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| Date Reviewed: 02/20/2006 |
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Strengths: Does what it is supposed to do. reliably burn DVDs and CDs. Quite fast.
Weaknesses: high price
Summary: Plextors are more known for their mechanical reliability. This drive does nothing that a Benq or a NEC cannot and both of those brands have a loyal following. However, its been noted that this drive can be flashed to a Benq 1640 which is one of the most coveted DVD burners around. THis drive does pretty much what its supposed to do - reliably and fast. But theres really nothing that sets this apart from NEC or Benq other than the hype.
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| Date Reviewed: 02/27/2006 |
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Strengths: Can handle DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL, DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW. CDV-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, CD-ROM discs (with the exception of DVD-RAM).
Comes with FireWire and Hi-Speed USB interfaces.
Weaknesses: Expensive.
Fan and operation noisy.
Nero Suite does not include MPEG-2 codec so you can not see commercial DVDs unless you purchase Nero’s DVD-video plug-in.
No Mac software.
No firewire cable
Summary: 2006-03-05 21:10:56 For some time now I was struggling with the different formats for DVDs (DVD-R and DVD+R). My DVD player at home works with DVD-R disks and my computer DVD drive works with DVD+R disks. I was unable to play my TV recordings in my computer or view my MPEG movies from my video camera (saved on DVD+R disks) on my TV so I decided to end up with that and purchase a unit that could handle both formats.
Since I needed the flexibility to move it from my desktop to my laptop, I needed an external unit. I was a little bit concerned about the system requirements where it says that minimum processor required is Pentium 4 @ 1.6GHz or equivalent but for what I can see such requirement is only for video editing and does not seem to affect the burning capabilities.
My systems configuration:
Desktop:
Pentium 3 @ 850 Mhz / 512 Mb RAM with dual boot running Windows 2000 and Linux Mandriva 2006
Laptop:
Pentium 4 @ 1.8 Ghz / 512 Mb RAM running Windows XP Pro
The installation is pretty plain. Just plugging in the USB cable into the computer will do. All 3 operating systems I tried (Windows 2000, Windows XP and Mandriva 2006) promptly and dutifully recognized and installed the PX-740UF.
As for the software, it comes with Nero OEM ver 6 for windows. It does not come with software for Mac even though it explicitly says that the unit is Mac Compatible and of course does not come with any software/driver whatsoever for Linux. Nevertheless, Plextor website does state that its CD burners are fully compliant with the Linux OS (see Article ID. HW00017 on Plextor’s website), so installing any CD burner application from your Linux distribution should do it.
Nero suite comes with:
Nero Express 6 for CD & DVD recording;
NeroVision Express 2 SE for DVD video editing and authoring;
Nero PhotoShow Express for photo management and editing;
InCD 4.2 for drag & drop packet writing;
Nero Showtime for video playback; and
Nero Toolkit for drive test and speed control.
Right after I finished installing all (but the InCD which I don’t really need) applications I inserted a DVD movie to test it, but it was very disappointing to find out that Nero Showtime does not come with the required DVD codec and that it had to be purchased separately. So I ended up removing Showtime and reinstalling my old WinDVD application which still works just fine to watch movies in my PC.
I tested reading and writing to/from CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R with no problem at all under windows. Under Linux it becomes a little more challenging because I was unable to configure it for supermounting so that the volume was mounted automatically. I guess the problem is the fact that the same device is wearing so many different hats. So basically I have to manually mount the unit every time I insert a disk (I will be doing more research on this). Under Mandriva, I’ve been able to burn CD’s and CD-RW as well as read DVD+R and DVD-R disks. Have not had a chance to do any recordings to DVD+R or DVD-R disks yet.
So, in closing, I’m very pleased with my purchase. I wish the PX-740UF was a little more quiet but I can live with it (althoug I usually turn it off when not in use) and regarding the high price, I purchased my unit from tigerdirect.com which not only has the lowest price I found on the net las week, but also has a nice $50 mail-in-rebate.
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| Date Reviewed: 04/11/2006 |
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Strengths: reliable, fast operation; nice appearance; good rebate offers
Weaknesses: noisy cooling fan, no included firewire cable
Summary: PX-740UF has been a fast and reliable DVD burner which can handle all formats available including the dual-layer media. Its enclosure is presentable as well. I took advantage of a good rebate offer which makes the final price very competitive.
However, the cooling fan is noisy - noticeably more so than other external DVD-burners. Additionally, Plextor did not include a firewire cable (a USB cable is included).
This is a good reliable external DVD burner for people who do not mind a noisy cooling fan.
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| Date Reviewed: 05/06/2006 |
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Strengths: powerful, reliable,excellent burner
Weaknesses: none so far
Summary: I bought this one coz' people said that it's rebadged Benq 1640 which is thought as one of the best burners. It's the first one I own, so I could not tell the difference between it and other ones. But I am quite satisfied with it. Some people said it's bulky and heavy. I think it's normal for external DVD burner, since it requires 5.25 inch enclosure. It's not like the ones for hard drive. As to noise, it's OK for me, since one of my external hard drives make much more noise. :)
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| Date Reviewed: 03/28/2006 |
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Strengths: Great burner, high speed
Weaknesses: Not great as a reader. A little big and heavy.
Summary: This is an exellent burner for the price and with the Plextor name tag. It burns very well at high speed and has both USB and firewire interfaces. Did not have any problem with any of my +R and -R burns. Yet to try dual layer. The reading speed is not great and the drive is not very good with ripping but that should not be a problem.
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| Date Reviewed: 02/23/2006 |
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Strengths: fast burn speed, reliable brand
Weaknesses: noisy
Summary: Without fancy apperance, PX-740UF works on DVD/VCD in the reliable way. It burns fast and smooth. The only weakness in my opinion is that its high speed fan is noisy. But maybe that's why it's reliable(high cooling efficiency).
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| Date Reviewed: 10/11/2006 |
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 Crashed my system everytime Strengths: Since it only actually worked one time on my system, I personally don't have anything to say here.
Weaknesses: Since everyone else loves this product, I think it may be my old (2+ years) toshiba satellite laptop that can't handle this burner?!
Summary: If you have an older computer, I can't say that recommend this burner. Everytime I turned the Plextor on, my system completely crashed! Aside from the first time I tried and successfully burned 1 cd, I am very unhappy with its performance.
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| Date Reviewed: 05/22/2006 |
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Strengths: High quality product.
Weaknesses: N/A
Summary: This is my second Plextor dvd burner. I bought my first Plextor for my DELL desktop. It is an internal one. It works great. Fast and reliable. Then I decided to buy an external one and here I am. All I would say for Plextor is a high quality product. Much better than other brand name.
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| Date Reviewed: 03/22/2006 |
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Strengths: external, portable, firewire and usb connections, double layer burning, burning speed, durability of case, quality of drive
Weaknesses: price
Summary: Its an excellent dvd burner but the price is the sticking point. Rather than provide technical information for those who are interested in writing errors and so on, talking in plain language its a great burner. You can burn cd and dvds including double layer so it pretty much burns all media that is currently avaialble. Double layer media is expensive but its also coming down in price. This unit does not burn pictures onto the discs (lightscribe) but no loss. The fact that the unit comes with firewire connection and usb is great but you likely wont use the firewire unless all your usb ports are being used. As well, you will have to buy a firewire connection as the unit does not include on. The unit is relatively sturdy, has a fan to cool the burning process and looks good too. As I understand, the actual drives inside are usually benq which depending on the model are really good drives but I am not sure as I have not opended mine up and dont intend to - it works fine. Plextor is a good brand and I would only recommend buying the unit if the price is right. Because technology changes so fast you ought to buy what you need at the time and replace as necessary.
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| Date Reviewed: 03/17/2006 |
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Strengths: Fast speed,good quality , easy to use
Weaknesses: Price!
Summary: The burner has fast speed and good quality, I burn a few DVDs, all can work well. It has high price, but also has correspond quality.But there is a little noisy for fan.
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| Date Reviewed: 03/13/2006 |
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Strengths: * Burns 8.5 GB on a disc
* Supports Windows and Mac OS X
* Supports Dual Layer Burning
Weaknesses: * Relatively expensive.
* Weighs about 3.5 lbs.
Summary: This Plextor burner is an excellent one. I am completely satisfied with it and would definitely recommend it. It is highly reliable. I simply love it!!! Burner comes with excellent Nero 6 software suite, which you can use for burning any content to DVD or CD.
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| Date Reviewed: 03/13/2006 |
- roadster72
from SC
- Member Since:
Apr 2004
View Member's:
Reviews
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Strengths: It is easy to use on many computers that don't have an internal dvd burner. Just plug in to a USB port or Firewire port and plug it into an AC outlet and it is ready to go. It will work with Xandros.
Weaknesses: None so far.
Summary: This is my first external DVD burner and it is just what I needed. Ordered from TigerDirect with no problems and there is a $40.00 and a $50.00 rebate on it which makes it even better of a buy. It works great and it is a good looking and sturdy built unit.
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| Date Reviewed: 03/07/2006 |
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Strengths: Easy to use, reliable
Weaknesses: none
Summary: this is the best burner I have used ever. I had it for about more than 1 week now. I have used it to burn 10 DVDs, 10 CDs, all went through successfully, no matter what brand of DVD-r I am using. I love it. Great product.
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| Date Reviewed: 03/06/2006 |
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Strengths: on this particular occasion, price, reliability, dual layer burning, usb and firewire connections, software bundle
Weaknesses: if not on sale, price only
Summary: purchased this unit on sale with a number of rebates for approximately $60 all in. I chose an external burner because I wanted to be able to burn discs at the office, at home and anywhere else I needed to. Pletor has a very good reputation when it comes to burners but you pay for the name. Shop carefully and try and buy this on sale. There is no issue buying other brands generally but at around $60 this was a great purchase for the money. It burns most type of media well and at speeds up to 16x including dual layer depending on what you media you are burning ie single use or re writable or double layer. The case is reasonably well constructed, has a fan and a usb and firewire connection. The unit is well ventalated so heat should not be a problem. Some people complain about the noise it generates when burning discs but understand, the faster the unit burns the faster the disc turns therefore the greater the noise generated - dont worry about it. This is a reliable unit and will give you many years of good service I beleive. Also comes with a good software bunring package NERO suite.
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