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i just got a test pack -r disks from my friend. ty 4, 8x; maxell 4x, ritekg4, g5, sony 4x, prodiskf1 & burnt with 1620(uped from 1600 with official firmware)

result is ugly, no -r disks were played with ps2 & 712a scan showed ugly results from half of them....perhaps benq/philips try to steer us to buy +r disks

anyway 1620/1600 is a disappointing rather +r only drive

not recommended unless very inexpensive

Yes, it's been a disappointment for me as well.

I bought it for PI/PIF/jitter scanning, but it scans at a maximum speed of 0.9x.

Scanning at that speed is highly impractical.

Now I have a very slow scanner which is a very good DVD+R burner and a useless DVD-R burner.

Time to add it to my ever increasing pile of discarded drives, it seems.

Now if I could only figure out why on earth did I ever get tangled up in this optical storage subject as an area of interest, then I'd be saved :)

Well guys don't completely toss your drives yet, rumour has it another firmware should be out late this month and we owners will see if they fix anything minus wise.
I will probably also get a NEC 3500 to cover the things the BenQ can't do well yet and keep my junk 811 around for faster basic testing. The slow test speeds are a known problem they have also been made aware of so we can hope it might also be fixed in firmware if possible soon.
I also have a NEC 2500 I use for minus and 4x at 8x burning so it's not quite as critical for me that this drive do everything perfect immediatly.

the 1600 to 1620 upgrade isn't really stable. Real BenQ 1620's can burn DVD-Rs properly (not in EVERY case maybe, but most).

dolphinius_rex wrote:the 1600 to 1620 upgrade isn't really stable. Real BenQ 1620's can burn DVD-Rs properly (not in EVERY case maybe, but most).

That I find very strange since 1600 and 1620 are 100% same drives. According to Benq an upgrade 1620 is exactly the same as a real 1620. So how come an upgrade 1620 isn't as stable as a real 1620?

It's probably like the Nu DDW-081 and 082. The drives were identical, but ones that were "better" got sold as the 082.

Ian wrote:It's probably like the Nu DDW-081 and 082. The drives were identical, but ones that were "better" got sold as the 082.

EXACTLY!

It's probably like the Nu DDW-081 and 082. The drives were identical, but ones that were "better" got sold as the 082.

there are simply not many companies left who consider their reputation as the most valuable asset; benq isn't one of that honorable companies. if 1600 could not perform as good as 1620, then benq shouldn't have claimed or released 1620 upgrade firmware

speaking of quality control i ran across the bad 108 & 712 not to mention this lousy 1600. strangely my bad 108 could not burn +r correctly while my replacement can do. for the bad 712, i had a rare made in japan unit & so was my bad 108. it seems like "made in japan" means nothing anymore

maybe, i can earn another bitter man of the month award

thanks for info folks....i will just return my 1600 to the store since it hasn't passed 30 days return period

This reminds me... I wonder if the shortage of optical drive components not so long ago (that was all over industry papers at that time) has anything to do with the quality problems we are facing now?

After all, similar things have happened in the motherboard and mobile phone business: when some components are in huge shortage, every single piece produced will get sold one way or another, and usually end in products. This is regardless whether they pass actual component tolerance tests or not.

I'm thinking that the (imho) relatively high number of problems with LiteOn, Pioneer, Plextor, BenQ and to some extent even Nec drives points to the possibility that a lot of bad quality components got used during the shortage.

Just a guess though, based on things what I've read.

Wow Halc! I'd totally forgotten about that! That really fits with what we are experiencing here too.

Definitely an interesting theory...
Or it could just simply be a matter of numbers.
Since MORE drives are being produced/purchased nowadays, of course we will see more complaints and a higher number of "defective" units.

Since MORE drives are being produced/purchased nowadays, of course we will see more complaints and a higher number of "defective" units

my feeling is toward to higher rate not just higher # because it is not uncommon to get a replacement once or twice for every computer related stuffs i buy....few years back i did not have to return anything.

or maybe our constant push to get quantity and price over quality, has pushed the industry to it's limit

might have to complain to benq if 1600->1620 is not as good with -r media. possibly tell them mother fers to give me a real 1620

They do have a customer service office maybe you could send it in.