Conclusion

BenQ DW1800 (as well as its BenQ DW1680/DW2000 cousins and a handful of relatives among new Lite-On models) is one of the first products to come from the new Philips Lite-On Digital Solutions Corporation (PLDS). As such, it combines most of the features of previous BenQ and Lite-On designs while raising maximum speed to 18x. We are impressed by the fact that disparate technologies such as Lite-On's Auto Balance System (ABS) and BenQ's SolidBurn and Air Flow Cooling System (AFCS) have been so quickly combined in one mechanical and electronic design.

We appreciate the availability of QSuite for this MediaTek-based drive, and the continuation of the BenQ tradition of offering power users a means to tweak drive settings, speeds, and behaviors to their heart's content.

BenQ DW1800 is a versatile drive with a such an array of capabilities that it will perform all common CD- and DVD-related tasks, while also offering many possibilities to tinker with burning and scanning processes that can keep a CD Freak entertained for weeks.

Built with a MediaTek chipset, this drive is capable of the most commonly used sum-8 PIE and sum-1 PIF scanning, making it easy to determine the quality of recorded DVDs, which in turn allows us to predict longevity and readability of media.

Here is a summary of what we believe are important positive and negative points about BenQ DW1800:

Positive

• BenQ DW1800 reads, writes and scans both CD media types and all seven DVD media types
• Extensive additional functionality makes it a very versatile drive
• Good looks (all drives should be this beautiful)
• Good writing quality on almost all media types
• A "two sheep" CD writer
• Quality scanning with multiple CLV and CAV scanning speeds and jitter reporting
• Good CD reading speeds: 48x CD-R/CD-ROM/CD-Audio, 36x CD-RW
• Good DVD reading speeds: 16x DVD+R/DVD-R, 12x DVD+R DL/DVD-R DL, 12x DVD+RW/DVD-RW
• 12x DVD-RAM support enabled by the new MediaTek chipset
• Bitsetting readily available and on by default for all DVD+ media types
• SolidBurn adapts to uncommon media and automatically selects appropriate writing speeds
• Overspeeding means many old discs can be burned at 1.5 to 3 times their certified speed
• WOPC is a welcome addition in a MediaTek-based drive
• QSuite is indispensable for tinkering with settings that are never exposed in other brands of drives
• Official firmware updates from BenQ
• Enhanced firmware and firmware tools from the enthusiast community
• Did we mention good looks?

Negative

• An occasional, rare coaster with unusual media
• Lead-in times can reach 45 to 60 seconds, adding (probably unnecessary) time to all burns
• Auto Balance System (ABS) is a great idea but we found its swishing/rattling noise mildly irritating

Final thoughts

We admit, we were initially skeptical about this drive, believing that a MediaTek-based design could not rival previous, very successful Nexperia-based BenQ/Philips drives. But having spent many weeks testing it we were very favorably impressed by this device in the end.

Whether BenQ DW1800 rises to the level of BenQ DW1640/DW1650 is a matter of opinion. We feel that BenQ DW1800 exceeds BenQ DW1640/DW1650 in some respects while falling short in others. Please refer to the lists of positive and negative points above, they may help you form your own opinion on this topic.

CD Freaks forum participants frequently ask for a drive recommendation without providing exact requirements or describing which features are important to them. Given BenQ DW1800's versatility and feature completeness, it appears well suited to be a drive to recommend for practically any use. It may not be perfect at everything it does, but what it promises to do it does pretty darn well.

This is how we sum it up: "BenQ DW1800 is a comprehensive, all-around good performer; a great choice for a beginner, and sure to keep a CD Freak busy researching its features for a long time. We recommend it."

Where to buy

At the time of this review (early June of 2007), no new BenQ drives have been arriving to North America or Europe for many months.

However, Lite-On LH-18A1P, LH-20A1P, and other 18x and 20x Lite-On branded drives which are similar designs are easy to find and cost only $30-33 in the United States and €26-40 ($35-54) in Europe.

In Japan, BenQ DW1800 sells for ¥4400-5000 ($36-41).

It is also widely available and reasonably priced at NT1000-1260 ($30-38) in Taiwan.

Have a comment?

You are welcome to discuss this review or the drive in the comments below or in our forum thread: CDFreaks presents: BenQ DW1800 18x DVD Burner Review.

Acknowledgments

We thank the following companies for providing media used in this review:

	Maxell USA - For providing Maxell CD and DVD media used in this review.
	Memorex USA - For providing Memorex CD and DVD media used in this review.
	Rima.com - For providing Taiyo Yuden CD and DVD media used in this review.
	Ritek USA | Advanced Media, Inc. - For providing Ridata DVD media used in this review.
	Verbatim USA - For providing Verbatim CD and DVD media used in this review.
	ExtremeMhz - For providing Maxell 12x DVD-RAM media used in this review.

Introduction, specifications, retail package