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BenQ DW1640 DVD-Writer
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Posted by Tor Magne
Posted on 07/09/05 23:46
Number of views 15681
Menu
 Conclusion
 Introduction and specifications
 Features and bundle
 Reading performance
 CD-Writing and Re-Writing performance
 DVD-Writing performance
 More DVD-Writing performance, and DVD+/-RW writing performance.
 Double layer writing performance
 Advanced tests
 SolidBurn and OverSpeed features - the introduction
 OverSpeed and SolidBurn test results.
Text Size  Text Size
More DVD Writing performance, and DVD+/ RW writing performance.
 

DVD-R media compatibility and write quality:



Brand:

BenQ - thanks to Daxon for providing it.

Manufacturer:

Daxon

Code:

DAXON016S

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

16x

Write Speed:

16x

Write Time:

6m:11s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

7.690

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.00

No problems with this media.



Brand:

Traxdata - thanks to Conrexx for providing this media

Manufacturer:

Ritek

Code:

RitekF1

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

16x

Write Speed:

16x

Write Time:

6m:17s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

5.27

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.01

Looks like these Ritek discs are pretty good with drives which are optimized for them, which the DW1640 is.



Brand:

Verbatim Data Life Plus

Manufacturer:

CMC Magnetics

Code:

MCC03RG20

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

16x

Write Speed:

16x

Write Time:

6m:07s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

2.49

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.00

It looks like the BenQ DW1640 is fully optimized for this media as the result is very good.



Brand:

Miflop Extreme - thanks to Miflop media for providing it.

Manufacturer:

Taiyo Yuden

Code:

TYG03

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

16x

Write Speed:

16x

Write Time:

6m:21s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

4.18

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.00

While the result is good, there are some issues near the end of the disc causing slowdowns. We are not yet sure if this is a media issue or a drive issue.



Brand:

Unbranded silver media distributed by e-net distribution.

Manufacturer:

CMC Magnetics / TDK

Code:

TTH02

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

16x

Write Speed:

16x

Write Time:

6m:17s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

1.59

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.09

The discs shows problems near the end and reading back the disc fails. This is most likely due to media issues as we have experienced problems with this media in other drives as well, and when looking at the disc the dye appears to be very uneven near the outer edge.



Brand:

ePro

Manufacturer:

Prodisc

Code:

Prodisc.F02

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

16x

Write Speed:

16x

Write Time:

6m:14s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

8.87

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.00

No real issues with this media, but we think the writing strategy could be further improved to obtain even better results - judging from results we have had with some other drives.



Brand:

Emgeton - thanks to Bell technology for providing this media

Manufacturer:

Infomedia

Code:

Infomedia.R20

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

8x

Write Time:

8m:35s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

7.33

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.03

This pretty rare media works very well with this drive.



Brand:

RiData - thanks to Advanced media USA for sending this media

Manufacturer:

Ritek

Code:

RITEKG05

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

8x

Write Time:

8m:38s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

2.16

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.23

Excellent, this Ridata media is clearly among the best RitekG05 brands on the market.


Brand:

MiFlop Extreme - thanks to MiFlop for providing it.

Manufacturer:

Taiyo Yuden

Code:

TYG02

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

8x

Write Time:

8m:32s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

1.18

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.08

Excellent - as expected with Taiyo Yuden.



Brand:

Datawrite silver printable - thanks to E-net distribution for providing this media.

Manufacturer:

Prodisc

Code:

ProdiscF01

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

8x

Write Time:

8m:34s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

18.53

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.09

A bit high amount of PI Errors, but still well within specifications and should not cause any problems in practical use.
 


Brand:

That's Write - thanks to That's Write for providing it.

Manufacturer:

Opto disc

Code:

OPTODISCR008

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

4x

Write Time:

16m:02s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

1.01

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.02

The error levels appear to be excellent, but the reading curve shows problems near the end - as usual with Opto Disc media we may say. And it also wrote at 4x only.


Brand:

Datawrite Titanium - thanks to E-net distribution for providing this media

Manufacturer:

CMC Magnetics/TDK

Code:

TTG02

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

8x

Write Time:

8m:43s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

27.22

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.01

A bit high overall PIE level, but still within acceptable levels.



Brand:

Princo

Manufacturer:

Princo

Code:

PRINCO8X02

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

8x

Write Time:

8m:48s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

20.31

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.09

Poor quality discs, but the result is surprisingly good. But you should still steer clear of these.



Brand:

Tuffdisc - thanks to E-Net distribution for providing this media.

Manufacturer:

CMC Magnetics

Code:

CMC.MAG.AE1

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

8x

Write Time:

8m:41s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

9.73

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.03

No problems with this media.

Overall thoughts: Overall this drive is very good, but having the DW1620 in mind we had expected even more. Let us point out how it compares to the DW1620.

-Is it faster? Not much, but yes - it's faster.
-Is the writing quality better? For DVD-R, yes. For DVD+R, no - at 16x DVD+R writing it creates some unwanted PIE/PIF spikes which the DW1620 doesn't create. And BenQ/Philips is the designers and heaviest promoters of the DVD+R format. So we did expect DVD+R writing to be 100% perfect - but it's not.
-Is the media compatibility better? No, this drive doesn't support overspeeding with the current firmware, and the OPC feature of the drive seems to be too sensitive with some media types, even good brands like TDK is speed-limited by the OPC feature.

But still, it's probably overall the best drive on the market when it comes to media compatibility and writing quality.

Re-Writing data:

The BenQ DW1640 supports rewriting DVD-RW at 6x and DVD+RW at 8x speed; let us write two discs in Nero CD/DVD speed and Nero Burning ROM to see how fast it is.

Here are the writing results for writing the 6x DVD-RW disc:


 

BenQ DW1640 uses CLV writing technology to write the DVD-RW disc at 6x. Total recording time is around 10 minutes and 30 seconds.

And here is the result with 8x DVD+RW writing:

BenQ DW1640 uses Z-CLV writing technology to write the DVD+RW disc at 8x. Total recording time is right below 8 minutes.

Writing Quality with DVD Re-Writable discs:

Due to request from our readers we will add a few write quality tests with ReWritable media. Settings and testing procedures are the same as used earlier in this review so you may want to go back and read them if unsure. All discs used for these tests have been written to before, but none have been written to more than 25 times.

DVD+ReWritable media:

 


Brand:

Unbranded - thanks to BenQ for providing this media.

Manufacturer:

Ritek using Ricoh technology.

Code:

RICOHJPNW21

Disc Type:

DVD+RW

Capacity:

4483MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

8x

Write Time:

7m:54s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

7.74

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.05

No problems with this media.


Brand:

Traxdata

Manufacturer:

Ritek

Code:

RITEK008

Disc Type:

DVD+RW

Capacity:

4483MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

8x

Write Time:

7m:55s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

3.19

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.03

Ritek 8x DVD+Rw was the first 8x DVD+RW media to be officially approved, and there are no issues at all with this media.



Brand:

Unbranded MKM - thanks to LG Korea for providing this media.

Manufacturer:

Mitsubishi Kagaku Media

Code:

MKM.A03

Disc Type:

DVD+RW

Capacity:

4483MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

-

Write Time:

-

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

-

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

-

Looks like the BenQ DW1640 doesn't support this media at all. We informed BenQ about this and they told us that the reason is that our media is pre-release media and that the final version is already supported. Oh well, we can't see any reasons not to support the pre-release media as well as this media has been sent out to many reviewers and beta testers for over a half year already.

DVD-ReWritable media:


Brand:

Mitsubishi - thanks to BenQ for providing this media.

Manufacturer:

Mitsubishi

Code:

MCC01RW6X01

Disc Type:

DVD-RW

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

4x

Write Speed:

4x

Write Time:

15m:06s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

3.71

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.01

Strange looking error curve, but still a fairly good result. The disc had some detection problems in some drives, but most drives did detect it after some time.


 

Brand:

Traxdata - thanks to Conrexx for providing this media.

Manufacturer:

Ritek

Code:

RITEKW06

Disc Type:

DVD-RW

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

6x

Write Speed:

4x

Write Time:

14m:55s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

10.53

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.11

At first glance the result seems to be acceptably good. But many drives like Plextor and NEC can't detect the written disc. BenQ should look into this issue as well as adding support for this media at 6x writing speed.

To sum it up: The DVD+/-RW writing quality is good, but BenQ should increase the media compatibility as well as fixing the writing issues with -RW media that makes the discs unreadable in many drives.

But let us now look at another aspect of this drive; double layer DVD+R and dual layer DVD-R writing…
DVD-Writing performance
Double layer writing performance
Want to submit your own review? Click here
Posted by thef on Wednesday 07 September 2005 21:52
at usual, wonderful review, thanks
Posted by Juhuslik on Wednesday 07 September 2005 23:23
Thanx OC for review.
Damn our BENQ distributor is not selling any DVD writers here:r
Posted by ricoman on Thursday 08 September 2005 00:22
Very happy to read your review. You verify the reviews given by cdrlab and cdrinfo that this is an exceptional burner. I am happy to say that I bought one last week from newegg for $40. Was going to buy another NEC (I love my 3500), but changed my mind after reading their reviews. So far, a very good performer and Qsuite is a surprise bonus.
Posted by Gallardo on Saturday 10 September 2005 11:10
Regarding the overburning capabilities of this drive I could find only CD overburning in this review, but no mention on DVD-R/+R.
Posted by headquarter84 on Wednesday 28 December 2005 03:24
@Juhuslik... BenQ Distributors not selling this drive here too... i had to import it !!!!:c
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