When it comes to optical storage devices, there is one manufacturer whose name is synonymous with quality, dependability, and consistent performance: Plextor. Moreover, their products are known for stealth. Without exaggeration, I quite often find myself glancing at a Plextor drive just to make sure it's running. Seriously, they're that quiet. These reasons explain why I have never hesitated to pay a little more for a Plextor.
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Today I will report to you my findings regarding their newly released CD-R/RW optical drive, the PlexWriter PX-230A. The PX-230A is an internal 3-in-1 CD-RW drive; writing at 52x, rewriting at 32x, and reading at 52x. Now, here's the best part. Remember what I said just a second ago about being willing to pay a little more for a Plextor? Well, PX-230A has an M.S.R.P. of only $65. Ya, $65. Wow! Think about it for a second, that means (depending on where you shop) that you could get into a pair of these for under $150. Very cool.
What's in the Box
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Here's what I found in the box: PX-230A, a Quick Install Guide, a PlexWriter Software CD, and a sealed plastic bag containing a jumper, four mounting screws, and a little L shaped tool for triggering the emergency eject...and that's all folks. Hmmm...no 80-conductor ribbon cable, analog audio cable, or digital/SPDIF cable? That stuff is usually standard with optical drives. Oh well, if you're like me you already have about four hundred 80-conductor ribbon cables laying around, and a few of the analog and SPDIF ones too. If you don't have these cables already they will only set you back a few dollars, and at $65 for the drive you're still way ahead of the game.
Another minor thing to note - look at these pictures:
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The top unit is the retail model, the bottom is the engineering sample. Not much difference, huh. The PX-230A has no visible outer markings to identify it other than the sticker on the top. It's not a big deal, but you won't be able to proudly display the Plextor logo and model number on the face as on other Plextor drives (i.e. PX-712A, PX-716A, etc.).
The software included is a nice bonus. Plextor provides you with Roxio(R) Easy Media Creator(TM) 7 Basic VCD Edition for Windows 2000/XP(TM) to get you started burning CD's.
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