Hiya guys. Not new to here, but confused. My last burner was an AOpen DD0405. Worked great for a year but with constant use, it finally died. Now, I know alot of you guys speak of BenQ and Newegg, which is a great online store. M<y question is......do I look to other places for the older BenQ 1650 / 1655, or is there something out there at Newegg just as good in the same $40-$75 price range? Just asking for suggestions for a new burner. Im not looking for lightscribe (correct me if Im wrong, but isnt that just to laser-imprint the Dvds?) I just want it to burn my dual layer stuff, nothing fancy needed with software as I just want to use my stock Nero/Dvd Shrink and AnyDVD? Thanks for any help you guys can give me.
Just wanted to add.....is there a specific BenQ 1650 or 1655 thats better then others? I mean, they all have letters after them, so if I have to search the net for one, Id want to get the best one available. Thanks again for any help you guys can give me.
Forget Newegg. I'll go into the problems some other time but they don't even stock it anymore. Meritline has the 1655 (Lightscribe) for $42 w/ free shipping. You want the 1650 if you don't want Lightscribe, but they're scarce today whereas a month ago they were plentiful. If you do some searching around yourself, be aware that there is a DVD-ROM drive (NOT A BURNER) from Benq that has the same model number, i.e. 1650, so look at the specs. The suffix letters don't mean anything, except maybe the color of the drive. Some retailers make them up to make their product seem different.
Ok, On newegg right now the Lite-Ons are on sale they are not that bad at all. Good midrange burners they got this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827106013 and this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827106015 this has lightscribe for about 3 more dollars (why not) who knows, it might come in handy, when you want to make a nice dvd for someone. heres some more: Keep in mind im picking out all the Free Shipping ones. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152058 NEC its an OK burner, cheap so thats good, no booktyping though unless you get hacked firmware. the pioneer which is decent: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827129001 This one is actually a rebadged NEC 4550 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152074 Or you can always get the Samsung not free shipping on this one but really cheap and has lightscribe too. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827151136 Ive never had one before but i think it cant be that bad. Also I would like to get this off my chest. No offense to all the loyal BenQ users but I dont see why everybody speaks so highly of these things. I have a BenQDW1655 and a Plextor 740 which is a BenQ 1640 and really they arent that much better than a NEC or a LiteOn etc..
Great information guys, mucho appreciation. I have to ask though.....I assume lightscribe is for labeling the DVD (although, Im just guessing) But, what is bookmarking? Sorry if these are silly questions, but I just dont know what they are. Thanks again for all the great help. =)
Booktyping a.k.a. bitsetting is a trick to make DVD+Rs appear to be DVD-ROMS, which is what commercially-made, pressed discs appear as. It's done to improve compatibility with standalone devices, as some - even some produced today - don't like recorded media. -R media usually does not have this problem although really old devices might not like it either, but may be (in theory, at least) successfully fooled by bitset +R.
i got a question about burners.i have a hp740i dl ls etc....mu question is does the burner make adifference in the quality scores?? i see people useing the same media i have mostly verbs and MIJ sony's and are getting 98% on there burns wheni get mid 80's. granted i dont have a problem with playback was just curious about the burner actually makeing a differance in the scores
Yes, it makes a big difference, though I think HPs are rebadged Benqs, which have an excellent reputation.
there not benq's ive checked into that. they are either lite-on or a word i cant say or spell right now. but it starts with a M... miatchi????
NEC 3550a or Pioneer 111. Both need to be flashed with a hacked firmware in order to bitset single-layer +Rs, but they are probably the most well-liked drives outside the Benqs. I have the NEC and love it. The Pioneer seems to be somewhat more popular. Tigerdirect puts the NEC for $20 after rebate every once in a while.
