SATA v PATA DVD Writing Burn-off

Belgian optical specialists, Plextor, are one of the first to dip their digital toes into the water and release a SATA DVD burner: the PX-716SA. It is a full monty 16x dual-layer DVD-R/W drive with all the features you would expect, but obviously eschews PATA in favour of SATA. Is there any tangible benefit from moving to a SATA optical drive? We decided to find out by pitting the SATA Plextor against a venerable stalwart of the DVD burning club, the Pioneer 110D on PATA.

…We’ve found that the Plextor was slower in almost every test - it’s one thing to be faster and more expensive, but it’s rather another to be more expensive and slower. The one thing the Plextor has going for it is the SATA connection. This connection is undoubtedly more stylish and practical than IDE, but does it justify worse performance and a higher price? We don’t think so, unfortunately for Plextor. The Pioneer has great performance, and an astounding price - we wouldn’t recommend you look anywhere else.

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