BenQ DW-1620 16X DVD burner for $49.99 AR + Shipping

[sumrtym]

Originally posted by: Naustica
Benq will burn more medias faster than any other drive. It can burn majority of 8x discs at either 12 or 16x. It also doesn't have riplock so it can rip dvds at the highest speed possible. You have to use hacked firmware with NEC to remove riplock or you rip at like 2x speed.

I don't think that's correct. I believe the 1620 does have riplock, and no options to remove it. However, it is also one of the best drives for read quality (ie recovering data from damaged cds/dvds).

 

[Glpster]

Originally posted by: sumrtym

Originally posted by: Naustica
Benq will burn more medias faster than any other drive. It can burn majority of 8x discs at either 12 or 16x. It also doesn't have riplock so it can rip dvds at the highest speed possible. You have to use hacked firmware with NEC to remove riplock or you rip at like 2x speed.

I don't think that's correct. I believe the 1620 does have riplock, and no options to remove it. However, it is also one of the best drives for read quality (ie recovering data from damaged cds/dvds).

Okay speed is nice, and all things being equal I'd go with a faster drive, but quality is actually much more important to me. In fact, I regularly burn at BELOW rated speed on my CDs and DVDs because I feel I will get a better quality burn (this is especially important when backing up important data).

Also I tend to favor quiet over speed.

So, if I'm too understand correctly. The BenQ or NU rebadge, tops the NEC on Quality and Noise, while the NEC takes the trophy for speed?

What about backing up copyrighted material? Games, Movies, etc... Does not having access to 3rd party firmwares make the BenQ less capable of "backing up" 😉 copyrighted material?

 

[simo]

The BenQ is a good drive, albeit a bit limited with the DL, DVD-R and DVD+RW speed. It does have the ability to scan for errors which is nice. I refuse to believe that it doesn't have riplock, it's kind of a legal requirement.....

If you're willing to use the hacked firmware for the 3520, then the NEC wipes the floor with it in terms of write speed and media compatibility - like writing most 4x media at 8x and 8x media at 12-16x, no riplock, region-free, bitsetting on DVD+R and DL. Unfortunately, with the stock firmware, the NEC's are a bit crap....

Basically if you prefer quality to speed, and prefer DVD+R to DVD-R, then get the BenQ, otherwise get the NEC.

 

[Glpster]

Oh one other thing that concerns me.

How reliable are each of these drives? Is NEC more reliable than BenQ or vise-versa?

I'm concerned with all the new fangled technology in the BenQ (including the ability to adjust the angle of the laser), that it could have a higher failure rate.

 

[sumrtym]

Haven't seen much of a problem with failures. The 3520 is a new drive, and I certainly wouldn't say it "wipes the floor" with ANY firmware. For one, without being able to analyze your burns, you don't know the quality. Posts I've seen at cdfreaks seem to suggest that the quality of burns on the 3520 are worse than on the 3500 (this is not only new firmware, but new hardware as well).

Adjusting the angle of the laser and power helps ensure quality burns. I can't speak for the 3520, but the Benq 1620 is about as silent as you can get (and that includes opening / closing the door).

Here's a post of people happy with the 1620, and there's some current / former NEC people in there as well as talking about failure rate a bit.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

NEC wipes the floor with it in terms of write speed and media compatibility - like writing most 4x media at 8x and 8x media at 12-16x

8x marked Sony -R burned @ 16x on my 1620..plays back fine on an Initial and an Apex portable as well as on a Sony 5disk changer

Originally posted by: Glpster

Oh one other thing that concerns me.

How reliable are each of these drives? Is NEC more reliable than BenQ or vise-versa?

I'm concerned with all the new fangled technology in the BenQ (including the ability to adjust the angle of the laser), that it could have a higher failure rate.

had a DW800A did 1500 DVDs before failing..RMA went smooth 🙂

 

[stingygrrl]

After considering the 3500/3520 and the benq, I went with the benq. the 3500 seems to be better for the moment than the 3520, but I needed a drive that I didn't have to flash for bitsetting and that's the benq (for relatives and I wanted to keep the warranty intact). There's a modified firmware to the make the 1620 region free here, thanks to the Dangerous Brothers! 😀

PS, I looked at the drive at TD and I couldn't tell for sure if it was the 1610 or 1620. zipzoomfly has a decent price on the OEM 1620, but the Nu at newegg is supopsed to be the same thing.

 

[Ranger X]

I bought this drive during Black Friday '04 at Staples for $39.99 AR. The drive is excellent! It makes quality burns and I haven't had a coaster with it yet, aside from the ones I induced.

My choice of DVD burners:
1. BenQ
2. NEC
3. Pioneer
4. Lite-On
5. Sony

You can flash this drive to a DW-1620 Pro for 4X dual layer burning.

 

[Ghettocowboy]

Originally posted by: Ranger X
I bought this drive during Black Friday '04 at Staples for $39.99 AR. The drive is excellent! It makes quality burns and I haven't had a coaster with it yet, aside from the ones I induced.

My choice of DVD burners:
1. BenQ
2. NEC
3. Pioneer
4. Lite-On
5. Sony

You can flash this drive to a DW-1620 Pro for 4X dual layer burning.

Pioneer will soon be BenQ drive since both companies agreed on the deal that BenQ will be supplying pioneer OEM drives. And my BenQ burns perfectly, not even a coaster yet even I use a lot of Fry's GQ brand, media code is MEDIAD01 and all of the burnt discs played fine in all my home/pc DVD players. And with the newest firmware, you are gonna love TY media.

 

[fleshconsumed]

Originally posted by: Ghettocowboy

Originally posted by: Ranger X
I bought this drive during Black Friday '04 at Staples for $39.99 AR. The drive is excellent! It makes quality burns and I haven't had a coaster with it yet, aside from the ones I induced.

My choice of DVD burners:
1. BenQ
2. NEC
3. Pioneer
4. Lite-On
5. Sony

You can flash this drive to a DW-1620 Pro for 4X dual layer burning.

Pioneer will soon be BenQ drive since both companies agreed on the deal that BenQ will be supplying pioneer OEM drives. And my BenQ burns perfectly, not even a coaster yet even I use a lot of Fry's GQ brand, media code is MEDIAD01 and all of the burnt discs played fine in all my home/pc DVD players. And with the newest firmware, you are gonna love TY media.

AFAIK the agreement was only for DVD-ROM drives, not burners.


BTW, the pdf form on the tigerdirect website says UPC is required, however the drive itself is OEM, so there can be no UPC code. I went to the onrebate website and it the rebate says it's for an OEM drive, I can't proceed any further so I don't know if they do need UPC code or not.

 

[Ranger X]

Originally posted by: fleshconsumed
BTW, the pdf form on the tigerdirect website says UPC is required, however the drive itself is OEM, so there can be no UPC code. I went to the onrebate website and it the rebate says it's for an OEM drive, I can't proceed any further so I don't know if they do need UPC code or not.

They'll probably use that confusion to their advantage when it comes time to rewarding people their rebate check.