Reviews for Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

DVD±R/±RW - EIDE/ATAPI - Internal - MPN: PX716ASW

  • 4
  By member: Stimpco - May 18, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: GREAT speed in burning all media, no coasters yet!

Weakness: MAJOR issues with READING....don't even TRY using dvd decrypter with it to READ. WRITES fine.

You will be very happy with this product all in all as long as it is strictly a burner. Make sure you have a 2nd drive to do all your cd/dvd reading and you'll be very impressed with this. I'm still a little disappointed in the customer service NOT acknowledging the read issue.

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Reply by member: sholling
Jul 23, 2005

I've never had a problem reading from mine. I don't think your issue is widespread. The first I would try is upgrading the firmware. If that doesn't solve them problem then I'd contact Plextor about a replacement for an obviously defective drive.

Good luck!

  • 1
  By member: jam007 - Aug 14, 2005

WTF happened?

Strengths: Good speed and firmware upgrades.

Weakness: Dead for the 2nd time...

I've only had it for 7 months and I'm about to send it back the 2nd time. My PC recognizes I have a drive, but when I put in *ANY* disc (DVD or CD) it does nothing. Oh and it's REALLY loud most of the time.

My Lite-On 4x burner still works!

Sad I had such a bad experience with it.

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  • 1
  By member: farseer911 - Oct 14, 2005

POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE AND RMA REPAIRS

Strengths: Great drive, blazing fast.

Weakness: second drive, secont time it failed.

Great drive, however I have had to replace it twice, due to drive failure. Both drives started having initialization errors.

However if you write on the paper label of the drive (I do so I know what machine they came out of, date & place of purchase and order number) THEY WILL NOT REPLACE THE DRIVE. THEY SAY YOU HAVE DEFACED THE DRIVE AND ALTERED IT. They will not service the drive that is the end of the story. If does not matter who you call talk to or ask. I spoke with the VP of Operations and received the same story, No I have defaced the drive and they will not replace it. It is also considered defacing or altering the drive if you add another label to it. under the serial number lable They say that that label may have caused the drive to fail. It may have kept in heat or done damage to the drive. Once again They will not service the drive and you are out.

So based on this I must give Plextor a 1 star. they just will not service their product regardless and will find a way to get out of it if they would like to. Ohh and the marker that wrote on the first drive is removable, regardless they will not allow resubmissions once they deny the RMA. YOU ARE S.O.L.!!!

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Reply by member: jjbeaman
Nov 11, 2005

Most, if not all optical drive (CD/DVD-ROMS, CD/DVD Burner's) manufacturer's have the same policy about defacing. If it's been written/marked, colored/painted, or scratched on it is considered defaced. If the serial number, or the factory seal has been tampererd with it is considered altered. Plextor is not the only manufacturor that is very strict, and unforgiving about that policy either. If you need to mark on it, use masking tape, it peels right off.

Reply by member: mannaman
Mar 15, 2006

Well, THAT SUCKS! COMPLETELY! I wish I had a larger font to say so!

Now, it's completely reasonable for any company to make policies and procedures to protect their product from tampering and I completely understand the warning labels that say if they're removed, the warranty is void. However, simply writing on the metal something like the serial number so that it can be seen more easily or the jumper settings that one uses or which machine it came out of - to use THESE as an excuse to void a warranty is LOW CLASS AND INEXCUSABLE.

I've RMAed my Plextor... AFTER I get it back, I'm going to let them know that the esteem I held them in has dropped dramastically!

I'm pissed. That sucks soooooooooo much. The REALLY BAD thing about it is THAT THEY DON'T TELL YOU BEFOREHAND!

I consider that a lack of integrity. That's all there is to it.

Reply by member: mannaman
Mar 15, 2006

I talked to a tech support representative at Plextor and he confirmed what farseer911 said! I held my tongue as they haven't fixed my drive yet and if they'd void the warranty because of my writing the serial number on the drive where I could easily see it, then who knows for what OTHER UNKNOWN reasons they might decide TO VOID the warranty. I'll wait until they fix it to tell them that though Plextors are the ONLY DVD burners I've ever bought, this has put a REALLY BAD taste in my mouth and lowered my respect for them as a company.

Again, though it completely sucks that they would void a warranty over a serial being written where it can easily be seen, the most significant issue is that they have this policy WITHOUT TELLING PEOPLE BEFOREHAND. I had to hear it on this forum! THAT'S what really chaps me!

Reply by member: jjbeaman
Mar 15, 2006

The reason they don't want any marks on them is because the drive you send in won't be the drive you get back. They send you a reconditioned/refurbished drive. Then they take yours and recondition/refurbish it if possible, and send it to someone else who has sent in their's for warranty. Otherwise the wait time to get a working unit would be considerably longer. How would you like to get a working unit back that had writing or coloring/marks on it, when the one you sent in was unblemished on the outside? You'd probably send it back saying it's all marked up, and the one you sent in was "like new" except for the internal problems.

  • 3
  By member: kcolbou - Sep 3, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: Speed, Compatability

Weakness: I have 2 one crashed at 10 months.

I've had 2 of the 716A Plextor dives now for about 10 months. All worked well until now. The installation was a snap, plug and play at it's best. Worked well even with XP's own DVD and CD burning capabilities. At ten months my one drive quit reading any disks at all and was giving I/O errors. Upon emailing Plextor I received a reply in under 24 hours. By far the best response that I have ever gotten from any company. The rating would be higher but my afther also had a defective drive. Bad luck? Don't know, it was suprising thought because of Plextor's reputation.

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  • 5
  By member: bethereornot - Dec 2, 2004

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: This burns at speeds and never ruins a disk.

Weakness: None that I can see except it come with more software. I always like free software.

I have copied every movie I have in my collection and It dosen't even seem to be working this burner. I have used several other brands and none compare to this 16x or my 8x plextor. I never bought there products before because the price was to high. But after using to many disc with the memorex brand dvd burner. I figured I would save money if this burner would just copy like it is supposed to do and it shure does that 100 times better then the memorex or the sony.

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Reply by member: emilyd
Dec 31, 2004

was helpful to me when searching for product

  • 4
  By member: bigez10fromca - Apr 10, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: Speed is very fast. Excellent burner. Dual layer support. Firmware upgrades. Quality of completed CD or DVD. Fast, full accessories, dual layer burning.

Weakness: None

One of the better dvd burners on the market at the moment. Would recommended to friends! I had no problem changing face plate. Easy user manual/cd

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  • 5
  By member: DonChino - Feb 1, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: Quiet, Fast, Black Bezel Replacement, Full Accessories, Software Tweaking, Dual Layer Burning, Smaller Size

Weakness: None

Honestly? This is one of the BEST purchases I have made recently, since there really are NO DRAWBACKS other than having to pay a little more. The Plextor costs a little more than other brands out there, but the extra money is VERY MUCH worth it and not a weakness. This drive is FAST, QUIET, and you can CHANGE ITS COLOR between white and black since it includes the replacement bezel. Not to mention that they include spare ATA cable, jumper caps, and even an eject tool to open the drive when it has NO POWER. Very Nice...
Most drives also have a basic DRIVERS CD but the Plextor actually includes software that is useful and allows you to even tweak the drive. You can speed it up or down, which is its "quiet" mode, although I think it is quiet enough in its default state and a few other extras to optimize the drive's ability to burn professionally. Finally, I did not realize until installation that this drive is actually "shorter" than standard CD/DVD Drives. This gives you a little more space behind an otherwise CRAMPED rear-end with all the other cables in my computer which was a nice surprise.
In conclusion, this drive is WORTH every penny, since other dual-layer drives seem to have problems with generic blank discs and Plextor is giving away FREE Blank Discs with this drive. I am struggling to find anything negative to write about this drive... BUY IT...

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  • 1
  By member: coolkyote - Jul 12, 2005

Plextor Support SUCKS!

Strengths: Worked for two months

Weakness: Doesn't read ANY cd's OR DVD's. Sounds like a B-52 bomber taking off, very noisy. Burning is sometimes painfully slow (when it worked).

This has to be the most worthless drive I have ever had the misfortune to own. The drive worked for all of two months before it decided it was just going to quit for no apparent reason. The drive will simply not recognize any cd or DVD put into it. Contacting Plextor support is a joke. They don't even TRY to solve the problem, for them there is only one solution RMA. This means you pay to ship it to them, wait for months and then get a USED drive back! UNACCEPTABLE!! These things have been RMA'd so many times you think they'd be aware that these drives can't read at all!!! I will never purchase another Plextor product EVER!!! Good luck for those of you whose drives haven't crashed yet....because they will.

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  • 5
  By member: emilyd - Dec 31, 2004

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: all, and love plextor tools and it comes with roxio---great

Weakness: none

i just love this drive, it does just what i was looking for, i had spend hours researching different drives, and it came down to the plextor or pioneer, i work with pictuers alot , so i went with the plextor 716a , and i am very pleased with it, i would highly recommend this drive to others. emilyd

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  • 5
  By member: jayhall0315 - Feb 21, 2005

The Ultimate DVD burner as of November, 2005

Strengths: Not only one of the fastest but one of the most accurate (Do not be fooled, fast is worthless if your CD/DVD is unreadable).

Weakness: Now surpassed by Plextor's 760A burner, Slightly more moolah than others, but you get what you pay for.

I have discontinued this review because as any tech geek knows, times change and better products are manufactured. If you are currently in need of a high end DVD burner then take a look at Plexor's newer 760A or 810SA (SATA interface).
(My review below was last updated during May of 2006) Bar none, this is the Ferrari of CD/DVD burners. This burner has a list of features which would stretch down the page. Some of the highlights would include PowerRec (which allows the most accurate burns in the industry as the disc spins up at a constant linear velocity), IntelliTilt (which allows the burning laser to autoadjust to uneven disc surfaces on a microsecond time scale!), and Autostrategy (or autostrategery as George Bush would say)(which allows for optimal burns on unknown media. The flash ROM chip on-board means that updating your firmware takes about 15 seconds (and also allows you to stay current with new media types). Silent mode allows the user/tinkerer to adjust several parameters so that the 716 operates whisper quiet. Several methods are also present for overburning a disc.
Several advanced options are also offered for the frequent user or professional. The burner along with the provided Plextools software can measure many advanced features of a CD or DVD such as C errors, P0 errors and basic accuracy tests to see how your burn comes out. Combine this with a solid software package that includes the full version of Roxio Media Creator 7, Dantz Retrospect and Photoshop and this drive just plain wipes the floor with Sony/Pioneer/NEC/others.
The downside is $20 to $40 more than the others but guess what, my audio CDs from last year burned on the Plextor 708A still play without corruption. This is the best and you even get Free phone support which connects to real live human beings (indefinitely- not just for the first 30 days or some crap). This is a five star product.

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  • 5
  By member: jjfro9 - Feb 13, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: Plextor drives, enough said.

Weakness: Software that comes with it.

Great drive and burns quietly. This drive is quiet and sometimes I can't even hear it open the tray. Opens smooth and easy. I love the Plextor drives.
The software that came with it. I installed Easy Creater 7 media, that came with my order, and Incd was installed. I had problems with my computer recognizing my rom drives for 3 days before I figured out that Incd was the culprit. I uninstalled Incd and everything is working great now.

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  • 5
  By member: rschroed - Jan 11, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: It burn all the dvds I have tried. Generic and all.

I have been pleased with this product from the beginning. You can not go wrong by buying one. Great buy. Glad I got one. Burns faster than you would believe

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  • 5
  By member: labonno - Mar 7, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: Quiet, Fast, Dual Layer Burning, Smaller Size

Weakness: None

Plextor includes software that is useful and allows you to tweak the drive. You can speed it up or down and a few other extras to optimize the drive's ability to burn professionally. This drive is shorter than standard CD/DVD Drives. This gives you a little more space behind an cramped rear-end with all the other cables in my computer.

The downside is $20 to $40 more than the other drives.

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  • 5
  By member: buggy21 - Dec 25, 2004

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: Great company and product, just purchased my second plextor drive. I am thinking about getting the serial ata version of this model at a later time. I will always back Plextor with pride.

Weakness: no weaknesses since it is made with great quality.

I have owned the PX-708A for around 2 years now and have been very pleased with it as a plextor product. I decided to upgrade and get a new product of plextor. I purchased the
Plextor PX-716A/SW DVD±RW Dual Layer Writer from www.mwave.com. They were very fast in the order and shipping process. It was here sooner then expected. I installed the drive without any trouble. I have been using the drive for like 4 months or a little more. It is great and burns fast. I have not used any 16 speed dics yet but it burns most of the discs I use in like 8 minutes. It is able to take an 8 speed disc and make it burn at 16 speed. I has a feature that I like a lot that will change the booktype of a DVD+R to look like DVD-ROM. When it does this it increases your compatibility with DVD Players. I has some other features like gigarecord for Cd's of which allows you to burn up to a gigabyte of data onto a CD. Roxio Easy Media creator has this option available in case anyone did not not but it only works with drives like plextor that have it. There are only a few drives by plextor that have gigarecord. Keep in mind that when using the plextools to access features for the drive and changes that a good bit of changes are at your own risk. It states in the parts to you that certain changes are at your own risk. Changes can be reset though which is good. Not all the features that you can modify of the drive are risky just some; so you have to pay close attention. It is a great drive to look up and purchase.

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Reply by member: SPONGEBOB481
Oct 19, 2005

Do Not under any circumstances buy the sata version of this drive. I am taking mine out this weekend and getting a pioneer. even though their web site says my MSI K8T Neo series mother board is supported, it still will not work. Be carefull!

  • 5
  By member: dougie55 - Jan 20, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: Very good software to keep you advised about your media

Weakness: none that I have seen

The unit was installed without any problems. Windows XP recognized the unit and all software without a hitch. Recording has gone exceptionaly well and have not had any wasted disks. I would reccomend this DVD to anyone wanting to upgrade. Have not tried the dual layer yet but if it works as well as the rest should not be a problem.

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  • 4
  By member: timmyboy8484 - Jan 5, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: compatible with many formats, fast writing speed, dual layer support

Weakness: nothing that comes to my attention

i have had nothing go wrong with this product, i have only had it 2 days, but i have been burning non-stop & the efficiency is a lot better than my previous drive. The installation & software setup was very easy.

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  • 5
  By member: bjacobsen - Jan 9, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: Attractive looking, solid load tray, supports both dvd+r and dvd-r, 8mb cache buffer, & easy installation.

Weakness: difficult to remove the front load tray plate for switching cover colors. Only comes with one blank dvd and it is dvd +r, which is not supported by quite as many dvd players as dvd-r.

Overall, as can be expected, this is a superior drive. I have read nothing but good reviews about plextor and just had the opportunity to "back them up". It took less than 10 minutes to burn over 4gb of data on a dvd and no problem at all. I could see the 8mb cache buffer in action. Although I have only used this machine once, I can tell I will be happy because I have owned several other burners and it is obvious that this one out performs the others.

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Reply by member: Fkitty98
Jan 25, 2005

Great News!!! Plextor has just announced new firmware (1.04) for this drive which enhance the perfomance to 2x Dual Layer -R and 6X +R DL!! This is the only DVD write can write the DL -R media!!! The best value drive in the market!

  • 5
  By member: djredhat - Feb 14, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: Excellent dvd writing quality, DVD-ROM like dvd reading capabilities

Weakness: a little bit more expensive than the others in this class

I got this burner 1 week ago and don't regret a bit the extra 30 USD I spent on it (compared to BENQ 1620 and NEC 3250). Providing that I don't have a DVD reader, I am very satisfied with its performance. One think that I was worried about the fact the minimum system requirements are for 1.4 Ghz P4 CPU, whereas I have 1.2 P2 Celeron. It functioning just fine; the only thing I have problems with is the video editing software it came with (not that I need it). Apart from that everything works just great. Highly recomended for everyone who wants simply the number 1 DVD burner.

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  • 5
  By member: trevoreagles - Jan 19, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: Easy to install, works great, exceptional spped

Weakness: none

I would recommend this product to all. The installation was easy, set-up was great and the proformance of this product should not be questioned. I would buy this product again in a heart beat.

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  • 5
  By member: wooddy - Mar 31, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: Speed is very fast. Nice burner. Dual layer support. It has new firmware upgrades. Now version 1.05.

Weakness: Now, I can't find a problem.

Now I think it is the best DVD burner. It usually has firmware upgrades. Now version 1.05. It have buffer underrun proof technology and have buffer memory 8 MB. It is supported dual layer technology.
Speed is very fast. Software is easy to use. This burner got award from Maximum PC. I recommended this burner. You should try it. It's Plextor.

Plextor PX-716A is the best DVD burner in this time!!!

Nice Nice Burner.

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  • 5
  By member: dskiff - Jul 1, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: Burns anythiing thrown at it on any brand of media. Solid construction and very quiet.

Weakness: None

I have two of these drives and a Plextor CD/RW drive in my computer and have never had a problem. Drives handle anything thrown at them and any brand of media.

Well worth the extra $$ for the reliability. Had a Sony 710A and has nothing but problems.

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  • 5
  By member: rtnt8 - Jan 13, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: Great product! Comes with the all the softwares and an extra black face cover. Easy to use.

Weakness: Find nothing so far.

I highly recommend this product to all buyers out there. It works with my DVD-R (8x-Dupsonic) and takes me about 6-8 minutes to burn one dvd media. With all the softwares included and a very competitive price, I give this product a triple A rating. Definitely a work horse with all the features.

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  • 5
  By member: tranle - Jan 22, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: Fast writing on all the format cdr,dvd and dvd-dl. Easy install. Quiet drive, minimal noise even at full speed. Came with Roxio. Not too expensive.

Weakness: It Came with Roxio but would have prefered Nero. It had only 1 blank DVD+R, I was hopping for a DVD+RW.

All the plextor drives I have bought in the past and this drive seems to have this superior build quality that made them lasted longer. My complain in the "weakness" section was just thing they could done better in the packaging. But overall at $140 without counting all the rebates, it was a very good purchase.

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  • 1
  By member: wheat66 - Feb 11, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Weakness: causes frequent system "not responding" state

My experience with this drive was not good. It is causing frequent system freeze ups. Only a full Restart will get the various "not responding" applications going again. The Plextor tech help guys were stumped and eventually stopped responding to my emails. I have a fairly powerful, very simple compter setup so there's nothing weird going on in my computer, imo. I've uninstalled the few software applications that could possibly have an advers effect here (per the Plextor guys' instructions).

Also, the Plextools DVDCopy software doesn't work (I was not copying copyright DVDs). Plextor's response: "Use the Roxio software to copy DVDs". Not what you expect from the great Plextor Corporation, eh?

I'm not the only one to have this problem; I've seen a few others mention similar things in the email and website groups where people are seriously into this sort of thing.

I've noticed a small, but growing set up emails and website posts that Plextor ain't what it used to be.

I'll probably trash this thing.

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Reply by member: chiefwebofficer
Feb 27, 2005

I agree with this post. I started having freeze ups in windows xp. I thought it was due to motherboard failures. I replaced the motherboard. Continued happening. Removed the Plextor, everything fine. This is going back to BestBuy.

Reply by member: Biznik
Mar 7, 2005

I must agree. I bought one of these Plextor drives at Best Buy, with great expectations. It was easy to install, but turned out to be dead. It would not read any disk, it would not eject any disk. I contacted tech support and got a prompt reply: They wanted to know the flashing light "code" when put through its diagnostic test. I wrote back that it flashed a pattern of three yellow flashes, about 1/2 sec. apart - nothing more. Three days later they said the would take me through the RMA process. But I lost patience and got a full refund at Best Buy. Now I am happy for the many users who are satisfied with this product, but what can I say about the quality control? Any purchase of this advanced technology is a gamble. When I went back to the Best Buy I bought a Sony DRU720A and am pleased so far. Good luck to all other buyers!!!

Reply by member: rayekc
Apr 29, 2005

I bought this drive April 2005 and installed it easily. Great software and included black front. It appeared on every DVD I copied (non encrypted) everything was working fine using TDK DVD-R media - only problem was every disk would eventually lock up when being replayed in a DVD player. About 80% of the burn was fine but part in the middle was not. I tryed 3 different ripping and burning programs with the same result every time. I had high expectations since I spent the extra for this drive but I took it back to Best Buy. I am not sure what drive I will but next.

Reply by member: dskiff
Jul 1, 2005

I have two of these Plextor DVD drives and one Plextor CD/RW drive in the same computer. Have had this setupfor about 4 weeks and absolutely no problems! Love the drives. All my movies burn without a hitch and the drive can handle anything thrown at them.

Great Product and well worth the extra $$. Had a Sony 710A and had nothing but problems!

  • 5
  By member: snakelethal - Feb 18, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: Fast, reliable, strong, everything, etc.

Weakness: I have no weaknesses with it yet.

I have owned two plextor writers in the past one a CD and the other a DVD and now this one, and they have been just awesome, never any problems, and so far this one is working perfect. Haven't yet tested the dual layer burning part of it yet, but I am very comfident of its capabilities. Highly recommend this burner or any burner of the plextor family. Wouldn't buy any other brand of burner.

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  • 5
  By member: libertybell - Jan 30, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: Quiet, fast, ultra DMA 4, stylish.

Weakness: None.

This is my second Plextor drive and if it holds up like my first one I'll be happy. Installation was a breeze and the shorter length of the drive was a plus in the cramped space of my Net PC. Burn speeds are impressive and it operates in ultra DMA 4 (66) mode. The Roxio software is good but I prefer Nero. You can't go wrong choosing this drive from Plextor.

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  • 5
  By member: dallari - Mar 13, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: Fast, full accessories, dual layer burning; burns all items I have tried.

Weakness: Hard to change bezel

Summary: This is one of the BEST burners I have tried. I brought back an external SONY drive which would not load up on my computer no matter how much assistance I got. The Plextor is competitively priced and is very much worth it. This drive is fast and quiet. ATA cable is included

This drive is exceptional. I have not tried dual layer yet due to cost (expensive coasters). I cannot find anything bad about the Plextor.


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  • 2
  By member: mor987 - Mar 16, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: Quality of completed CD or DVD.

Weakness: Incompatibility with many brands of CDRWs and DVDRWs.

1)
Copying or writing data file(s) of any size to either a CDRW or DVDRW, whether using Windows Explorer, Roxio Drag-to-disc, PlexTools Professional, or any other method, does not cause this drive to initiate the actual write process.

Writing to disc only begins when an "eject disc" is requested, whether the request is made five seconds later, five minutes later, or five hours later, at which time an additional half a minute or so is needed for the "Please wait... Drag-to-disc is preparing the disc to be ejected".

2)
Trying to perform any action on CD-RW or DVD-RW which is apparently incompatible with this drive, including simply trying to eject the disk, causes the "Drag-to-disk" icon to appear and simply freeze the entire system.

Re-booting the system does not help, since the "Drag-to-disk" icon simply re-appears.

Nothing you try works... except the tool included with the drive to open the tray.

Disk is rendered useless, including any data stored in it.

3)
An e-mail sent to Plextor customer support was not answered or simply ignored.

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  • 5
  By member: dylanwoo - Feb 16, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: Fast, reliable. Consistent, no errors.

Weakness: None found.

I am impressed with the speed at which this unit performs. For the price, I beleive it is the best bang for the buck compared to others in the same price range.

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  • 5
  By member: beepaj - Feb 8, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: It's a Plextor!

Weakness: N/A

As an owner of Plextor drives (CD-ROM, CD-RW) for years, I knew this product would be great. Although I looked at the Sony (briefly), Plextor is the ONLY one to buy. Quiet, fast, dependable and Plextor quality. What else do you need?

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  • 5
  By member: 406duce - Feb 22, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: It's a Plextor

Weakness: None

This is my first DVDRW CDRW-Comb, it has very good documentation easy to understand, you can read and/or write all media. Has Intelligent recording, AUTOSTRATEGY and all the tools and support you need, making it easy for an entry level end-user, such as my self.

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  • 5
  By member: takido - Feb 27, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: It's a great drive, no problems. Dual colored bezels.

Weakness: The backup software really blows, it has to be run in user mode.

This is a great drive. I've had it for a while and burned many things without errors or anything funky happening. The backup software really blows, it has to be run in user mode. We're using this as a backup device.

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  • 5
  By member: tstm20 - Mar 4, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: I'm impressed!!! Great all-around DVD and CD-ROM recorder and player! Its a Plextor, after all!!!

Weakness: Can't find any.

This drive replaced my old CD-R/RW drive. I was very impressed from the get go. It installed with no trouble and I was backing up data, making music CDs, and recording my home videos almost immediately. The Roxio Basic DVD Creator version 7 worked very well (which is a switch from earlier versions...) I was also very pleased that there were extra cables (IDE/ATA) and even a manual DVD/CD eject tool. I have not tried or needed to cut a dual layer disc yet, but I anticipate that when I do, there should be no trouble in doing so. Bottom line: I challange anyone to find a better drive!

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  • 5
  By member: tlertpan1 - Feb 16, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: Excellent software package in PlexTools Professional - lots of features to test DVDs/CDs. Can rip a lot of protected DVDs/CDs. Both black and white faceplates provided. Relative quiet.

Weakness: Could not rip all protected CDs (had problem with Pet Shop Boys PopArt CD set -- ran REALLY SLOWLY). Not compatible with DVD-RAM. C2 detection support not that good under EAC. More expensive.

Besides having all the usual features that come with other players, the Plextor comes with an excellent software in PlexTools Professional. It has excellent tools for secure DAE (even directly to Flac format), checks for C1/C2/CU errors, configuration settings for speed, quietness, etc.

It is capable of ripping a lot of protected content, but not all.

However, it is not compatible with DVD-RAM and is a little more expensive than other drives.

I mainly use it for DAE, among other more normal usage. For those purposes, the drive is one of the best.

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  • 5
  By member: SmboInc - Feb 25, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: Works great, fast, is very reliable...and software that is included is A+

Weakness: Really doesn't have weaknesses. Software rocks, reliability is awesome -- burned about 20 CDs and 15 DVDs and it worked great every time.

To sum up, I was kind of sketchy and compromised when I saw the Plextor model for such a cheap price; I thought something couldn't be right. I took a chance anyway and it was a good chance. This product does the job right.

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  • 5
  By member: ideogram - Feb 25, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: fast, high quality, very good diagnostic tools included

Weakness: high price -- get it while the rebate is available

!!! Get the latest firmware from the website (Feb 24, 2005)

I wasted 3 DVD's and 6 hours before getting the latest firmware. The cheap DVD's I bought (RiDATA 8x DVD-R) wouldn't burn at more than 1/3 rated speed. With the update, they burn at 8x, with about 1/3 the error rate (PIE SUM8 Test 60 vs 200), and TA quality improved 3 bars (out of 5).

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  • 5
  By member: jankerson - Mar 4, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: Very fast burn times, Burns a DVD in under 6 mins and a CDR in under 3 mins. 16x DVD burn speed, 48x CDR burn speed, Dual Burning, Extremely fast DVD riping. Quiet. 8mb Cache, ATA 66.

Weakness: None that I can think of.

Excellent drive in every way. Plextor is the best hands down. Good software package, easy installation and fast DVD rip and burn times. Cut my DVD backup time down to a 3rd of the time it used to take me with my old 4x Pioneer DVD burner.

Upgraded the Firmware to vers 1.04 as soon as I got it.

No coasters with DVD's or CDR's as of yet.

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  • 5
  By member: raevynn - May 23, 2005

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

Strengths: Quiet, ultra-fast burns

Weakness: None

After reading reviews, and comparing ratings to other burners, I decided to go with the Plextor PX-716A. I've been using it for over a month now and am more than pleased with it's performance. Installation and setup was easy. It is quiet with smooth burns at blazing speed! No ruined disks so far and well worth the money!

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  • 1
  By member: FDUNN3 - Dec 9, 2006

PX-716A/SA

Strengths: Works great for the short time it does.

Weakness: As this is the second Plextor drive I have owned (and Last) that has burned less than a stack of disks and died just out of warranty I would not recommend anything with Plextor's name on it.

Plextor was a pioneer in the early days of optical storage and it's name WAS synonymous with quality and reliability but as so many others have done they have probably outsourced everything and their quality assurance is very bad.

When you buy Plextor you pay anywhere from 3 to 4 times the cost of barnds with less of a legacy, BUT YOU GET THE SAME WARRANTY. If Plextor thinks their brand is worth paying such a premium for then why do they have such a short warranty.

Do yourself a favor just buy a samsung, nec, acer, lite-on or the like. You will get the same warranty and IF your drive goes out in the same short time that the Plextors do then just buy another one. It's like getting a 3-4 year warranty with upgrades. Plextor just stinks and if you buy one then you deserve what you have to go through.

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  • 2
  By member: Donaldronenbaum - Jul 19, 2006

Not worth the extra money, buy a Sony instead.

Strengths: Good quality CD/DVD burning.

Weakness: Breaks easily.

I have bought several pairs of Plexter CD and DVD burning drives over the last five years. In more than half the cases the drives have failed within one year. I use them carefully and not very heavily. In one instance the tech support made me change media brands several times over the course of weeks, until they finally repaired the drive and admitted that it was faulty. Just recently the drive door on my PX-716A stopped working just four weeks after the warranty expired. Tech support refused to replace the drive.


I have installed Sony rewritable drives on computers owned by friends and family. Those drives are all still working properly, and all cost only about half as much as Plextor.



Save your money.

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  • 1
  By member: pons5607 - Feb 21, 2006

Plextor PX-716A DVD Writer

I have a Plextor PX-716A/SW DVD±RW Dual Layer Writer for one year. All worked well until now. The installation was a snap, plug and play at its best. For the prior twelve moth it worked well even with XP's own DVD and CD burning capabilities. However, just as the one year warranty was up, it quit reading any disks at all. I only received the message: drive not accessible, I/O errors. Since I bough my Plextor in Japan, I contacted Plextor via e-mailing on their website but I never received any reply. I have never had such negative experience with a costumer service of any company before. I am surprised since I had previous very good experience with Plextor. I have been using their CD-R PX-W2410A for many years now. I had assumed that Plextor PX-716A/SW DVD±RW Dual Layer Writer would be as good and I would not have any problem. As I noticed, other users seem to have similar problems. There must be a bug in the Plextor PX-716A/SW DVD±RW Dual Layer Writer.

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  • 4
  By member: dickers97 - Jan 18, 2006

Plextor PX-716A/SW burner

Strengths: Burns anything with the right program.

Weakness: Cost more than most

I've been using my plextor for 8 months without any problems,then while burning a disc, the burner drive "lost" it's mind.
Went through all the "self tests", tried all other means to get it working without any results.
Finally sent it back to Fletcher,Ohio on 1-12-06 and am presently waiting to see the outcome of it all. Will let all others know just how well Plextor took care of this problem that seems to be all too comon.

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  • 5.0
  BurnWorld.com - Dec 3, 2004

Plextor and 16x OMG

The PX-716A DVD±R/RW CD-R/RW internal E-IDE (ATAPI) drive from Plextor® offer all the advantages or their legendary CD-RW drives. Along with double layer and dual format capabilities, the PX-716A....

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  • 4.5
  Techspot - Nov 30, -0001

DVD Burners round-up: Plextor PX-716A/SW DVD±RW Dual Layer tested

The drive has a very attractive look, following the sleek lines of its predecessors. The front panel of the unit has a very small activity light, and a small manual access hole up front. I was happy to find a black face plate included, and installing the plate was quite easy. Drive construction seemed solid, the tray was sturdy, and did not require any special attention for quick disk swaps.

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