Plextor has a utility package for the 740 that is nearly identical (for all purposes) to BenQ's .. You do realize though that the B1655 is a LightScribe model while the P740 is not ...
catfreak - Yes I realize about the lightscribe 1655 vs. the plextor which is not lightscribe but right now with lightscribe media being about a $1.00 + a pop I caould live with out it ! I was considering the benq for the booktyping & solidburn as wellas to ad DVD-R DL capability ! I like pretty disc surfaces as much as anyone but when I can get good media for .30 to .50 cents or there abouts and lightscibe cost a dollar plus each ! ir's SHaRpie time ! I think lightscribe is a great concept but like DVD+DL media the cost per disc is too high at present ! Anyhow I originally started looking for a DW 1640 to star with ! So if I order the plextor you would recommend use it as is ? I would rather Newegg had put it on sale without the rebate butat the 39.00 price but that would sell out too fast ! Thanx for the information though catfreak ! I'm still dreaming I'll figure something out eventually ! I usually do anyways ! Thanx again & Happy Burning!
so from all this can i conclude that BenQ burners are the best??? i have a thoshiba DVD buner any good?
Benq the Best? They are very good quality drives. After booktyping dvd plus format media to dvd-rom-good luck finding a drive that won't play their backups.Those booktyped backups are far superior on stand alones/game consoles/and pc dvd drive. Good Luck on finding a brand of media that they won't burn. Cmags/AML/and Moser bauer are some of the lower quality media I have tried with 100% success rate,but my stand alones really picked out the quality issues on them. I've got 2 benq 1620s,which 1 was a I/O Magic 16x rebadged 1620. I've also got the 1640. That first rebadged benq is holding strong at over 2000+ backups. 99.5% + success rate! Probably 5 burn coasters in last 14 months and 3 of them were defective discs to start with. A couple playback coasters,but I can't complain on that rate. The backups from my HP 640c/ Khypermedia +8x/ and a crappy I/O Magic 16x empa drive couldn't even come close to stand alone compatability.The khypermedia and HP are being used as readers and the Empa drive is sitting in the empty benq box. All my drives play their own backups. Not a single issue while viewing them using windvd6. Stand alones can be picky on certain burners. I'd get no disc inserted errors on some of my stand alones with the non benq backups. It's just some burners are weak and some are strong.Errors on the disc also were higher on the non benq drives. It all comes down to: I have 3 benqs The booktyped backups play virtually anywhere Stick with the plus format,don't have to worry about the dash. They burn like the wind The backups scan better at a higher burn speed using quality media. Very few coasters. If I have a player that has pixellation/jumping/freezing/skipping when playing one of my backups: 99% odds that it's the stand alone players fault! I haven't tried any pioneers/Liteys/or plextors but any of those and the Benq would be a wise choice. When it comes to dvd backups,quality is a must. Quality media and a quality drive. I don't see a whole lot about Toshiba drives. I bought a toshiba vcr in 1986/1987 and my cousin still uses it! I paid $500 for it, OUCH!
In the hope that I'm reaching as many BenQ lovers as possible, I'm posting this here instead of starting a new thread ... The program is QVideo2 and you will need a TV Capture Card (tuner) for your computer .. it will allow you to record and pause live TV (kinda like TiVo) http://www.benq-eu.com/serviceandsupport/downloads/downloads.cfm?product=750&type=A It is a 50MB download and even with broadband, it took me 35 minutes to get it ... Feedback will be much appreciated ...
Thanks for that link, I haven't checked in a while. How easy is it to use? I have some program (UltraTV) that came with my AverMedia capture card, but it's directions are muddy and since I moved, and now have a 35" TV about 5 feet away from my monitor I don't really use it. I have dreams of capturing clips and adding them to my band's live performances for videos. What format does it save the video as? Sorry for the rant, but gotta go. My BenQ needs another Yuden!
Question Guys ! I broke down & ordered a BENQ DW 1655 Reatil from NEWEGG ! My question is when I decide to use the Lighstscribe feature ( BURN A LABEL) do I have to use nero or does the retail unit come with label printing/burning software ? I ask because I already have EASY CD & DVD CREATOR 6 installed for burning & I know that Roxio & NERO don't play nice together ! I don't think I'm going to burb too many lightscribe disc until the prices start coming closer to non lightscribe media prices but I'd like to try the feayure out to atleast see if it works when I install the burner!if I need to install nero it's not a big issue , I prefer roxio but I'm going to install a new HDD so it'll be a clean install either way ? Oh well! thanks Sportsfans ! & Happy Burning !
I prefer Nero to Roxio ... Nero will burn LightScribe but I got Sonic with my HP740b (which is really a Hitachi/LG GCA-4166B) ...
Sonic is what My HP 640c calls for. Express labeler-which doesn't work ,but does in my dad's pc-same pc as mine. Arniebear sent me copies of Surething Labeler SE from sonic. I know Benq threw in sonic software for my last 1620,I just can't find it to see if those labeling programs were on it. You should also get the cd disc with your drive. Both are very similar to the epson print cd software. Locate your label,adjust the size and burn. I've been running them through the hp for the lightscribing 2 times for a better cover.
SureThing4SE works very well, also .. Download here: http://www.lightscribe.com/support/index.aspx?id=307
Alrighty Then ! So if I understand right then I can use the lightscribe software that comes with the BeNQ DW 1655 either with or without nero? I/m not anti nero I tried it for awhile & am just more familiar with Roxio having used it for years ! Also is SureThing4SE similar to their Stomper edition cd label program ? In format I mean I understand that SureThing4SE is for printing/burning lightscribe labels not paper . but are they basically the same ? I'm looking foward to Booktyping and using the Benq 's faetutres like solidburn ect. Once I get it installed of course ! Well gentlemen thanx for your help _ Happy Burning ( ON BOTH SIDES!!!!!)
It'll probably come with the sonic software. Nero? I don't know. It's very easy. I've only used it three times,so still getting some practice in. Very easy. I download my covers off of covers.to and place them in a folder in My Pictures,titled dvd covers. Then open up sure thing labeler 4 se and it'll bring up a template of a dvd-reg hub Click on Pictures- art/browse for pics/ and it'll bring you up to My computer/and other drives/. Just fish out that folder for your dvd covers and click on correct pic and it'll stay there next cover you do. Or you can use one of your pictures or a select background that it has. You may have to resize it/drag it to expand it/set it so it looks centered in that template. After you get it centered up in that template: Click File/Print The screen that pops up will show your drive-benq 1655-highlighted. Mine lists HP640c.I have no option for my benq there,so I can't get it mixed up. You'll see a box and make sure it is ticked for lightscribe Use quality- Best. Everything looks good, make sure label is on the bottom and click ok.It should also ask you to make sure that disc is label side down.It takes 28-30 mins or so per pass. I've ran my last 2 through twice,so a good hour just to scribe in my disc cover.The second scribing right after the first. I'm not sure about regular labels. I haven't really messed around with it yet. I've got the epson r-200 for that. The compatability of burn errors from my 640 make their backups useless-%50. Good thing I burn these lightscribes with my benq and the 640c just for scribing! You get those benq backups booktyped,and good luck finding a player that won't recognize them. I just did Transporter 2 with the lightscribe and downloaded the disc cover that had one of those sweet rims off his car-off centered a hair,but oh well! I've got saw 2 disc cover already downloaded. It has a nice looking gold circular sawblade that should also look sweet on the lightscribe.
Okay, you convinced me. I just bought a BenQ DW1655: https://www.shop4tech.com/item4729.html I used the 10 percent off coupon ($62.99 including shipping) and bought the retail. I like to have the box and software in my hands. I have a couple questions. 1. I've read that it burns +R really good, will it burn -R's just as good? I have an epson R300M and print directly on the label. The price for +R printable is quite a bit more than -R printable. 2. Has anyone ever tried putting one of these in an external enclosure and using it? Bad Idea? Thanks
I burned about 100 DVD-R Taiyo Yuden's that I had from my old burner and they all turned out great. There were compatability issues playing them on some friends set-top players, but there always will be unless you booktype +R discs. They burn great though. Don't know anything about external drives so maybe someone else does.
For some reason, external burners never seem to work as well as their internal counterparts ... you probably will lose some speed ... All I have to say is if you must, you must. Just make sure that you turn your firewall off or else you'll run into problems ...
catfreak - when you say turn your firewall off, do you mean for external only or for internal also? BTW: right now I am using an external dvd-rom to extract to my hard drive. I then use my internal to burn. Is there issues with doing this? If so, what is a good (cheap) dvd-rom to extract to my hard drive?
When processing/ripping/burning, you should turn off ALL applications such as pop-up blockers, anti-virus, spyware, firewall, screensaver ... in general, turn everything not needed in the DVD production process completely OFF
catfreak - that makes sence. I guess I never have any problems since the computer I burn with is never hooked up to the internet (almost never - twice in the last year when I was doing work on my other computer). I noticed when it's not hooked up, and I don't have auto update on. My firewall and virus checker don't ever do anything. Nero seems to be the same way. If internet is hooked up, it wants to connect to the internet whenever I start it. The second I disconnect the internet, it quits trying. I might as well just turn all that stuff off, and just start it manually if I do connect to the internet.
So you all have my mind made on getting a benq burner. what about a dvd-rom drive. I am finally upgrading from a liteon ltd-63. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
