detail information

Test machine:

For this review we will be using a computer with the following configuration:

Hardware:

⋅         Motherboard: ECS Elitegroup N2U400-A with Nvidia nForce 2 Ultra-400 and nForce MCP chipset.
⋅         Processor: AMD Athlon XP 2800+ (Barton) 333 MHz FSB.
⋅         RAM: 1 GB Infineon PC2700 DDR
⋅         GFX: ATI Radeon 9600 XT
⋅         Sound: SoundBlaster Audigy
⋅         Hard disk: Samsung SP1614N 160 GB.

System set-up:

The Philips DVDR1640P was connected as Secondary Slave and identified itself as DVDR1640P. DMA (Direct Memory Access) and autorun was enabled for all devices.

Software:

Windows XP professional is installed on the computer along with Service Pack 2 for windows XP. We will be using the following software in this review:

⋅         Ahead Nero Burning ROM version 6.3.1.20

⋅         Ahead Nero CD/DVD Speed v3.21

⋅         Ahead Nero InfoTool v2.27

⋅         Slysoft CloneCD v4.3.2.2

⋅         DVD-Identifier 3.4

⋅         Exact Audio Copy v0.95 prebeta 5

⋅         K-Probe v2.4.0

Now it's time to take a closer look at the write technology used by the Philips DVDR1649P:

CD-Recordable:

The Philips DVDR1640 uses CAV, (Constant Angular Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 40X. This gives an average speed of 29.86x.Two drives for comparison is found below.

The NEC ND-2500A uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 32X. The drive wrote the last zone at 32X and this gives an average speed of 27.16x.

The Philips DVDRW885 uses P-CAV (Partial-Constant Angular Velocity) to write at its rated speed of 24x. This gives an average speed of 23.05x.  

For comparison we have made the following table: 

The Philips DVDR1640P is 26 seconds slower then Plextor PX-708A, and 57 seconds faster then Pioneer DVR-107D.

CD-ReWritable:

The Philips DVDR1640P uses P-CAV (Partial-Constant Angular Velocity) writing technology to write at 24X for CD-RW discs, the average speed is 23.13x. Below are some other drives for comparison.

The Pioneer DVR-107D uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its rated speed of 24x, this gives an average speed of 22.47x.

The LaCie d2 DVD±RW Double Layer uses CLV (Constant Linear Velocity) writing technology to write at 16X for CD-RW discs, the average speed is 16x. For a better overview we present the following comparison table:

As we can see from the table, the Philips DVDR1640P is among the fastest drives under 4 minutes.

16X DVD-Writing speed:

The Philips DVDR1640P uses CAV, (Constant Angular Velocity) to write at 16x. The Average speed is 11.56x and total writing time is 5 minutes and 48 seconds. The average speed is lower and the writing time is higher than it could have been due to the Walking OPC generation 2 using some time to constantly adjust the writing quality, we could se this as constant dips in the speed curve. Since the Philips DVDR1640P is our first 16x review drive we can only compare it with the preview we had on the BenQ DW1600A:

The BenQ DW1600A also uses CAV, (Constant Angular Velocity) to write at 16x. The Average speed is 11.32x and total writing time is 6 minutes and 7 seconds. Below we made a comparison table for these two drives: