BENQ 1625 including Lightscribe technology

[ItalianJob]

BENQ 1625 with lightscribe technology :
http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthre ... 358&page=2

[Ian]

Yep, those pictures are from here:

http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2005/0109/ces10.htm

[jberry]

why the big deal with lightscribe? just marketting for get your $$$

see:

http://www.lightscribe.com/

sounds cool, but will needs special media with a thin layer of dye on the top....now we have two layers of dye to worry about......

[dolphinius_rex]

seems like a BenQ DW1610 doesn't it?

[shimman]

sounds cool....love to get one but i wouldn't pay more than 10% premium for the disks ....if it gets popular so that all the disks are light scribe comptable...i will get a drive just for it

[ItalianJob]

Yep, those pictures are from here:

http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2005/0109/ces10.htm

Ok, I see you uses this news on the news page...

[21st Hermit]

How fast is LightScribe?
Since you would need to scan the disk from hub to edge, it would seem reasonable that it would take as long as a 16X write, ~5 minutes.

[Ian]

Ok, I see you uses this news on the news page...

Yep, and I saw your comments over at CD Freaks.

[cfitz]

How fast is LightScribe?
Since you would need to scan the disk from hub to edge, it would seem reasonable that it would take as long as a 16X write, ~5 minutes.

Pure speculation on my part, but since LightScribe doesn't need to write at anywere near the resolution of the DVD burning laser (human eye can not resolve the same level of detail as a DVD laser), it may be able to go faster. The rotational speed won't be any faster, of course, but it may be able to essentially skip concentric "grooves" so it doesn't have to rotate the disc as many times to cover the whole disc.

LightScribe information site:

http://www.lightscribe.com/

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[21st Hermit]

How fast is LightScribe?
Since you would need to scan the disk from hub to edge, it would seem reasonable that it would take as long as a 16X write, ~5 minutes.

Pure speculation on my part, but since LightScribe doesn't need to write at anywere near the resolution of the DVD burning laser (human eye can not resolve the same level of detail as a DVD laser), it may be able to go faster. The rotational speed won't be any faster, of course, but it may be able to essentially skip concentric "grooves" so it doesn't have to rotate the disc as many times to cover the whole disc.

Thanks for the reply, your logic is impeccable. Unfortunately logic doesn't alway apply, at least according to this quote:
" “A full disc at the highest contrast will take about 28 minutes,” says Henscheid. Future speed advancements, though, should be achievable through a combination of media and hardware."

28 minutes, OUCH!!! And I thought my sharpie was slow.

[Ian]

THere's already talk of second gen LightScribe drives that will do it in half the time.

[21st Hermit]

THere's already talk of second gen LightScribe drives that will do it in half the time.

Let's see, half of 28 min, that's 14 minutes, OMG might melt the critters.

Me thinks I'll wait for 5th generation.

How long does an Espon printer take?

[cfitz]

“A full disc at the highest contrast will take about 28 minutes,” says Henscheid. Future speed advancements, though, should be achievable through a combination of media and hardware."

28 minutes, OUCH!!! And I thought my sharpie was slow.

Ouch indeed. Well, I did say my comments were pure speculation...

I had been considering waiting for the LightScribe burners to come out before purchasing my first DVD burner, but given the cost of the media and the ungodly long enscribing times, I think maybe I will just pass on LightScribe, at least the first generation.

21st Hermit, where did you find that quotation? (Oops. Nevermind. I see the other post.)

I couldn't find information about enscribing times anywhere on LightScribe's official website. Would I be too cynical if I suggested that the omission, given the actual time required to enscribe a disc, was intentional?

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[21st Hermit]

Would I be too cynical if I suggested that the omission, given the actual time required to enscribe a disc, was intentional?

Do I ever love a good cynic, especially when they mirror my thoughts.

[cfitz]

If you note my title above my avatar, you will see that cynical is too often my game...

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[dolphinius_rex]

If you note my title above my avatar, you will see that cynical is too often my game...

cfitz

Then shouldn't your title be CD-RW Cynic?

[cfitz]

I suppose you are right. But cynicism tends to go hand-in-hand with curmudgeonliness. It all springs from the same fount.

cfitz

P.S. Your review is making me think about getting the BenQ DW1620 as my first DVD burner. Given my exerience with Acer and Lite-On CD-RW drives, this is a real turnabout. I feel like I am living in opposite land. Lite-On becomes BenQ... BenQ becomes Lite-On... I am getting dizzy.

Any updates since you posted the review (e.g. great new firmwares, final releases of their Disc Doctor program, etc.)?

[dolphinius_rex]

Any updates since you posted the review (e.g. great new firmwares, final releases of their Disc Doctor program, etc.)?

Any update? Hrm... how to put it?

If I did the review over again, based on it's current firmware, it would score higher, probably 9/10 or 10/10.

I own *2* of these drives.... keep in mind how limited my space is for DVD burners, since I only have two computers. So 2 out of 7 DVD burners are BenQ DW1620s (soon to be 2 out of . I've *never* owned 2 of the same drive before

If I had a third computer, I'd probably own 3

What this drive can do with Taiyo Yuden 8x DVD+Rs at 16x should be illegal

It has a special firmware (B7S9) *JUST* for people who like using crappy Chinese and Hong Kong made media!! Not that I encourage it... but come on, that's pretty incredible!

It's one of the cheapest drives out there!! (and nothing in the same price range even comes CLOSE to the same quality!!)

and the number one reason to buy a BenQ DW1620: It's *not* made by Plextor

Edit: The only media I've found so far that doesn't work with the latest (B7T9) firmware, is PRODISCF01... which I can't get to work on my LiteON 832s, Plextor PX-712a, or NEC 3500a... I don't blame BenQ on this one

[Bhairav]

I'm getting one next week, nice upgrade from my current 832S.
I need to finance my digicam first though.. Canon Powershot A95, here I come!

Dolph.. we don't get TY here..so how is the Benq on 8X MCC003 Verb DLP? Good? 16X possible?

[cfitz]

Well, if it is good enough for dolphinius_rex and Bhairav, then it is good enough for me. Now, to find out who is selling a retail package in black... my usual haunts are letting me down.

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[ricksimm]

Link to retail black 1620.
www.provantage.com

[dolphinius_rex]

I'm getting one next week, nice upgrade from my current 832S.
I need to finance my digicam first though.. Canon Powershot A95, here I come!

Dolph.. we don't get TY here..so how is the Benq on 8X MCC003 Verb DLP? Good? 16X possible?

I was getting really inconsistant results with Verbatim's 16x DVD+Rs... much better results come from both PHILIPSC16 and RitekR04! But give me some time, and I'll run a few more tests.

I have to say, on the whole, I've been nothing but disapointed with Verbatim's 16x DVD+Rs

[RJW]

Well MCC004 really has a huge variance in quality/support ?
Infact the differences seem to be even worse as with RITEK media.

[Bhairav]

Well, if it is good enough for dolphinius_rex and Bhairav, then it is good enough for me. Now, to find out who is selling a retail package in black... my usual haunts are letting me down.

cfitz

Cheers for the compliment

Dolph.. 8X, not 16X DLPs.. I have about 70 of the Made In Singapore variety. They burn beautifully in the 832S, ~1 PIE avg, but I was wondering about the overspeeding possibilities with the 1620. No way am I going to get another Lite-On for >8X burning.. they seem to be too inconsistent at speeds >8X.

[cfitz]

Link to retail black 1620.
www.provantage.com

Provantage is having issues. Most of the time when I attempt to view their website my browser reports "connection refused". When I was able to connect, they listed the price as something like $123. Yikes!!! That's way too much.

I wonder what happened with them? I haven't ordered from them in years, but back when I did their prices were good. Of course, I was only ordering software.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestion. I do appreciate it, even though I didn't end up buying from Provantage. I ordered from a smaller vendor that I've never done business with before. I hope it works out...

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