Hi all, I am looking to upgrade to a DL burning drive from a Liteon model and I was wanting to know what you all think about the BenQ vs. the Pioneer? Maybe you have a different brand that you can recommend. Perhaps I should stay with Liteon. I would welcome your suggestions. Thanks in advance
I, personally, would stay with LiteOn. But that's just me. Of the two you mentioned, I'd go with the BenQ. BenQ is capable of Booktyping, and Pioneer usually isn't. Maybe Pioneer's newer ones will. I'm not sure. Booktyping is a major selling feature for me. LiteOns booktype too. If you're not familiar with booktyping, learn about it here:http://www.k-probe.com/kprobe-bitsetting-booktype.php Good luck!
is that only to do with DVD +R? To tell the truth I have not used it at all. I remember I looked for it once in Nero to see if I could booktype but not seeing the option with my current Liteon I did not pursue it. Is this someting I should be doing?
Go here to download the LiteOn Bitsetting (Booktyping) utility: http://www.liteonit.com/global/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=153 It's the first item on the page. It's free.......... The other link I gave above, shows you how to booktype, with this utility. Good luck!
For the money, it's hard to beat the BenQ DW 1650. I love mine. Glad that I got it. Under $40.00 shipped from newegg.
I appreciate the input guys and (girls) very much. I just have one question. I have heard that the BenQ can not booktype like the Liteon can. Is this correct?
Benq 1620: Booktypes using nero/dvd decrypter/or qsuite Benq 1640: Booktypes using qsuite Benq 1650: Should booktype right out of the box,if not,qsuite will do it. Benq 1655: Qsuite will do the job. Benq 1670: Should also booktype. Believe me, all those benqs will booktype. Now with some other models like the DQ-30? dvd-ram,I'm not sure of. I can confirm the 99.9% backup success rate/100% on the fly/and a 95% stand alone compatability rate after booktyping the plus format to dvd-rom with the Benq 1620/1640/and 1650. Good luck trying to find a stand alone player that won't recognize a benq booktyped backup using quality media! Dual layers? Oh yea! These benqs will burn anything you slap in them.
thank you saugmon & 9mmruger and others, Thanks for all your input. I am going to go with the BenQ burner as I have only read good reviews of this device. Now on to my next challange: that is, to find a BenQ 1650 here in Australia. In Sydney there are not a lot of places that stock BenQ. I dont know why that is!!!
The few dealers I have called so far only stock the 1640 model. Is there much difference between the two? I was thinking i might as well try to find the 1650. What do you think???
The 1640 is excellent. Hard to get them in the usa unless they are the Rebadged Sony dru 820A/Plextor-PX-740/philips has a model/and so does some local store chain brands either compusa or circuit city.I/O magic may also have a rebadged one as well? Can't even find them on ebay unless you pay $60 or more for them-way too much. The BenQ 1640 combined with their program called qsuite is a nice package.Booktyping capability/overburn protection/solidburn/WOPC/qscan for blank media. So far,my 1640 has lower error scans than my 1650.They do burn quality media better,at the faster 8x and 12x speeds. Two solid burners,at a cheap price.They'll burn anything you throw at them,but stand alone players do prefer the plus format booktyped to dvd-rom. The dash format performs worse.Burns dash ok,just stand alone player compatability issues.
so if I can not find the 1650, should I go with the 1640 then? what about firmware for the older one? Is that as updated as f/w for the newer model?
YES~ the firmware has just been updated recently for the 3 "common" drives by Benq that members frequently still use (ie. 1640, 1650, 1655-lightscribe) the latest for the 1640 would be this one: BSPB (which i have flashed last week on my 1640, just waiting for the Solidburn to kick in a bit, i'm the type that usually flashes to the newest firmware regardless of what problems people have been having, i like to "test it out" personally as everyone's setup is diff. and i've not encountered a LOT of the issues others are apparently facing) http://support.benq.com/files/storage/Firmware/DVDRW/DW1640/BSPB.zip i was using the BSOB for the LONGEST time on my benq 1640, it's a very good firmware revision IN MY OPINION...but, everyone will have their OWN INDIVIDUAL opinions per each firmware and how well it DOES or DOES NOT work FOR THEM~ i usually put at least 50 burns using a particular firmware before i pass judgement that it's "crap" or "not as good as the one previous to it" etc..etc.. good luck with what you can find locally down under... docTY~
Benq updates all their drives fw very frequently. Look at my older 1620. It came with B7C9 fw,less than a year later,I updated it to B7V9-that's a ton of updates. I still prefer my 1640 over my 1650.
thanks again friends. I have set my sights on the BenQ (either the 1650 or the 1640). I will ring around the PC shops in Sydney and hope to post some awsome results in the BenQ hall of fame soon. Thanks for all your advice.
