Once impressive figures 20X and 24X do not excite users anymore. The market offers today 32x recorders, and developers keep on boosting the performance of CD-RW drives even more. However, today we will discuss two drives of the "20th generation".

Plextor was for a long time an unquestionable leader in quality of optical recording devices and in quality of writing the most of media. This company has a particular circle of users who are ready to pay through the nose. These people always knew what they wanted, and «SCSI" and «Plextor" were almost synonyms for them. However, the number of competitors is growing fast, and it becomes difficult for the company to maintain incomes now. The first step of the company to improve its status was reduction of SCSI models which a bit later were entirely taken out of production. Nevertheless, this measure helped little to reduce the price. The next step was an extension of the warranty period for the latest models up to two years. The PlexWriter PX-W2410TA is the first drive with such a long warranty.

AOpen is a relatively young player on the market of optical storage devices which offers quite an attractive price/quality ratio.

Plextor PX-W2410TA

AOpen CRW2040

Test results

When we completed the tests both companies offered new firmware versions. But the additional examination showed that there was no any considerable performance gain with the new microprogram versions.

Apart from the CD-ROM Teac 540E, for the performance estimation in reading operations we chose TDK CyClone AI-241040,Yamaha CRW2200E and Ricoh MP7200A.

CDWinBench 99 CD-ROM Transfer Rate

Yeah, the Plextor oddly falls into the last position. The AOpen has a much better result taking the third place after the Ricoh and the TDK drives.

The Plextor is still in troubles, while the CRW2040 outscores the Ricoh.

CPU utilization in CD-ROM Transfer Rate:

Such a low operation in the previous tests is outbalanced by a careful utilization of the CPU: here the PleXWriter comes the second. As to AOpen, it loads the central processor too much because of the enabled UltraDMA 33.

CDWinBench 99 CD-ROM Access Time

Well, the Plextor was never a leader in data access speed. The AOpen is again among leaders.

CDWinBench 99 CPU Utilization

No comments.

CD recording time

Recording of a high-quality cyanine CD-R (Sony CDQ-74N1,TDK Reflex Ultra)

We had to test the AOpen twice as it was impossible to read the Reflex Ultra disc (first recorded at 20x) because of unreadable areas. That is why we followed the recommendations of the JustSpeed technology and recorded the TDK disc at 16X.

The Plextor is undoubtedly a leader, while AOpen, as it turned out, writes slower at 20x than the Plextor at 16x. But it isn't surprising as the CRW2040 uses the Zone-CLV writing method, and the Plextor works with the CLV.

Recording of CD-R Mirex (phthalocyanine, 12x rated speed)

We already mentioned that the AOpen drive can't record CD-R Mirex discs at more than 8x. That is why the CRW2040 falls behind so much. You can see also that there is a great difference between 24x recording by the Plextor of the discs from Sony and from Mirex. Probably, it caused by the PowerREC II technology which identified a CD-R marked as «4M" as a disc which required careful burning.

Recording of the "noname" CD-R disc (cyanine, the rated record speed is unknown)

Both drives score excellent results in recording of cheap cyanine CD-R discs.

Time of full formatting of a CD-RW disc in UDF format

Philips CD-RW 4x

Ricoh CD-RW 10x

Earlier I mentioned that drives based on the Ricoh's pickup usually have the best results in operation with CD-RW discs. The AOpen CRW2040 not just proves it - it does outshine the Ricoh drive.

Recording of a CD-RW disc (UDF)

Philips CD-RW 4x

CD-RW Ricoh 10x

Almost all drives have equal results. But the AOpen and the Ricoh are the most attractive.

BLER factor of recorded CD-R discs

(for these tests we used a device described in the fifth part of our review)

The Plextor has as usual excellent quality. A low speed of recording of the CD-R Mirex was made up for by the high quality. It is interesting that the PX-W2410TA writes better the Sony CD-R at 24x than at 16x.

As to the AOpen recorder, the situation is different. The BLER for the TDK disc recorded at 20x is higher than for the same disc recorded at 16x. The BLER of the Mirex and «noname" discs is acceptable.

The following results of the recording quality are obtained with the CDCATS SA3 station:

Plextor PX-W2410TA
Sony (Sony) 24x	Mirex (4M) 24x
AOpen CRW2040
TDK (TY) 20x	Mirex (4M) 8x
Cyanine "noname" (4M) 4x

The detailed examination of quality of the recorded discs carried out on the equipment of the Urals Electronic Plant proved the suggestions above. As you can see, the TDK recorded by the CRW2040 at 20x has the whole range of errors from E31 and E32 to CRC.

Nero CDSpeed

Reading of the CD-R Sony CDQ-74N1, TDK Reflex Ultra (20x writing speed)

CD-RW drive	Reading
Plextor PX-W2410TA CD#1
Plextor PX-W2410TA CD#2
AOpen CRW-2040

When we got the graph for the Sony CD-R recorded by the PX-W2410TA at 24x we tried once again, but the second attempt failed as well. I should note that CD-ROM drives work differently with such discs. The TEAC CD-540E reads up all data without problems, while the LG 52x and ASUS 40x are very close to the Plextor. All the results below are obtained with the first test disc.

As to the AOpen, the successful recording does not guarantee perfect reading. The first bugs appear within the first 10 minutes (probably, where the speed should change from 16x to 20x).

Reading of the CD-R Sony CDQ-74N1, TDK Reflex Ultra (16x writing speed)

CD-RW drive	Reading
Plextor PX-W2410TA
AOpen CRW-2040

Reading of the CD-R Mirex

CD-RW drive	Reading
Plextor PX-W2410TA rec. speed — 24x
AOpen CRW-2040 rec. speed — 8x

Reading of the CD-R "noname" (4x writing speed)

CD-RW drive	Reading
Plextor PX-W2410TA
AOpen CRW-2040

On the whole, the reading graphs are quite good.

CD Speed 99 test results of the recorded high-quality CD-R media (Sony CDQ-74N1, TDK Reflex Ultra)

	Plextor PX-W2410TA (16x)	Plextor PX-W2410TA (24x)	AOpen CRW2040 (16x)
Average	31.40x	30.52x	29.98x
Random Seek	134 ms	137 ms	96 ms
SpinUp Time	1.48 sec	1.46 sec	1.67 sec
SpinDown Time	2.94 sec	2.95 sec	3.55 sec
Disc Eject Time	1.54 sec	1.53 sec	1.14 sec
Disc Load Time	1.66 sec	1.72 sec	0.79 sec
Disc Recognition Time	7.60 sec	7.72 sec	4.43 sec

CD Speed 99 test results of the recorded CD-R Mirex

	Plextor PX-W2410TA (24x)	AOpen CRW2040 (8x)
Average	31.41x	29.99x
Random Seek	133 ms	93 ms
SpinUp Time	2.09 sec	1.71 sec
SpinDown Time	4.59 sec	3.69 sec
Disc Eject Time	1.55 sec	1.09 sec
Disc Load Time	1.60 sec	0.82 sec
Disc Recognition Time	7.38 sec	4.88 sec

CD Speed 99 test results of the recorded "noname" CD-R

	Plextor PX-W2410TA	AOpen CRW2040
Average	31.52x	30.88x
Random Seek	131 ms	94 ms
SpinUp Time	2.08 sec	1.69 sec
SpinDown Time	4.54 sec	3.33 sec
Disc Eject Time	1.54 sec	1.14 sec
Disc Load Time	1.59 sec	0.81 sec
Disc Recognition Time	7.74 sec	5.03 sec

The final results of reading of the recorded discs by the Plextor are quite high. The PX-W2410TA outscores its competitor in the random data access. All other their characteristics are almost equal.

CDSpeed results of the CD-RW discs recorded in UDF format

	CD-RW UDF (4x)	CD-RW UDF (10x)	CD-RW ISO (4x)
Plextor PX-W2410TA	23.22x	23.06x	25.14x
AOpen CRW2040	30.86x	30.62x	31.49x

The Plextor yields to its competitor in reading CD-RW discs recorded in different formats. But Ricoh's based drives were always proud of excellent operation in this test.

CD-ROM Drive Analyzer

Reading of a CD-R recorded by Plextor PX-W2410TA

CD-R Sony CDQ-74N1 (16X)

CD-R Sony CDQ-74N1 (24X)

CD-R Mirex (24X)

CD-R "noname" (4X)

Reading of a CD-R recorded by AOpen CRW2040

CD-R TDK Reflex Ultra (20X)

CD-R TDK Reflex Ultra (16X)

CD-R Mirex (8X)

CD-R "noname" (4X)

According to the CD-ROM Drive Analyzer (Windows 2000) the speed and quality of both drives are quite good, apart from a faulty CD-R from TDK recorded by the CRW2040 at 20x. However, an E32 error is beyond the power of all drives.

Sound track extraction from audio CDs (CDDAE 99)

Plextor PX-W2410TA

	Piano Favorites	Acoustic Planet vol.2	Bloodhound Gang "Greatest Hits"
Average extraction speed	27,7X	24,0X	30,8X
Total errors*	4.01%	4.20%	0.00%

AOpen CRW2040

	Piano Favorites	Acoustic Planet vol.2	Bloodhound Gang "Greatest Hits"
Average extraction speed	17,8X	14,6X	23,6X
Total errors*	9.78%	8.07%	0.00%

* — 4.01% means that the drive extracted 4.01% of a disc with errors.

The audio data extraction speed of the Plextor is excellent: at 20x you can get an error-free result. The AOpen drive has it much worse: errors disappear only at 10x which is unacceptable for today.

Sound track extraction from audio CDs (EAC 0.9 prebeta 11)

Plextor PX-W2410TA

	Piano Favorites	Acoustic Planet vol.2	Bloodhound Gang "Greatest Hits"
Average extraction speed	24.6X	10.9X	30.3X

AOpen CRW2040

	Piano Favorites	Acoustic Planet vol.2	Bloodhound Gang "Greatest Hits"
Average extraction speed	18.4X	8.6X	24.6X

One of the most popular utilities, EAC, confirms that the Plextor PX-W2410TA is really a good player.

Advanced DAE Quality

The detailed information on the tested parameters is given in the help file to the CDSpeed99 test program. If you don't want to download the utility, then here you can find the HTMl help file.

The Plextor happens to have a wider functionality than its competitor. It concerns operation with Lead-In and Lead-Out data and its speed characteristics.

Overburn

Plextor PX-W2410TA

AOpen CRW2040

If you work mainly with 90 or 99-min. discs the CRW2040 seems to be a better choice as it uses an additional length available on a disc the most optimal way.

Reading of the recorded CD-R Rostok-CD

Plextor PX-W2410TA

AOpen CRW2040

Reading of damaged CDs (Windows 2000)

Plextor PX-W2410TA

Golden disc

Scratched disc

AOpen CRW2040

Golden disc

Scratched disc

The AOpen's drive works better with low-quality discs that contain errors or hard-to-read areas as it tries to lift the speed after such areas, unlike the Plextor's drive.

The PX-W2410TA has read the damaged disc by 65%, the CRW2040 has read it by 75%.

Conclusion and summary

In my opinion, Plextor remains a standard of quality of recording of any discs. As usual, the PX-W2410TA has a wide range of possibilities and various functions. Plextor is an old and experienced player on the market of optical storage devices. However, it doesn't matter for the majority whether a drive can work with Lead-In and Lead-Out data and how good it overburns. An average user is mostly concerned about the price. Earlier, when CD recording was a prerogative of professionals, Plextor could easily overprice, primarily because of lack of any competition. Now, when there are more than 20 (!) companies fighting in this sphere, Plextor doesn't seem to be getting on so easily. AOpen is one of those young but aggressive competitors which gives troubles to it. The AOpen's drive does have some bugs, but it is possible to put up with them, especially taking into account its such a low price. Moreover, some bugs can be eliminated by improving the microprogram, and some can be avoided if you will carefully choose media. So, if you are not short of money and you want a modern, functional and reliable recorder you'd better go with the PX-W2410TA. If you don't need too high performance and quality you can get the CRW2040.

Test programs:

• Ziff Davis CD WinBench 99 version 1.1
• Nero CDSpeed 99 version 0.84 Beta
• CDDAE 99 version 0.2 Beta
• CD-ROM Drive Analyzer version 2.31

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