Being a scientific person as I am, I would like to propose a study for all the BENQ 1620 worldwide and would like your feedback to improve the quality of this study.
Purpose: To progressively watch the deteriation of various media over time that we use for our BENQ 1620.
Background: This study could be open to ALL DVD burner makes/models however we need to eliminate some variables and the BENQ 1620 may write DVD's slightly differently than other burners on the market. Others may incorporate a similar study to isolate a certain make/model DVD burner in a separate thread or sticky then link back to this thread to observe direct media related issues. It has been reported that users have made successful burns that were great at first but then weeks to months later are very bad and cannot be read anymore. This is very heartbreaking when we spend good money, time and effort to make these copies then to see all of your hard work vanish into thin air. We can do better!
There are many variables that cannot be controlled such as temperature, humidity, UV exposure, jewel cases vs CD/DVD wallet....etc. There was a German study that looked at jewel cases and wallets but the results were in-conclusive but some say it was chemicals that were leached from the wallet sleeves or plastic that affected the DVD's. We have to keep in mind that we may not watch a movie in several months when in reality the disc went bad in a few weeks sitting in a humid DVD wallet. Or if we have lots of movies and may never watch them until the following year. This is another example of variables that cannot be controlled especially when dealing with a large number of burned DVD's. However we can report our own findings and over time and should see a pattern develop.
Reporting: Please use the following template for reporting:
BENQ drive/Firmware version
Disc Brand and rating
Media Code
Approximate original burning date (this may be +/- a few days)
Make/model of stand alone DVD player to confirm good original burn
Approximate date when first noticed problems
Make/model of standalone DVD player when problems noticed
Please Describe the problems you are having
Calculate approximate time b/t original burn and now failure
How do you store your DVD's (jewel case vs wallet)
Approximate temp and humidity where DVD's are stored
Please understand that this is a work in porgress. I think that if over time we contribute to this thread there will be a correlation and we be able to improve the overall user satisfaction with the BENQ 1620 and media that we use to preserve our collections.
Once again I encourage a study like this for the various DVD burner manufactures, Pioneer, NEC, Plextor, Lite-ON, LG....etc. Since they use certain media better than others.
Thanks for your time and cooperation on this endeavor.