AMAZON and delivery was prompt.

This drive is truely fast very few errors and is easy to use, Plextor gives a nice software bundle and the drive included both color faceplates in the box no waiting.
Installed and WORKS!