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Originally posted by gh0sth@cker
Good summary, but you are leaving out some important features of the Plextor. Namely...
Gigarec - allows high capacity storage of up to 1 GB on a 700 MB disc. With this advanced feature, you can increase the maximum writing capacity up to 40%
Securec - offers password protection for your disc and other valuable data
These two features are unique to the Plextor and are very valubale things to have.
Now, a major boon you have left out (and you claim the two drives can handle protections equally), is that the Plextor Premium can now copy the latest Securom New 4.8 games when used with Blindwrite Suite. This can't be achieved by any other drive.
You say that Lite handles audio copy protections better - well Plextools (software that comes with the Plextor drive and will only work with Plextor drives) is well known to be excellent at handling audio copy protections.
So if you could throw them into your biased summary it would be much appreciated.
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"Biased" - so much for striving for an objective comparison. Well, accept my most sincere apologies for having my preferences AND being moneywise - had I only known this was wrong...
Anyways, many thanks for "completing" my summary - spares me some EXTRA typing
Biased, U say ?
Mais non, I'm standing up for Liteon "merely"
- because it's the
cheapest of the two brand$ and never had that reputation of deliberately downgrading its firmware so as to prevent copying certain discs (cf. the Plextor-Macrovision alliance ?) - I bet you before long even Plextor Premium will have a firmware update which will prevent flashing back 2 previous versions AND will also prevent copying latest Safediscs.
- because it has
never failed me so far - and god knows that unlike our US counterparts, we europeans have all the fun when it comes to copy-protections (Securom
4.84xxx, Ring Protech 2, Starforce 1/2, Phenoprotect, grrr
)
- because I own a Liteon myself
U
may have misunderstood my statements, perhaps: I am NOT undermining Plextor. I'm just wondering whether despite its very honorable performance & features, it is really worth the extra zeroe$ on its price tag...
U C, I still have to find a copy-protected CD that can withstand my burner.
1) Securec-encrypted discs can only be read using Plextools! I don't know how complex Securec crypting is, but I you want to protect your data on a CD, you can always create a Rar or Ace archive - Rar encryption is
very strong when the password length exceeds 7 caracters, and the method is just as complicated as using the Plextools/Securec combo...
2) Can even the Plextor handle even the latest Cactus Datashield
100 audio protections (these ones are the toughest) ???
With the latest firmware, my old 52246S pulls it off easily, and without the need for Plextools
3) According to you, only the PX Premium can copy the latest Securom 4.8 ?! Strange indeed, for if so how, just HOW do you explain that I was able to make 1:1 - yes, working
1:1 backups of Securom 4.83xx and 4.84yy-protected titles such as No One Lives Forever 2, Bloodrayne, Unreal 2003, Unreal Awakening, using Blindwrite + BWAbuilder. The backups run flawlessly in both my burner and my DVD reader - without any software, any emulation running in the background (Daemon Tools 'Securom-emulate', Alcohol 120 'RMPS emulation', CloneCD 'Hide CD-R option' or whatever). The game just recognizes these backups as the original CD
True enough, it is quite possible that during the burning process Blindwrite only
simulates the density variations of the original CD-ROM. But if so, this is still enough to thwart the latest Securom 4.84 schemes. I don't know how Gigarec works, though you could check out this thread
cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.php?reviewid=185&page=Features
One way to find out if the Premium can reproduce securom density variations on a CD-R would be by running BWAbuilder on a
CD-R backup that was made by Blindwrite/BWAbuilder using the Premium and finding out if the resulting curve is identical to the original CD-ROM's reading, or instead just a normal parabolic curve.
All modern drives' chipsets allow
reading of density variations on a CD-ROM. Hence, being able to write them would be just a question of having the proper
firmware, not a modified chipset. If Plextor has taken the lead in this matter, it's but a question of time before other manufacturers fall in behind - and for a lower price at that, hehe...
IF IT CAN BE READ IT CAN BE BURNT
This leaves us with Gigarec's ability to squeeze in more data. Indeed this is impressive. One backdraw, though - cf. the aforementionned thread - reader compatibility is but only partial, especially when using Gigarec at 1.3, or at its full 1.4 potential, in all its glory..
Which leaves me wondering just which one of us is really being biased - perhaps we both are, mon ami
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If at first you don't succeed, blame the others
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