Due to the fact that this is PLEXTOR's first appearance on BFR we felt a proper introduction was in order, so here is a little bit about PLEXTOR. PLEXTOR is well-known for their high-performance optical drives and many of you have probably heard or seen the name PLEXTOR at some point in time. But, what you may not know is that PLEXTOR is actually a division of a larger company - SHINANO KENSHI. SHINANO KENSHI was founded in 1918 to manufacture Spun Silk Yarn, which at the time, was one of the most "High-Tech" industries in the world. As the years passed, SHINANO KENSHI embarked on other industrial markets that would grow more progressively, while maintaining its proud history in the Silk Industry. These venture insights led to the successful expansion into technology-driven, knowledge-intensive fields, such as Electrical Division, Electronic Equipment Division and Printing Equipment Division. PLEXTOR CD-R/RW drives were introduced in 1998 with technologies developed by the corporation in support of the market growing demand for CD-ROM's. DVD+R/RW were added to the PLEXTOR product line in 2003.

Now that we're all acquainted, let's check out their recently new PX-712UF external DVD +/- R/RW drive. This puppy is a 8-in-1 combo drive: 12X DVD+R, 8X DVD-R, 4X DVD+RW, 4X DVD-RW, 16X DVD-ROM, 48X CD-R, 24X CD-RW and 48X CD-ROM. It supports both PC and Mac's as it supports both USB2.0 and FireWire technologies.