SBLive wrote on 2021-10-14, 15:58:
There are sections of the EEPROM that are programmed at the factory (like model number, ID string, serial number, and all the counters are set - tray open, total read time, total write time, and other factory-set stuff) that would need to be "transplanted" between the two devices. At that point, you might just well swap the EEPROM chips completely and not bother with a crossflash. The DSP auto-calibrates the laser, there's no calibration data in the EEPROM like in old MiniDisc units. Like you noted, you can swap lasers without doing any recalibration between units.
Right, so dump desolder the chip from the Premium, dump it, and then program the PX-W5224A chip with the dump.
Regarding laser calibration - you're referring to a different kind of calibration, specifically, the one that takes place before a write operation... What I'm referring to are adjustments in the firmware based on the unique characteristics of each laser. This is something that's done at the factory and programmed into each individual drive's firmware... Just as an example, when cross-flashing modern LG bluray drives, you do in fact have to transplant the calibration data from one dump to the other... It will work without doing this, but the write quality will be inferior.
Because those are the original Plextors that Plextor designed and manufactured themselves. If you look inside those drives you will see the amazing attention to detail, the stupendous overengineering (a 4-gear tray eject mechanism costs way more than 2 pulleys and a belt), and the high quality of the parts used. Those are the models I drooled over back in the day.
Perhaps, but they do not perform well in empirical tests... Premium, Premium II, PX-W5224A, Yamaha F1, PX-716A, PX-760A - those are worth collecting... It's the write quality that counts, in my humble opinion.
After the Premium, Plextor pretty much abandoned all R&D and manufacturing and just started reselling rebadged OEM drives. That's why I laugh at people paying insane money for drives like the PX-230A which is actually a rebadged TSST (Samsung-Toshia Storage Technologies) drive with Plextor-branded firmware. Drives after the Premium are just rebadged TSST, NEC, and BTC drives.
I bought a PX-740A which is a BenQ DW1640 -- but I like it more than my DW1640 because it does in fact perform better in my read tests... I think BenQ did a bin run for Plextor.