Plextor announces the PX-712A, 12x DVD±RW recorder update

March 11, 2004

This morning I received a press release by Plextor Europe in which they announce their latest DVD recorder, the PX-712A. As the model number suggests, the drive will support 12x recording to DVD+R media. These higher recording speeds are of course great but in order to record at 12x you would also need media that supports this extremely high recording speeds. Luckiliy, just as with Plextor's previous DVD recorder, the PX-708A , the PX-712A will be able to record some 8x DVD+R media at 12x, a world's first.

Besides the high DVD+R recording speeds the Plextor PX-712A will of also support other high recording speeds; 8x DVD-R, 4x DVD±RW, 48x CD-R and 24x CD-RW. When it comes to reading media the drive will support 16x DVD-ROM reading (12x for dual-layer discs) and 48x CD-ROM reading. Another thing is that the Plextor PX-712A will have the same features as the Plextor Premium recorder: GigaRec (burn up to 910 MB to a standard 700MB disc), SecuRec (create password protected discs) and Q-Check (advanced quality controls using the PlexTools Professional software). It also offers a choice of a black or a white bezel.

Last but not least Plextor has also announced new Plextor DVD media: 8x DVD+R media, which will work at 12x in the Plextor PX-712A DVD recorder, and 8x DVD-R media.

You can forget totally about the "standards war about DVD plus and DVD minus" when using the new Plextor internal DVD driver PX-712A. Plextor understands only too well that this kind of industry squabble should not cause the slightest nuisance for users. The PX-712A can handle both the DVD plus and the DVD minus format. As the fastest drive on the market, the PX-712A burns a 4.7GB DVD-disk in around 6 minutes! But speed cannot be an excuse for compromising on quality. At Plextor, quality is self-evident, and every drive is covered by our customary 2 year warranty (On-Site Collect & Return). So you can make back-ups of your favourite DVDs, photo albums or other data at lightning speed. DVD plus disks can be written at a top speed of no less than 12x, and re-writing at 4x. For DVD minus, these speeds are 8x and 4x respectively. DVD-ROMs are read at 16x and the drives also handle CDs. These disks are written and read at 48x and rewritten at 24x.

Optimum performance

To prevent Buffer Underruns the PX-712A uses Buffer Underrun Proof technology (for CD), Lossless Linking (for DVD+R/RW) and Zero Link technology (for DVD-R/RW). Using the "Background formatting" function and a buffer memory of 8 MB, this drive can also format during writing.

The PX-712A is also equipped with Plextor's "PoweRec" technology (Plextor Optimised Writing Error Reduction Control) which, depending on the quality of the DVD/CDs used, determines the optimum speed during burning, and thus helps to prevent writing errors. Plextor's "VariRec" technology enables the user to choose from eight tone settings to improve and personalise sound recordings. Furthermore, the drive also supports the "Mount Rainier" technology that converts a CD into a universal storage disk.

Even faster media

With a high-performance DVD recorder, you should demand high-performance media. The latest Plextor DVD R media (plus and minus) has storage capacity of 4.7 GB (over 120 minutes). Quite sufficient to archive your whole collection of video images, favourite music or any other kind of data, safely, cheaply and lightning-fast. Lightning-fast is no exaggeration: the new Plextor media have a write speed of no less than 8x, offer optimum writing quality, superior reliability and register with extreme precision. Better still, in combination with the PX-712A the write speed is even 12x (DVD+R); at present, that performance is unrivalled on the market.Plextor DVD+R disks are not only suitable for Plextor DVD recorders, but can also be used in devices from all other manufacturers. The 8x DVD+R media are available as a 5 -pack or per 25 in a cakebox; the 8X DVD-R discs only come in a 5-pack.

The Plextor PX-712A will be available from the beginning of May for a recommended retail price of 179 EURO (excl. VAT). The DVD+R media will be available commercially from April, and the DVD-R media from May. Please discuss this new Plextor drive in our Plextor Forum!

*update* In a separate news release, Plextor has also announced "the industry's first" SATA drive, the PX-712SA/JP, in early June. They estimate a retail price of about 25,000 yen (about 225 dollars U.S.) White bezels only.

Plextor has more pictures, and full specs, for both drives on its Japanese website. Pix/specs for the ATAPI drive are here, and for the SATA here. These are in PDF format and require Japanese character fonts to view.

Additional information for this article came from the Japanese PC Watch site and Plextor's Japanese news page.

Ps, Thanks NoLimit for also reporing us this news!

Source: Plextor Europe