Help recommend me a DVD burner from Newegg

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?N=2010100005+1036506653&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=5

Please tell me which ones are good

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827101010

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152058

You cant go wrong with either of those.

 

The BenQ DW1655 and DW1650 are the best dollar for dollar ... If you want to spend over $100 get the Plextor

Personally, I'd get the BenQ
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827101006

 

@Catfreak

I get mine today according to UPS tracking. What is the latest firmware version that I should get for the DW 1650?

Thanks friend.

 

The latest 'official' .. in other words, safest BenQ DW1650 firmware is BCDC and is available here:
http://www.benq.us/ServiceAndSupport/Drivers/drivers.cfm?product=817
If you haven't already downloaded it, download QSuite, also ...

Excellent choice of burners, you'll love it .. make sure that you post in the 'BenQ Hall of Fame' thread ...

Good Luck with your burner and happy burning my friend ...
Victor

 

@catfreak

Thank's for that. I will be putting this in this weekend. Anticipation grows. I will have to take out one of the other two drives that I have. Both are great. If it were you, which would you retire? The LG or the NEC?

 

Let's see .. a LG4663 or a NEC3550 .. Use whichever one is the better reader as your reader to keep the mileage down on the BenQ ...

 

Here's the one- BenQ 1650:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827101011

$39 after shipping! They're practically giving them away. These are excellent,high quality burners. Don't let the price tag fool you.

They were out of these the other week,but must have gotten more in. They will sell out quick.

If you desire lightscribe,then check out the benq 1655.

Why wait? I'd have that baby installed/updated/and booktyping within 10 mins after opening up the package, LOL

 

@Saugmon and catfreak

Yeah, I hear you. Time constraints, work and bicycling preclude me from doing it til Saturday.

I have a question for you though. The OEM drive came with Nero, which I do not have. The CD contains Nero Express, Nero Vison, Lightscribe and I think Sonic. I seem to recall that all I should install is Nero Express 6.6.0.14. Do you think that this OEM version is licensed or just a trial version that I will have to purchase at some point?

I presently just use AnyDVD, CloneDVD2, DVDdecrypter, imgburn, and DVDShrink. What's your opinions?

I have decided to remove the LG as that is the drive that I have to manually reset the booktype on every time I turn on the computer.

Thanks guys!

 

The OEM versions that I received with my BenQs allowed me to update to the Nero Ultra Edition for no extra cash ... Just don't go past 6.6.0.18 on the first package .. I did install the latest package #2 because the newest version of NeroVisionExpress has some new features that I really like ...

The Nero OEM's registration is tied to your drive .. in other words, you need to load it through the BenQ .. if you put the drive in a different PC, you can keep Nero in the original PC and install it in the new PC also ...

 

Great info catfreak! I was thinking about preinstalling it to have it ready to go. I'll hold off now and install it with the BenQ. I can hardly wait...learing anticipatory grin on my face. I may try to get to it before Saturday, but certainly not later.

 

@9mm

as to the 1650, you can see in catfreak's benq hall of fame thread as well as my own TY thread here on this page:

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/46/296925

that i am getting VERY good quality burns with the [bold]UN-official[/bold] firmware revision of "BCFC" ~

much like saugmon, i updated my benq 1650 right out of the box from BCAC (which is what mine orginally came with from Canada) to BCDC IMMEDIATELY without even trying to burn anything using the BCAC firmware~

i probably put about 50+ burns using the BCDC, but have since got almost a dozen burns using the BCFC (which with Solidburn enabled and WOPC on as well) i am VERY pleased with my backups~ i figure my 1650 has "learned" my various types of media now which basically include ALL the Taiyo Yuden variations (TYG01/TYG02/TYG03/YUDEN000T02/YUDEN000T03)
and also 2 of the Verbatim flavor, being MCC003/MCC004 (i only use TY when it comes to dvd-r format, i PERSONALLY don't find the others to be as good, just my opinion, including the MCC made Verb dvd-r)

regardless, just thought i'd let you know from my LIMITED experience so far, the BCFC firmware is quite "Stable" in my eyes and has proven to be quite good after zebadee's suggestion which is why i updated it~

docTY~

 

Do you think that I should just flash directly or step up?

 

9mm:

I love that Nero 6.6.0.14 oem disc I got. It's got Recode 2 which I powed around with a couple times. I use the burning rom set to autoburn with dvd shrink. Even has the nerotools quality test that works great. A much improvement over my last 6.0.0.21b oem disc..

It's even got the lightscribe labeler in this nero oem disc. I'll have to pow around with that as well.

Nero oem discs are still hell of a deal. Don't download the INCD packets. You shouldn't have to update any higher,unless you want to. That's when I ran into trouble updating my older oem disc.

Sonic?

I've got it,no software conflicts. 20 min on the fly copies at 4x. Nero kicks it's ass any day in only 15 min otf burns!

Congrats on the burner. You're going to have to bump up that burn speed to get the verbatim +16x to perform best. 8x is the minimum for those babies.

I'd bump it up to the latest official fw,like in my sig. After that,you can let the fw updates slide-until trouble arrises.

 

I agree about the InCD, it's not necessary and it really doesn't play well with others .. I believe that people who have problems with Nero/Sonic together actually have a problem with InCD/Sonic ..

Sonic is a good program but the real jewel programs are NeroRecode2 and NeroVisionExpress3

 

@catfreak, sauggy, and doc.

Okay, got it installed tonight. Removed the LG. Installed Nero 6.6.0.14 only. Didn't think that I would need Vision Express at this time. Where do I look for Recode2?

How do I set the Booktype to DVD-Rom permanently? With DVDinfoPro?

QSuite? I am downloading that tonight.

Unit came with BCDC firmware preinstalled. Should I flash with BCFC?

Getting some more Verbs tomorrow, look forward to burns with those. The Ritek, while plays good, does not produce good scans.

 

Download Nero v6.6.0.18 package 1 here:
http://httpdl1.usw.nero.com/Nero-6.6.0.18_no_yt.exe

and get package 2 (w/ Recode2 and NeroVisionExpress) here:
http://httpdl1.usw.nero.com/NVE-3.1.0.21_no_yt.exe

 

Thank you sir, you are a gentleman and a scholar.

 

@9mm

sorry for the late reply, busy day @ work today~

you must have gotten a more recent build of the benq 1650, mine was manufactured in Dec. 2005, yours...i'm gonna take a guess and say maybe Feb or March of 2006? hehe...i'm actually helping a few guys right now via PM that just recently purchased a benq 1650 from newegg and meritline, they're telling me that these have a manufactures date of Feb 2006 and that it comes PRE-LOADED with BCDC as you mentioned is on urs as well~

honestly, if you are even the least bit hesitant about firmware, i wouldn't do a thing...stick with the LATEST OFFICIAL one that came pre-flashed on your drive...if you get a bit more curious in the future, lemme know and i'll give u a run down on MY settings with the BCFC firmware~ heck, i wouldn't be surprised if Benq officially releases another firmware update within the next few months, nothing wrong w/ being cautious...i just like to live on the "wild side" w/ firmwares, cross-flashing, etc~

anyways, to the do PERMANENT booktyping of dvd+r to dvd-rom, use Q-Suite (i use version 2.1, but i know saugmon uses 2.0), 2.1 works FLAWLESSLY for ME on the 1650...under the "Booktype" tab, it should list what your drive is CURRENTLY at...here is an example of mine and what it SHOULD look like...



as to nero, i've had a retail copy of nero since long ago, but follow the links catfreak provided to update to the LATEST [bold]GOOD[/bold] version of nero 6...don't update to the LATEST revision of nero 6 as it does NOT work well w/ dvd shrink, i found this out the hard way a few months back when it was released, since then, i've rolled back to 6.6.0.18 and have nero 7 on my other computer~

6.6.0.18 is the newest one you SHOULD update it to...plays nicely w/ dvd shrink~

hope that helps, i'll be around if you need a few more tips on the 1650~ it's a great drive...you have catfreak to thank for getting ME to jump on the benq bandwagon, i don't regret a single one of the 5 benq drives i have total (3 1640s, 2 1650s)

cheers

docTY~

 

9mm ruger: Your nero oem disc may have nero recode2 on it. Just open it up. It'll also have nero showtime/nero vision express2/nero burning rom/and lightscribe labeler-all in the oem suite disc that came with mine. It'll also have those dreaded INCD packets, UGGH- those are the only ones not to install on your pc.

Your fw should be ok.