Benq DW1640 and important questions

First, I'd like to say that I've been lurking for a long time and I've learned alot from the forums. I find the collection of intelligence and the will to share information with anyone who needs it to be seriously killer.

Alright, I've recently aquired a 1640 (man. june '05, made it china.) and there are some things I need to know before I go willy-nilly with the burning.

1.) I have yet to set the region. (I'm in the US)

-A.- <i>Must</i> I set the region for the drive to read/write?

-B.- I've read about updating the firmware soon after getting the drive. What will the most current firmware affect on my 1640?

-c.- I would like to set it as region-free: Will I have to update my firmware to do so? And if so, how do I find out which firmware I currently have?

-C.- Will setting the drive to region-free lessen the drive's read/writing ability/qualtiy <u>at all</u>?

2.) The 1640 will be replacing one of two drives. Which is a better companion for the 1640? A Lite-On 16x DVD-ROM (for 1 to 1s, I have a standalone player, so I figure I don't need the ROM for viewing) or a Samsung 52x CDRW (to take the load off the 1640 and have it only write DVDs.)?

3.) Does the 1640 prefer dvd+r over dvd-r?

-A.- Which media code does it seem to like the most? (I'm wanting to get genuine TYG02s or YUDEN00T02s)

-B.- If I decide on the +Rs and booktype to -ROM: Will doing so promote more burning errors than if I used -Rs?

-C.- Is the quality of a (now) -ROM movie the same as a -R? (ie - visual anomalies, pixels, blocks, non-syncing, etc..)

4.) Which is more likely to have errors? (meda@speed) - 4x@4x, 8x@8x, 8x@4x, or 4x@8x

Is there any other fundemtal information I'm missing?

Thanks, guys. I visit afterdawn (registered today) atleaste five times daily.

Keep it up,
john

P.S. CMCs forever!!!..... No! Wait!

 

1a) You shouldn't have to do anything on that drive when you install it,region wise.

1b) I updated mine to the latest update after I recieved it.Very simple.Here's the website,click on drivers for the fw update:

http://www.benq.us/Products/DVDRewriter/index.cfm?product=572&page=specifications

1c) I don't know if there is a hacked fw for region free.You've only got 5 changes. Best bet would be a program called anydvd by slysoft.Look under the software tab-under rippers.There's a $5 discount for us right now. Very handy at pulling off the newer encryptions and making your drive region free.Also works on cd encryptions.

1C)It shouldn't affect the read ability.If it's a hacked fw,that may fry your drive.

2)I'd keep the 16x litey dvd-rom. Ditch the cd-rw drive. This drive will do both. Most of the wear and tear on dvd-rw drives is the ripping.That dvd-rom should be quicker.

3)Definitely the plus format,but booktype them to dvd-rom. That q-suite 2.0 booktype management utility is just below the firmware update in that link I posted. After booktyping your plus format to dvd-rom,those backups should play in just about everything.

3A) Yuden000-T02/Ritek-r03/MCC-003 and MCC-004 are my bread and butter. Over 99% success rate,even on the fly!

3B)promote more burning errors? With these benqs,you'll rarely see a burn error. I have 3 benqs and only 1 ligitimate burn coaster this year! Booktyping doesn't hurt,it helps on stand alone compatability.If this drive errors out during the burn,usually some quality defect on the discs.

3C)Your booktyped backup should play near perfection.It only affects those players that give you no disc inserted errors. Any pixellation/freezing/skipping-99% of the time it will be the stand alones fault.Use the quality media. These benqs are phenomenal.

4) Believe it or not, the faster burns produce better results-using the quality media. The PI/PO scans look way better for 8x burns than 4x. Those MCC-004 backups at 12x scan a heck of a lot better than 4x!

For this drive, do not burn at 2.4x. Too many read errors.

Fundamental info: I keep all my backup targets at 4360 mbs,nice and away from that outer edge.Definitely check out Q-suite 2.0/click on booktype/and set +r/+rw/+r DL to dvd-rom. For me,the dash works about 50% on my players. My booktyped backups,95% on those same players. Huge difference. If a player won't play these booktyed backups,a new $25-$35 el-cheapo player is in order. That overburn protection is sweet.

No more worrying about leaving your burn speed at max burn. These benqs will overburn 8x media to 12x and 16x.That overburn protection in q-suite will keep it at the rated speed on those discs.

Happy Holidays!

 

Firstly, Thank you very much for the info.

Secondly, something odd is happening though... Or, I -noticed- something odd. I installed drive and successfully updated the firmware. And (as I'm sure many people have done.) I went through my CDs with nero and was checking the media type and etc. Well, I have some Maxell CDRs (turned out to be Taiyo Yudens) that the BenQ would only write to @ 24x while my samsung would write to them @ 40x (even though the samsung is a 52x drive... Why it's slowed down is something I plan on finding out about later on.).

I was checking my other discs and I have (Fujifilm MIJ TYs) and the BenQ says it could write to them @ 48x..

So, why in the world would a 1640 write to some Taiyo Yudens slower than a samsung?

Happy Holidays to all,
john