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Are BenQ DVD-RW drives unreliable?

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i have a benq dvd-rw drive dual layer burner, burned at least a 100 dvds and cdrs with not a single coater! i use these in all my builds....all brands have failures, i have had horrible luck with lite-on...others havent....no point in beating a dead horse....
 
Originally posted by: allanon1965
i have a benq dvd-rw drive dual layer burner, burned at least a 100 dvds and cdrs with not a single coater! i use these in all my builds....all brands have failures, i have had horrible luck with lite-on...others havent....no point in beating a dead horse....
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Trying to find out if its another IBM 75 gxp type issue.
 
Originally posted by: BlingBlingArsch
just dont buy Beny if u dont like it or if ur scared John. U can buy LG, NEC, Pioneer, Plextor...
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Plextor was the last one on your list but it is the first one on mine.
 
John, sounds like you are on a mission. You cited three threads (out of the thousands and thousands on Anandtech) to come to this conclusion: "Why would so many BenQ drives fail?" In two of those threads the drives arrived failed and the third thread it apparently ended up working fine.

I think you will find most folks are very happy with their Benq burners and that they work better and fail less often than most. However, since it seems you already have your conclusion and are merely seeking facts to support it, I'd guess that may well be lost on you.
 
No 4 threads with the 4th being from cdrlabs. The BenQ may not work on some motherboards it seems or won't at all.

The 3rd thread did not solve the problem.
 
ASUS - one of the if not *the* largest manufacturers of aftermarket motherboards in the world. Benq, one of the largest manufacturers of brand and off-brand optical drives in the world. Do you think if Benq drives didn't work on ASUS boards there would be more than a single post from a guy on cdrlabs (who furthermore ended the thread by saying, "I changed the ide cable to an 80 wire one on a different controller and all is now well".)

My advice - buy the NEC. If you really want to conduct research on the reliability of DVD drives I would try to dig deeper than simply basing a whole quarter of my premise on comments from a guy who can't even figure out how to set jumpers (then realized he was using the wrong ribbon.)
 
This thread is hilarious...:roll:

I have had my BenQ DW1620 Pro for a while now, & i have burned hundreds of DVDs, likely close to a thousand with no issues save for a few times when it couldn't successfully finish burning an 8x DVD-R @ 16x, which only happened since those discs couldn't handle being burned at twice their rated speed.

I really think you need to go buy a few BenQ drives so you can "find" some problems with them...:roll:
 
Its not even on my list anymore. I've had two to date and both have failed within the warranty peroid. RMA'd each on separate occasions (which cost me shipping). The first one received back had the EXACT same failure as the one I sent them. The second failed 2 months later, meaning out of warrenty! My lite-on drive is still working great, though.
 
You're THAT worried about reliability. God. So do you own a Honda Civic (I'm not bashing it, it's a great car, but someone like you would definately buy it becuase of its "reliability"). I mean I understand if there's a HUGE UPROAR about drives breaking and falling apart, but seriously a few people's experiences really don't define the drive. I don't hear the uproar. Nope... not even a faint one.

Also, where's the fun if you have a system that doesn't cause a problem once in a while? I don't know about you but I love diagnosing problems 🙂. The BenQ is an excellent drive, look at the raving reviews all over the place, buy it, have some fun with it. If it breaks down, then take it apart! Duh! (And dont' tell me I'm the only one who does these kind of things 😀).

-The Pentium Guy
 
Both of my Benq drives are still working like a champ. I've burned over 1,000 DVD and hundreds of CDs with my DW800A and it's still going strong. Got DW1620 Pro and have burned little over 100 DVDs and it's fine too. I've also used NEC but prefer Benq.
 
Originally posted by: n7
This thread is hilarious...:roll:

I have had my BenQ DW1620 Pro for a while now, & i have burned hundreds of DVDs, likely close to a thousand with no issues save for a few times when it couldn't successfully finish burning an 8x DVD-R @ 16x, which only happened since those discs couldn't handle being burned at twice their rated speed.

I really think you need to go buy a few BenQ drives so you can "find" some problems with them...:roll:
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QFT. I'm on the verge of calling FUD here. Name any mainstream computer product, and you can find four threads where it had a problem.

I have one BenQ and one NEC so far, so not a statistically-meaningful sample here, but I like the BenQ better than the NEC and that's what I'll buy the next time, maybe one of them thar new-fangled LightScribe jobbies 😀
 
Benq is the current name of the Acer retail channel components division. The Acer branded drives had always been not well regarded (while the AOpen OEM channel components division drives, and mobos etc., were fairly well regarded - particularly for their Ricoh based/licensed burners and their Pioneer licensed DVD-ROM drives). If you don't like the Benq name, you can buy pretty much the same drive under the Plextor name (PX-740). I don't think Plextor would have put their name on it were it not a basically decent drive.

.bh.
 
Originally posted by: Zepper
Benq is the current name of the Acer retail channel components division.
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Not anymore.

A few years ago, they broke off from Acer; the two companies are independant now.
 
I have found no evidence that Benq is anything other than a name change. If you know of some, please link me to it.

Thanks,
.bh.
 
The Benq 1640, Plextor 740, and NEC 3540 are essentially the same drive, based on the Phillips chipset. There's really no difference except that the Plex will cost you 50-75% more. I love my Plextor 712, but when I upgraded to DL, I went with the 1620, and now 1640. All are fine drives, and have yet to cause me a single issue. Nice thing about the 1640 is that it rips DVD's like a champ. You'd think it was a Plextor the way Decrypter tears through it. There's no mistaking that the 1620 is a Benq on that front.

Not sure why I'm bothering to post though, since it seems the OP had his mind made up before the thread began...
 
Originally posted by: Zepper
Benq is the current name of the Acer retail channel components division. The Acer branded drives had always been not well regarded (while the AOpen OEM channel components division drives, and mobos etc., were fairly well regarded - particularly for their Ricoh based/licensed burners and their Pioneer licensed DVD-ROM drives). If you don't like the Benq name, you can buy pretty much the same drive under the Plextor name (PX-740). I don't think Plextor would have put their name on it were it not a basically decent drive.

.bh.
Click to expand...

You hit the nail on the head. Benq was formerly Acer Peripherals or something and the Acer name is not generally associated with quality as much as lower prices.

I'm sure plextor drives something extra over benq even if the extra price isn't justified.
 
I think people have had problems with getting BenQ DW1620 duds from the factory but I haven't heard of any problems with the DW1640s. I just ordered one from my friend and I'll let you know how that goes.
 
n7,
Well, the cdrlabs link was just a restatement of the "About Benq" blurb from the company web site. And I did google and found no article that claimed a full split from Acer. So until such evidence is seen, I'm sticking with it was only a name change to protect the Acer company from the bad rep the peripherals division was earning.

.bh.
 
I have two 1620's and they are the best DVD writers AND readers that I have ever owned (Will read a DVD+R @ 16x w/ B7V9 firmware). I had a NEC 3520, but returned it after doing disk quality scans (comparing it to a 1620). The 1620 was simply superior. It burns 8x TY DVD+R disks perfectly @ 12x... better than the NEC @ 8x!

BTW, IMHO the bad 1620's were all built last winter/early spring. All the ones built lately seem perfect...YMMV but I sure am getting some milage from mine!
 
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