They got off to a great start when a pass by Brett Ormerod fell to Danny Pugh 20 yards out. He hit a cracking left-foot shot into the top right-hand corner of the net after just 12 minutes, for his fourth goal of the season.
Mathias Doumbe was booked after 17 minutes for a foul on Ormerod just outside the box and Liam Chilvers hit a 20-yard right-foot free-kick which deflected off the wall before being saved by Plymouth keeper Luke McCormick.
Preston shot-stopper Carlo Nash pulled off the save of the game after 19 minutes when a great left-foot volley by Tony Capaldi was saved with great reflexes from a right-wing cross.
Luke Summerfield, the Pilgrims' 19-year-old midfielder, hit a 25-yard right-foot shot over the bar and then Capaldi had a 20-yard free-kick which hit the wall with Hasney Aljofree shooting narrowly wide.
Ormerod made it 2-0 to Preston in the 41st minute after a throughball assist by Pugh. Ormerod moved to his right-hand side before rounding the keeper and hitting a right-foot shot from ten yards into an empty net for his fourth goal of the season.
David Norris, the Plymouth right-winger, was booked for a foul on Matt Hill just before the break and Summerfield then shot over the bar on the stroke of half-time.
Barry Hayles, the Plymouth captain, was adjudged to have brought down Paul McKenna in the penalty box and was booked with the referee awarding a spot-kick.
Pilgrims boss Ian Holloway substituted Gary Sawyer for Akos Buzsaky before the penalty could be taken but Graham Alexander made no mistake with a right-foot penalty into the roof of the net to make it 3-0 in the 55th minute, his third goal of the season.
Hill was booked for a foul on Buzsaky and Preston went close to scoring a fourth goal in the closing stages when Lewis Neal fired wide of the right-hand post.