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    Plextor died..:(

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by hydra, Aug 7, 2006.

  1. hydra

    hydra Breaks Laptops

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    Well, my second external Plextor DVD 712UF died tonight. This one lasted 9 months, the first one 9 months as well. This drive, as the first, starts to fail to read media when inserted.

    ClubCD reports a lot of people on their third 716 drive. I'll call Monday for another RMA, when the drive works it's great. I'll give it another chance before hooking up with a BenQ which Plextor, I think, now uses as it OEM.

    Any user out there? Problems?
     
    hydra, Aug 7, 2006
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  2. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

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    I don't think it is unusual for drives to fail more than once nowadays since theu are selling for $30.
     
    ZaZ, Aug 7, 2006
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  3. hydra

    hydra Breaks Laptops

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    LOL, yeah bare drive. Add case, software, box and lots of shrink wrap and that puppy hit $150, 2 years ago ;)
     
    hydra, Aug 7, 2006
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  4. ChangFest

    ChangFest Notebook Consultant

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    I've never had a problem with my PX-716. I've ripped most of my CD collection with it and used it for a variety of burning purposes. I also have a BenQ DW-1640 and I prefer that drive for burning DVDs. I use my Plextor externally without an enclosure (it looks ghetto) and it works fine that way as well. I suggest either Plextor or BenQ for you. A BenQ will give you more for your money though.
     
    ChangFest, Aug 7, 2006
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  5. hydra

    hydra Breaks Laptops

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    Yes, a bit frustrating there, some people on their third drive, me on my second and the lucky ones with no problems. I had bought the 716UF '05first, Plextor sent me the 712UF'04 model as the replacement, go figure.

    I was hoping i could use the drive interface as a hard drive controller. I could not get it to recognize either master or slave settings. Any links to hacking your external plextor interface?

    I ordered the BenQ 1640 this morning :)

    Thanks for your reply.
     
    hydra, Aug 7, 2006
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  6. saturnotaku

    saturnotaku Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Good choice on the BenQ. Plextor drives used to be good. Heck, I had an original 24/10/40 CD-RW (the first drive known to defeat Safedisc 2 copy protection) that's still going strong in a friend's computer. But lately, they've been sucking, both from a product standpoint and from support. They're definitely not worth the price premium over a comparable BenQ, NEC, or Lite-On.
     
    saturnotaku, Aug 7, 2006
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  7. ChangFest

    ChangFest Notebook Consultant

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    I don't use my drive interface as a hard drive controller. I'm not sure how one would go about doing that either. I just use the guts of one of my old IDE to USB2.0/1394 hard drive enclosures to make my PX-716 external.
    Congrats. You'll love the drive.
     
    ChangFest, Aug 8, 2006
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