No more wasted CD's (Plextor Plexwriter 12/10/32A)

Member Name: heneghan

Product:	Plextor Plexwriter 12/10/32A
Date:	13/01/01 (325 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fast, reliable, burn-proof technology, good build quality

Disadvantages: Relatively expensive

The Plexwriter 12/10/32A is, at the time of writing this review, one of the fastest and most reliable CD writers on the market. A quick tour around PC World will tell you it is more expensive than other writers (typically, my local PC World don't stock the Plextor) but the extra investment is well worth it. You can buy this unit for just under £200 including VAT from Jungle.com. For this price you get:

- the 12/10/32 CD-R/W Unit
- CD recording software: WinOnCD, Packet CD & BackMeUp
- Plextor utility software (Plextools)
- Instruction manual
- Audio cable, mounting screws, E-IDE cable
- 1 blank CD-R & i blank CD-R/W

As the name implies, the Plexwriter writes at 12 speed, re-writes at 10 speed and reads at 32 speed. This means you can write to a 650MB CD in about 5 minutes, or re-write in about 7 minutes. That's fast, believe me!

The Plexwriter includes a 2MB data buffer with "burn-proof" technology. This means that if data is sent too quickly to the device, it senses if the buffer is about to be all used up and pauses the recording, and by avoiding such "buffer under-runs", results in far fewer wasted CD's. In fact, I have had a 100% success rate so far!

The build quality of the unit is very good. The tray is solid and eject mechanism smooth. I was very re-assured by the excellent warranty, which was 12 months with on-site collection and return service.

The instruction manual was reasonable and I found the installation procedure very straightforward. My one criticism would be that the clarity of the installation instructions could be improved. It's fine if you're used to wipping the case off your PC and installing new hardware, but for computer novices, the manual is a touch presumptious.

As for the bundled software, it all installed very easily with no problems. Of the three packages, I have only used the WinOnCD, so will restrict my observat
ions to that. I am sure there may be better packages on the market and I would advise you to stick to what you know and trust, but I have been pretty impressed by WinOnCD. It comes with a very clear manual in .pdf format. Also, for the novice, it has a very useful Wizard mode that takes you through each step of the process until you feel comfortable using the software without the wizard.

In summary, a great prduct, I would highly recommend it.

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