The Plextor Plexwriter Premium USB has been given a very modern look in an attractive brushed aluminum housing. Labels and logos are embossed in a blue writing which accent the trim and housing of the drive. Though an external unit, the Plexwriter Premium is not a slimline drive, nor would I consider it for a hitch-hiker in my notebook's satchel. The drive stands 2.28 inches tall and that is as slimline as the unit will get. At 9.74 inches long and 6.65 inches wide, this USB burner has to be one of the largest, and heaviest at 4.85 pounds.

The Plexwriter Premium's feature list is as complete as the internal IDE version. Built upon the same 52x read and write capability with a re-write speed of 32x. Provided you have Plextool's installed (and why not, it's free on the CD) there are many special features available once the drive is installed.   ¤ GigaRec: allows you to increase the maximum writing capacity by up to 40% on typical 700MB media.   ¤ Q-Check: checks and reports written disk quality C1/C2, track, and Focus Errors   ¤ SecuRec: provides password protection for your CD   ¤ Silent Mode: enables users to vary tray load/unload speed, spin up/down times and write/read speeds   ¤ VariRec: designed for audio CD use, allows the user to adjust laser power to reduce jitter to improve sound quality.   ¤ PowerRec: Plextor Optimized Writing Error Reduction Control technologh is an advanced write stragety for superior quality and stable recording at maximum speeds.

Installation

     Easy to read labels and utter simplicity make the PlexWriter Premium USB one of the easiest drive to place into service. Power cord to the wall, USB cable to the computer and if your running Windows ME, 2000, or XP (Home/Pro) the drive is ready to use. If you made the mistake of plugging the USB cable into a USB 1.1 port on your computer, Windows will let you know with a balloon message from the system tray saying something to the affect "You have installed a high-speed USB device in a standard USB port, you will have device functionality at degraded performance." The single power switch on the back of the drive has the obvious effect and the RCA outputs can be used to convert the drive into an AUDIO CD player, giving the audio signal to your home stereo equipment or audio input of your soundcard. The SELF TEST switch has been provided for end-user troubleshooting through assistance with Plextor tech-support. The user manual touches on the switch, saying how to actuate the switch between the Normal Use and SELF test modes, but does not give any type of indications as to how the unit will respond upon a successful test or discovery of an error.

     An eject button, a headphone jack with the expected volume knob, and some Logo writing. The disc-tray has been painted the same matte black that we have seen in the last few Plextor drives, which Plextor claims to increase the accuracy of high speed CD writes.