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Plextor PX-760A Internal DVD Drive Review |
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Written by Don Lee
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Wednesday, 11 October 2006 |
 Plextor PX-760A is an internal, multi-format drive that provides users
with all of the most popular disc formats. I picked one up because I
wanted to replace my current CD-RW drive inside my computer. I needed a
drive that could handle all of the popular disc formats. I came across
the Plextor PX-760A and gave it a try. Here is what I discovered about
the internal Plextor PX-760A multi-format DVD drive.
The feature that caught my attention was the Plextor PX-760A drive’s support for all of the popular formats. Imagine not having to worry about which blank media to purchase or buying the wrong format altogether. Here is what I discovered about the Plextor PX-760A E-IDE internal DVD burner.
Burn Baby Burn
Be aware that there are two versions of the PX-760 internal DVD burner. There is the E-IDE version called the PX-760A and there is the PX-760SA, which is the SATA version. Now moving onto the installation, you need to use the 80-connector cable to install the drive. Once the drive is connected, Windows recognized the drive on its own and installed the appropriate driver. After the driver installs, you will be prompted to restart your system.
Now that the drive is installed, you can now insert the Plextor DVD software disc. On the disc you will find Roxio Easy Media Creator 7 Basic DVD Edition software to help you with creating and burning your multimedia content. CinePlayer provides users with a standard DVD software player as well as the ability to create and manage MP3 audio files. The disc also contains the PlexTools Pro drive management software, a 30-day trial of Retrospect Backup and the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.
The writable formats supported by the Plextor PX-760A DVD drive include the following:
DVD+/-R, DVD+/-RW, DVD+R Dual Layer, DVD-R Dual Layer, CD-R, CD-RW
The drive supports a number of wide array of CD and DVD formats as well. Some of these formats include DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, multi-border, multi-session, DVD+VR, DVD-VR, CD-DA, CD-Extra, CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA, Photo CD, Video CD, multi-session CD, CD-Text, CD-I, CD+G, Packet Write, Bootable CD and Hybrid CDs.
To achieve maximum output, you must use an 80-conductor drive cable. If you don’t have one already, the Plextor PX760A DVD drive comes with one in the package.
As I ran my test burns using Roxio Easy Media Creator 7 Basic DVD Edition, I found the compatibility to be wonderful because I no longer had to worry about what type of media I was using. I tested the drive using a both DVD plus and minus media and they played fine on the drive. The Plextor PX-760A sports a 2-megabyte buffer to help prevent your discs from being turned into coasters. The drive’s disc access times were very good and was a vast improvement over my old drive.
The drive is very quiet during operation even when it is in constant use. Also, don’t be alarmed by the drive’s light being on all the time since that is part of the drive’s normal functioning.
The Final Word
I found the Plextor PX760A internal DVD burner to be an excellent addition to my Windows system. I set this up to replace my old CD-RW drive and the installation process took less than five minutes. Once the drive was in place and I rebooted, the system immediately recognized the drive and assigned it a drive letter.
Once the hardware side was complete, I installed the software from the Plextor DVD Writing Software Bundle that came with the drive. I liked the choice of Roxio Easy Media Creator 7 Basic DVD Edition as the main program for the drive because it meets the needs of most users. It sports features such as DVD creating and copying, capture (from sources such as digital cameras and scanners) and editing, importing and editing photos, creating slideshows, make data discs, copy and create audio CDs as well as make MP3 discs.
The Plextor PX-760A package comes with everything you’re going to need to get started. The drive installation is a breeze and Roxio Easy Media Creator 7 Basic DVD Edition provides good media management and creation tools as well as disc burning capabilities. The package includes one Verbatim DVD+R disc, the 80-connector drive cable and black and beige bezels.
When you combine that along with the drive’s inexpensive price and support for every popular disc format, you will find that the Plextor PX-760A is a very good solution when you’re looking to add a new or replace an internal disc drive to your computer. The Plextor PX-760A earns 4.5 stars out of 5. Highly recommended.
System Requirements
CPU: Pentium 4 1.4GHZ (minimum)
HDD 800 MB - 1 GB free space for copying CD to CD image
10 GB free hard drive space for DVD authoring
RAM 256 MB
Monitor Display Resolution 1024 X 768 at 16-bit color
OS Support - Windows /2000/XP/XP Professional x64
You can click HERE to purchase the Plextor PX-760A internal ATAPI DVD burner.
About Plextor
Plextor Corp. is a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media equipment for professionals, consumers, and enterprises. Headquartered in Silicon Valley since 1990, Plextor has introduced generations of award-winning products, including digital video converters and CD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, and DVD±R/RW optical disk drives. You can visit them online at http://www.plextor.com.
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