Plextor Plexwrite PX-230A Review

Bottom-Line: You would be hard pressed to find a better CD-R/CD-RW drive to create, edit and share customized CD's.

I have bought my last sub-twenty dollar CD/RW drive; that just don't last!  Something invariably goes wrong with these cheap all-too prevalent drives, which only goes to confirm my firm belief that if you buy it cheap, you buy it twice.  Just in the last month I have had to replace two cheap CD-RW drives because they would no longer read a CD.  Isn't that what they are supposed to do!?  The computer BIOS Windows XP would detect the drives, but they refused to read a disc, any disc, burned or straight from the plastic wrap.  Good luck trying to get the fixed or exchanged; it is better to just toss the drive and start over with a quality drive that cost more, but will offer you years of reliable service.  In both cases I chose the Plextor Plexwrite PX-230A CD-RW drive.        

The Product

The Plextor Plexwriter PX-230A is a fast, reliable, internal 3-in-1 52x-32x-52x CD Solution; i.e. CD-R, CD-RW, and CD-ROM drive. The PC230A can burn a 650MB disc in less than 3 minutes, recording at a theoretical speed 52X. It can (theoretically) rewrite at a noteworthy 32X and can read a disc at 52x speed.  Note: I qualified the write and rewrite speeds because actual speeds tend to be somewhat lower then advertised, and thereby should be considered theoretical.  The actual speed is usually 1/3 to ½ of the advertised specifications.    

The Plexwriter PX-230A supports CD Text, CD Extra, CD-DA (audio), CD-I, CD-ROM XA, Mixed-mode CD, Photo CD, Video CD, CD-ROM, CD+G (Karaoke CD). It also supports the following session modes: Multi-session, disk-at-once, track-at-once, packet writing, session-at-once, and random access write recording. The Plexwriter PX-230A features a 2 MB buffer, 100ms access time and supports CD-ROM, CD-R and CD-RW.

Plextor packs a number of useful technologies into the Plexwriter PX-230A. Plextor's innovative PoweRec (Plextor Optimized Writing Error Reduction Control) technology is a refined write strategy for superior quality and stable recording at maximum speeds. Speed-Read provides maximum speed with data reliability; it enables the user to maximize read speed without sacrificing data integrity and ensures safe operation of the drive. Self-diagnostics allows users to determine if a problem experienced is drive related or not. The Plexwriter PX-230A like all Plextor drives, utilizes a black CD tray, which minimizes jitter and reduces C1 error rates. Finally, optimized PCB circuits near the power source decrease noise and provides clean power to the drive, improving both jitter and deviation levels.

Installation & Use

I bought a bare bones Original Equipment Manufacture (OEM) drive from NewEgg.com for just over $50.00, including shipping.  Because I purchased an OEM drive there was no mounting hardware (rails), or cables included in the box, but the drive did ship with Plextor software (Plextor badged Roxio Easy CD Creator) and mounting screws.  The retail version of the drive, which sells for approximately $15.00 more, includes the latest version Nero Burning ROM, or EZ-CD Creator Basic as well as mounting hardware and IDE and audio cables for connecting the Plexwriter PX-230A to the motherboard and sound card.

Front panel controls / displays consist of a yellow power light which flashes when recoding; an eject button for the smooth-as-butter black tray.  A manual eject hole is situated in the middle of the drive underneath the tray door.  Since this is an OEM drive, there is no volume control knob, or hard phone jacks. 

The back panel includes an internal power connection, standard 40-pin IDE connection; drive configuration dip switches; i.e. Master, Slave, Cable Select; and one set of audio out connections. 

Like all Plextor drives, the Plexwriter PX-230A drive is quiet.  In contrast to the I/O Magic drive the Plexwriter PX-230A replaced sounded like a gas turbine engine when it spun up, when it spun up at all.  Reading from the drive is quick and trouble free, so far; I have not been able to burn any files to the drive yet, but I have every confidence that it will perform like all of the other Plextor drives I have installed and used.     

My Viewpoint

In my opinion, for the money (sub-$75.00 range) you will not find a better CD-RW drive for data backup & archiving, mixing and creating data/music CDs, sharing files with friends, and duplicating CD's then the Plexwriter PX-230A.   Plextor has long been the preferred choice of professionals, including top recording artists, IT specialists and technology consultants, and with the introduction of the Plexwriter PX-230A and several other drives from Plextor below the $100.00 price point, the masses can now come to enjoy the Plextor experience.