Digital Trends

Plextor PlexWriter PX-504UF

August 25th, 2003 | by Ian Bell

Use and Testing

Installation of the PlexWriter PX-504UF is actually easier than installing an internal drive because there is no need to open your computers case to install it. If you currently have USB 2.0 on your system but no FireWire, there is no reason to run out to the store to purchase a FireWire card. Our testing showed that the CPU usage, write times and transfer rates were nearly identical when comparing the FireWire interface to that of the USB 2.0 interface. The PlexWriter PX-504UF's manual is very detailed and will give you instructions for installing the drive on both a Windows based PC or a Mac OS 9.0 or above system.

We are happy to say that a lot of the problems we encountered with the PX-504A drive have been fixed in the PlexWriter PX-504UF due no doubt to the upgraded firmware. Our PX-504UF drive had no problems reading any brand of media we threw at it regardless of how old the media was.

If you are unfamiliar with external CD/DVD writers, be forewarned that CPU usage is typically higher than that of an internal drive simply because of the interfaces that are being used. In our tests, the included 2MB buffer filled up quickly and our CPU usage peaked to 33% using both the FireWire and USB 2.0 interfaces.

Read and write times where nearly identical to the Plextor PX-504A internal drive, but trailed slightly in some tests. In our speed burst tests, the PlexWriter PX-504UF reached an incredibly high 1MB which is great and goes to show the potential of the USB 2.0 and FireWire interfaces if only CPU usage was lower. We do not recommend multitasking while writing a CD/DVD unless you have 512MB of system memory or higher; this will provide an error free burn. Please click on the performance tab above this review or the link below this review for complete testing results.

We were pleased with the performance of the PlexWriter PX-504UF and it certainly looks like Plextor has tried to make this a full featured product; but we are not without our complaints. First of all, the internal fan on the PlexWriter PX-504UF is very loud. In fact while playing a music CD we could still hear the internal fan over the music. Secondly, there are RCA audio jacks on the back of the drive and Plextor suggests that you can hook the PlexWriter PX-504UF up to an external amplifier for CD music playback. While this is a nice little touch, it is fairly useless as CD players are very common and since you need to use the AC adapter for a power source, the PlexWriter PX-504UF certainly is not portable. What would have been very cool and revolutionary would be an S-Video output so you could use the PlexWriter PX-504UF to playback DVD movies similar to the Philips Jack Rabbit external DVD writer.

The FireWire/USB toggle switch on the back of the PlexWriter PX-504UF is pretty old school as well. Most if not all external hard drives and CD/DVD writers we have tested feature auto switching which detects the type of interface you are using, and if you are silly enough to plug both interfaces (USB and FireWire) in at the same time, a default is then triggered.

Conclusion

The PlexWriter PX-504UF is a great drive. Plextor has included a robust feature set with plenty off extras in the form of software and recordable media. Write and read times are solid as is the reliability of burn. The PlexWriter PX-504UF looks nice both when sitting alone or when using the drive stand and would look good sitting on your desk. If only the internal fan was not so loud and CPU usage so high, we would have given the PlexWriter PX-504UF our editor's choice award. If noise is not a major concern for you and portability is, look no further than the PlexWriter PX-504UF.