Does anyone have any info on the new 1.08 firmware for the Plextor PX-R820 writer? Is it fully compatible with the latest CloneCD or does it possibly remove some capabilities that version 1.07 gave to this writer in copying some of the newer protections, like SD2? Elaborate Bytes still lists 1.07 as the preferred firmware and I've seen absolutely no discussion of 1.08 on the CloneClinic forum. I realize that this is not the newest hardware out there, but it's still one of the best writers available for copying anything, including SD2.

On the CloneCD it states "Newest Firmware 1.07 Required" but that means, as I understand it, that all firmware versions from 1.07 and above will work... But then again: why do you want to upgrade? If it ain't broken, don't fix it!

I myself have the PlexWriter 1210A with the firmware 1.05 (newest firmware is 1.07) which is working very nice

Two schools of thought here, both valid. "If it ain't broken, don't fix it" and "there's always room for improvement". Hardware manufacturers don't issue firmware upgrades for no reason and it's usually one of two reasons. Either they've discovered a (sometimes obscure) flaw in the previous version or they've discovered a better way to do it. Plextor's claims of "Improved performance of reading audio discs, improved initialization of CD-Extra discs, improved performance of CD-Text discs and improved performance of reading overburned discs" makes it tempting to upgrade as long as there's no downside, like removal of some feature that CloneCD depends on to work properly. You're right, I'm not going to update my firmware until I find out for sure - and maybe not even then!

The 1.08 firmware works perfectly, and yes ...
this burner can STILL COPY SAFEDISC 2,
I hereby confirm it
-Lord02-

But the back-up only works in your writer... Or do you mean, still can't copy SD2?