detail information

Positive:

• Supports CD-R/RW writing at 48x/32x
• Supports DVD+RW/DVD-RW writing at 8x/6x
• Can write DVD±R/+R DL certified media at higher speed
• Overall good writing quality
• Supports Bitsetting for DVD+R/+RW/+R DL (sets auto. BookType to DVD-ROM)
• 'Two sheep" writer
• Supports DAO-RAW writing
• Extracts CD-DA at high speed
• Can rip copy protected Audio-CDs
• Reads CD-ROM/CD-R/CD-DA at 48x
• Reads DVD-ROM/DVD-Video SL/DL at 16/16x/12x
• Reads DVD±RW/±R DL at 12x
• Can overburn CD-Rs up to 99 min
• Can read 99 min CD-Rs
• Excellent documentation/Owner's Manual
• Drive LED will indicate when SolidBurn feature is being used (by flashing rapidly)
• SolidBurn and Overspeed feature can be controlled in Nero and Nero CD-DVD Speed manually
• Cooling solution
• Good Software package
• Nice Bezel design
• Affordable price

Negative:

• Does not support Mt. Rainier
• Reads CD-RW only at 40x
• Reads DVD±R only at 12x
• Green LED for both reading and writing

Conclusion:

Let us summarize the most important positive and negative points below:

The main positive points: The two new features - SolidBurn and Overspeed introduced with this drive seems to be an excellent combination. If a DVD±R is good enough for 16x, it will write them at 16x. If not it will adjust and lower the writing speed, until a new suitable speed have been found and learned.

One benefit of having to enable or disable the Overspeed feature through Nero Burning ROM is that users who do not need or want to Overspeed do not need to worry about it, as it is disabled by default. However power users who like to experiment will have no problems to enable or disable the SolidBurn and Overspeed features through Nero Burning ROM.

A new cooling solution was introduced with this drive, which seems to make the drive run cooler than previous Philips drives. The cooling solution simply reduce the risk of over-heating during high-speed reading and writing.

Bitsetting on DVD+R/+RW/+R DL is also a welcome inclusion and ensures good compatibility with set top DVD players.

The printed 'How to…?" documentation was also of a high standard and should provide enough information for the beginner as well for the more experienced user.

The main negative points: There is hardly anything negative about this drive, but we would like to mention that other drives offer faster read speed on CD-RW and DVD±R media.

To sum it all up, this is what we would say: 'Overall a good drive, that offers some really nice features, making it suitable for both beginners and advanced users".

Based on our tests and experiences during this review - we give the Philips DVDR1648 our 'Safe Buy award".

By using our price grabber feature cdfreaks.pricegrabber we did not find any offers, but at getprice the drive is listed at 46.11 €. (November 2005).

You may comment on this review below or in this forum thread.

Thanks to:

Bell Technology spol s.r.o. - Czech Republic for providing the media used in this review.

Conrexx Technology B.V./RITEK Europe - The Netherlands for providing the media used in this review.

 Daxon Technology Inc - Taiwan for providing the BenQ media used in this article.

E-Net Distribution - United Kingdom for providing the media used in this review.

Medea International - United Kingdom for providing the media used in this review.

MMORE International B.V. - The Netherlands for providing the media used in this review.

Plextor SA/NV - Belgium for providing the media used is this article.

Ricoh Europe - For providing the media used in this review.

SVP Communication - The United Kingdom for providing the media used in this review.

Verbatim - Germany and United Kingdom for providing the media used in this review.