Plextor questions...should I upgrade or stay with Plextor?

[rich121]

I have a Plextor PX-716A with Plextools Professional XL software.
I have had this for the past few years, but have had nothing but problems..could be me, but I'm thinking it's the burner.
I have been thinking about buying a new, old stock PX-716 UF external (actually 2) and going from there?

I want the very best Audio quality from my CD-R's and I also want the best DVD-R quality..

I have yet been able to burn a DVD-R from this player..

Would I be better off going with a more modern Pioneer or Samsung (I see the Samsung drivesare no longer sold at my local Best Buy) and a different software?

I believe the Plextor/Plextools would be best, but not if I can't get it to work properly.

Your suggestions would be greatly appreciated,

Rick

[geno888]

Genuine Plextor drives are not more produced, so if you buy another Plextor you’ll get a rebranded drive (if I’m not wrong, latest models are actually liteon drives).

A Pioneer will be certainly a good choice, being an excellent drive, but to get the best quality for your burned discs you must get also good quality media: in fact, no drive can transform an ugly disc into a quality one.

If you are interested in a good drive to rip your audio CDs, and if you can find one (very difficult), and if you can afford it, I suggest to get a Plextor premium (a CD burner) and using that drive with Exact Audio Copy. In my personal opinion, Plextools is not a so good software, and actually I always find it totally confusing…

[negritude]

[QUOTE=rich121;2148684]I have a Plextor PX-716A…Would I be better off going with a more modern Pioneer or Samsung…[/QUOTE]

Your best bet would be either to get a more modern drive, or, if you want to stay with Plextor, get a better used Plextor, like a PX-760A. The PX-716A was infamous for being problematic, so I don’t trust or respect that model of drive. The later Plextors were way better.

Of course, you have to be careful, because Plextor at a certain point began to rebadge the drives from other manufacturers, and give them Plextor model numbers, but they obviously weren’t real Plextor drives, and didn’t perform like them. The only real Plextors I suggest you consider are the PX-755A/SA/UF or the PX-760A/SA/UF. Those were the last genuine Plextor drives. Models before and after that are “fake.”

[negritude]

[QUOTE=geno888;2148965] In my personal opinion, Plextools is not a so good software, and actually I always find it totally confusing…[/QUOTE]

OMG! I can’t believe someone had the nerve to say that out loud! The emperor has no clothes! LOL! (I partly agree with you, BTW).

[Two_Degrees]

Nothing wrong with going for a new 716UF (I think I have an idea where from, save one for me!!). I have several 716 series drives and most are quite nice.

[TM1]

[QUOTE=rich121;2148684]I have a Plextor PX-716A with Plextools Professional XL software.
I have had this for the past few years, but have had nothing but problems…could be me, but I’m thinking it’s the burner.
I have been thinking about buying a new, old stock PX-716 UF external (actually 2) and going from there?[/QUOTE]
In the past there were good and not so good PX-716A drives. At the begin of the 716 there were more problems. At the end of the production of the 716 IMO there were only less or no problems with this drive.

[QUOTE=rich121;2148684]I want the very best Audio quality from my CD-R’s and I also want the best DVD-R quality…[/QUOTE]
The 716 is a good CD burner and also the DVD burning results are good with most media I used.

[QUOTE=rich121;2148684]Would I be better off going with a more modern Pioneer or Samsung (I see the Samsung drives are no longer sold at my local Best Buy) and a different software?[/QUOTE]
The Pioneer 115 and 215 are great drives, I have both. If the 116 and 216 are also as good as the x15 I do not know, curently I do not have a lot experience with both drives, my 116 is still unused.

[QUOTE=rich121;2148684]I believe the Plextor/Plextools would be best, but not if I can’t get it to work properly.[/QUOTE]
I agree with you, PlexTools have more or less bugs.

I’d recommend Pioneer drives, the Samsung 202 and 203 drives are also good, the NEC 720xA/S drive looks also good to me, and you can still use your 716 for scanning / CD / DVD burning…

[nbarzgar]

I’ve got a 755A-Model and am still wondering which [I]burning software[/I] to use:
I need to

• burn data-dvd-discs and video-dvd a lot and would like
• to be able to change folder- or file-names in the project-/burn-layout, without doing anything to the files and
• see the remaining disc space after having added files/data to the layout.

My burner (touch wood ) does excellent work with almost any app, but every now and again I run into their respective limitations…

1. In [B]Prassi ONES [/B] changing file names in project is not possible, otherwise I would have stayed with it.
2. [B]Ashampoo [/B]is nice, fast and easy, very well structured and uncluttered GUI, but uses a LOT of resources during burn…
   (Is this possibly it’s strategy to prevent buffer-underrun…?) My budget is limited, so at the moment additional RAM will be out of the question…
3. [B]ImgBurn[/B]: great, if you get the hang of where to turn off the respective query-messages (can be very annoying, if default settings in use…). BUT when it calculates the size, it does an accurate job without considering the present media… Might be a minor drawback, but it would save time, if it showed the space left/used on inserted media.

So: anything else I missed you guys would like to suggest?
(Please, no NERO or PlexTools recommendations, thank you!)

EDIT: Does this need a new thread…? I hope it’s OK to add it to this one, as it’s concerned with Plextor and fitting burning-software… EDIT

[nbarzgar]

Me again:
perhabs I should add ImgBurn actually [I]does [/I]consider inserted media, but not always correctly.
ImgBurn support-forum would be the better place to post, right?

[rich121]

“EDIT: Does this need a new thread…? I hope it’s OK to add it to this one, as it’s concerned with Plextor and fitting burning-software… EDIT[/QUOTE]”

I believe it’s called “thread hijacking”…

[QUOTE=nbarzgar;2150947]I’ve got a 755A-Model and am still wondering which [I]burning software[/I] to use:
I need to

• burn data-dvd-discs and video-dvd a lot and would like
• to be able to change folder- or file-names in the project-/burn-layout, without doing anything to the files and
• see the remaining disc space after having added files/data to the layout.

My burner (touch wood ) does excellent work with almost any app, but every now and again I run into their respective limitations…

1. In [B]Prassi ONES [/B] changing file names in project is not possible, otherwise I would have stayed with it.
2. [B]Ashampoo [/B]is nice, fast and easy, very well structured and uncluttered GUI, but uses a LOT of resources during burn…
   (Is this possibly it’s strategy to prevent buffer-underrun…?) My budget is limited, so at the moment additional RAM will be out of the question…
3. [B]ImgBurn[/B]: great, if you get the hang of where to turn off the respective query-messages (can be very annoying, if default settings in use…). BUT when it calculates the size, it does an accurate job without considering the present media… Might be a minor drawback, but it would save time, if it showed the space left/used on inserted media.

So: anything else I missed you guys would like to suggest?
(Please, no NERO or PlexTools recommendations, thank you!)

EDIT: Does this need a new thread…? I hope it’s OK to add it to this one, as it’s concerned with Plextor and fitting burning-software… EDIT[/QUOTE]

[negritude]

[QUOTE=nbarzgar;2150947]EDIT: Does this need a new thread…? I hope it’s OK to add it to this one, as it’s concerned with Plextor and fitting burning-software… EDIT[/QUOTE]

Yes. No one is going to deal with your unrelated question. You’re only hurting yourself and making it harder to get help.