hi i'm after a new burner, and after reading a few threads it seems to be that a lot of people have a high opinion of the benq drives. My question is simple really what is the latest benq drive? i've been on the benq site and it has a list from 1610 through 1655 but does not say which way they go for newest. is it the higher the number the newest or the lower? thanks in advance for any help.
usually the higher number represents a more recent drive, the variation on the numbers ending with a "5" usually signify a "lightscribe" capable drive, while the model numbers ending in a "0" are their "regular-non-lightscribe" drives~ so, as of right now in the U.S. the Benq dw-1655 is the latest drive and is also lightscribe capable and the SOON TO BE RELEASED dw-1650 (within a few months now here in the U.S.) is the most recent "regular" Benq burner~ p.s. i am going to be the "guinea pig" and buy the dw-1650 immediately when it's released here in the States, if i'm not mistaken, European markets already have the dw-1650, it should be out in the U.S. within the next month or 2~ the most current drive by Benq that follows the series of "highly rated" by many here at afterdawn is the dw-1640 and it's predecessor, the dw-1620~ the dq60 is NOT a "true" Benq drive as it is manufactured by Teac, unlike the others i mentioned which are Benq made~ docTY~
thanks m8. just ordered a dw1655 for 41 quid with delivery. should be here in a couple of days cant wait lol.
anytime buddy, you should be very pleased w/ ur dw-1655, i'm personally not into the "lightscribe" thing, it's just a personal preference, but you got yourself a very good drive~ docTY~
I've got this one and I love it Haven't tried the lightscribe thing yet, but heck I figured I can use it to dress up a gift or something (like a dvd photoshow for someone's b-day) meh..whatever But the drive cuts through the Sony TY +R's like butter. 99% quality scan is the average after about 10 discs so far. No coasters It seems to have more issues when it comes to crappier media though. More to follow with many a quality scan for viewing pleasure.
Benq quality!! Congrats on the 1655. In case anybody looking for any info: I've got 3 of them and those booktyped backups will play just about everywhere.I average 1 coaster out of every 400-500 burns.They really love those sony/fuji tys,maxell hitachi,ritek,and verbatim-mainly the plus format. All these are top notch stuff for benqs. I have 2 of the 1620s,but 1 of them is a rebadge with I/O magic brand name. Still near perfect,but these babies will overburn most 8x speed media at 12x and 16x. My 1640: Sweet! The quality of these drives are so good,the best burner makers of plextor are using rebadged benq 1640s in their Plextor 740A. Even phillips and some other manufacturers are using a lot of re-badged benqs. 1650: I haven't heard much of this drive. I am answering another thread in the dvd-rw drives room with a member who can't play his own plus format backups on his 1650 drive. That problem is where a utility called q-suite comes in. Using the plus format media like +r/+rw/and +r DL,you can set the booktype to dvd-rom. This booktyping fools dvd drives into thinking they are actual dvd-roms. Dvd-rom is the most universal of all dvd formats.This can be very valuable if you want your backups to play in more stand alone drives. This utility also controls overburning. This is a nice feature if you have a single drive pc.No more burning the 8x speed media at 12x and 16x because they will fly! 1655: Has the lightscribe feature and it's the only lightscribe drive that I would purchase. Notice my sig at the bottom! I've got the HP 640c lightscribe that came bundled with my pc. This drive is way inferior to my benqs. Poor stand alone compatability/too many read errors/and coasters on my quality media. I do use it to scribe and read. I purchased my last 2 benqs at newegg.com. The second 1620 was about $45 and the 1640 was a total of $38. They are currently out of these,darn. If you get that new 1620/1640/1650/or 1655: Definitely download qsuite 2.0 Set the booktype to dvd-rom Update to the latest firmware updates for maximum performance Use quality plus format media like verbatim/taiyo yuden/and the japanese- sony/fuji/maxell. And plan on not wasting many discs after that! Sweet! Here's another thread with all the info for benq sites for firmware updates, qsuite2,along with pictures: http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/308781
Hi, saugmon, I'm curious that you recommend QSuite 2 over QSuite 2.1.Why? Also you suggest changing booktype to DVD-ROM. In this case the f/w for both the 1650 & the 1655 have booktype set to DVD-ROM by default. You have done the same in another thread too. Not trying to be funny, but like I said earlier just curious. BTW for BenQ f/w go http://support.benq.com/front/BenqM...language=all&flag=1&GenMenu=&RootId=undefined
The 1650 and 1655: They booktype by default? Like I said in that other post,I don't see a whole lot of threads about the 1655 and very few about the 1650. I didn't see anything about that in the specs. The q-suite works with most benq drives,and some drives have to have a certain fw version to be able to use it.The 1620 has to have the b7-v9 fw update for this utility.Nero will set the booktype for the 1620,not the 1640. qsuite 2.1 had more bugs in it. catfreak can also confirm this. Qsuite may also give you extra tools,just different options on different benq models.I've got overspeed protection for my 1640.I have no option on my other 2 pcs that have the 1620s. It don't tell me that my backups are actually booktyped. I use dvdinfopro and dvdidentifier to give me exact format of my backups: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD+R:YUDEN000-T02-000] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Disc & Book Type : [DVD+R] - [DVD-ROM] Manufacturer Name : [Taiyo Yuden Co. Ltd.] Manufacturer ID : [YUDEN000] Media Type ID : [T02] Product Revision : [Not Specified] Blank Disc Capacity : [2,295,104 Sectors = 4.70 GB (4.38 GiB)] Recording Speeds : [1x-2.4x , 4x , 6x-8x] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- [ DVD Identifier - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com ] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi, Thanks for your response. I must admit I'm not aware of QSuite 2.1 having any more bugs than QSuite 2. Re bitsetting try this ftp://62.101.64.70/dvd-rw/software/book_type_management/booktype_management_v8.4.zip
thanks for all the help and info guys. downloaded the firmware upgrades and qsuite 2 from the links. my booktype was already set to dvd-rom. tried a few burns for my dvd player downstairs. stuborn as hell normally. not many discs play on it, not a sign of a problem even with the cheapest media i could find. i didnt now bout the lightscribe bit, only bought it for the latest model available so thats a bonus. i'm lovin this drive already. thanks again fellas.
Congrats safc21 on that new benq. That's what I love about benqs,they'll burn anything you throw at them. Did that drive come with sonic or another program to do the lightscribing?
I use surething cd labeler 4sw. Here's the link,but I got mine from arniebear: http://www.lightscribe.com/support/index.aspx?id=307 It may be a free trial. It works for HP burners,not sure on benq 1655? I don't see why not. I have sonic express labeler that came with my pc,but no disc. My dad has the same pc,and his 640c lightscribe works with that program. Mine doesn't,but the surething labeler does.
Hi safc21, If in the UK you should have got a BenQ utility disc with oem Nero with LS support, not that it really matters. SureThing will work with any LS DVDRW. Provided you install the LS driver. Neros' site for LightScrbe. http://www.nero.com/nero7/eng/System_Requirement_Updates.html LightScribe About http://www.lightscribe.com/support/index.aspx?id=305 Another useful site. http://www.supermediastore.com/lightscribe-dvd-media-center.html Also http://www.lightscribecovers.com/
