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PostPosted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 2:30 pm
by dolphinius_rex
Bhairav wrote:
cfitz wrote: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.


Hrm... yes... it appears 3 does not equal 4 :P
Again, I'll make some more tests when I can though, MAYBE tonight if you're lucky.

I can tell you right now they are only supported at 12x though.

PostPosted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 2:53 pm
by dolphinius_rex
Bhairav wrote:
cfitz wrote: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.


I'll do some more tests today if I can... apparently my mind decided 3=4 yesterday :P (as in MCC003 = MCC004)

PostPosted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 5:12 pm
by jpuntel
Now, to find out who is selling a retail package in black... my usual haunts are letting me down.



I bought my BENQ 1620 retail from

http://www.dealsurprise.com/op4xdvrwddin.html

$85.51 BLACK ($2.00 more) delivered
I think thats a decent price, if you want the retail version.

PostPosted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 5:45 pm
by cfitz
jpuntel wrote:
Now, to find out who is selling a retail package in black... my usual haunts are letting me down.



I bought my BENQ 1620 retail from

http://www.dealsurprise.com/op4xdvrwddin.html

$85.51 BLACK ($2.00 more) delivered
I think thats a decent price, if you want the retail version.

Thanks jpuntel, but I already ordered this morning. I do appreciate you taking the time to make the suggestion, though.

cfitz

P.S. Deal Surprise... kind of a scary sounding place to shop from. "Want a deal? We've got a surprise for you!" :wink:

PostPosted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 9:32 pm
by Bhairav
dolphinius_rex wrote:
Bhairav wrote:
cfitz wrote: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.


I'll do some more tests today if I can... apparently my mind decided 3=4 yesterday :P (as in MCC003 = MCC004)


Cheers, thanks for taking the time out ;)

PostPosted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 2:32 am
by dolphinius_rex
Sorry it took so long!!

I had the tests finished, but I forgot to post them :o

Here are the results:

The media (Verbatim 8x DVD+R - Made in Singapore) was burned on my BenQ DW1620 running firmware version B7T9 at 12x, taking a total of 6minutes and 53seconds.

The media was then tested on 3 seperate drives. Here are the results from each drive's tests:

BenQ DW1620 - Tested using Nero CD/DVD Speed @ 8x:

PIE Average - 7.64
PIE Maximum - 164
PIF Average - 1.28
PIF Maximum - 41
POF Total - 536
Jitter Average - 8.80%
Jitter Maximum - 13.50%


LiteON SOHW-832s - Tested using K-Probe 2.4.2 @ 4x:

PIE Average - 4.03
PIE Maximum - 41
PIF Average - 0.13
PIF Maximum - 12


Plextor PX-712a - Tested using Plextools and PXScan @ 2x:

PIE Average - 7.82
PIE Maximum - 858
PIF Average - 0.12
PIF Maximum - 97
Beta Minimum - (testing failed midway)
Beta Maximum - (testing failed midway)


As you can see, the burn time was pretty good, but the quality was sorely lacking. Some drives will be able to read the disc back, but other (like the PX-712a) will have problems.

It's not a media + drive/firmware combination I would recommend!

Sorry, it's not the results you wanted, but they ARE results. My only wonder is if firmware B7P9 would fair any better? according to my master chart of data, the much older firmware B7J9 had some VERY good results with this media at 12x (burn time 7:03). So I'm thinking that maybe this is something that screwed up in the latest firmware? Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time to go back and burn and test more media... but at the very least I can say the drive IS capable of burning those discs well... and probably will be able to again! I'll e-mail BenQ about it when I am able to... I owe them an e-mail soon anyways :)

PostPosted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 1:40 pm
by Bhairav
Thanks for taking the time out for the tests. Okay.. so overspeeding it to 12X won't work.. I gotta reconsider this drive for 12X burns then, at least until I get TYs in quantity here.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 2:42 pm
by dolphinius_rex
Bhairav wrote:Thanks for taking the time out for the tests. Okay.. so overspeeding it to 12X won't work.. I gotta reconsider this drive for 12X burns then, at least until I get TYs in quantity here.


Use Ritek G05 :wink:

PostPosted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 10:37 pm
by KenW
Ok maybe im blind, but do we know for sure what benQ 1625 is. Is it just 1620 with custom fw that can do lighscribe, or is it new hardware to. And if it is just custom 1620 fw can we load 1625 fw on 1620.

PostPosted: Sat Jan 15, 2005 12:06 am
by Bhairav
dolphinius_rex wrote:
Bhairav wrote:Thanks for taking the time out for the tests. Okay.. so overspeeding it to 12X won't work.. I gotta reconsider this drive for 12X burns then, at least until I get TYs in quantity here.


Use Ritek G05 :wink:


EURGH! No Ritek for me, thanks :evil: Besides, we can't even get Ritek here!
Good -R media available here -> Verbatim DLP, MBI, Sony (Daxon).

PostPosted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 5:53 pm
by dolphinius_rex
Ok... then SONY08D1 is good... but DON'T overspeed to 16x, only 12x :wink:

PostPosted: Mon Jan 17, 2005 6:03 am
by Bhairav
dolphinius_rex wrote:Ok... then SONY08D1 is good... but DON'T overspeed to 16x, only 12x :wink:


Now you're talking ;)

PostPosted: Mon Jan 17, 2005 10:14 pm
by Ian
I asked my contact at BenQ a few questions about the DW1625. Here's what she said:

1. The DW1625 does not use the same hardware as the DW1620. The DW1625 has some different components required for LightScribe so upgrading a DW1620 via a firmware update is not possible.

2. DW1625 specs... I asked about the slower 8x -R and 2.4x DVD+R DL writing speeds. According to my contact, those were the specs of the drive at CES and have not been finalized. Due to component changes, the final specs could be different.

3. Ship date... While it was said that the drive would ship in January, BenQ isn't guaranteeing that this will happen. My contact said they are working hard to meet this schedule, but it sounds like they want to get the drive right before shipping.

As I find out more, I'll let you guys know.

PostPosted: Tue Jan 18, 2005 2:03 am
by TCAS
cfitz wrote:
jpuntel wrote:
Now, to find out who is selling a retail package in black... my usual haunts are letting me down.



I bought my BENQ 1620 retail from

http://www.dealsurprise.com/op4xdvrwddin.html

$85.51 BLACK ($2.00 more) delivered
I think thats a decent price, if you want the retail version.

Thanks jpuntel, but I already ordered this morning. I do appreciate you taking the time to make the suggestion, though.

cfitz


Cfits:

Welcome back to the forum and nice to you back after long period of time.

P.S. Deal Surprise... kind of a scary sounding place to shop from. "Want a deal? We've got a surprise for you!" :wink:

PostPosted: Tue Jan 18, 2005 2:05 am
by dolphinius_rex
I got word from Canada's BenQ rep on the 1625 as well... it went a little something, like a' this:

Person A:
"So I hear you have some new drive's coming up"

Person B:
"Yes, we have an external model based on the DW1620, and the DW1620Pro will be coming into stock soon as well"

Person A:
"What about the DW1625??"

Person B:
"There's no such thing as a DW1625"

Person A:
"It was displayed at CES... weren't you *at* that booth???"

Person B:
"(making frantic phone call to unknown number)mumble mumble DW1625? ....mumble mumble..... what?? ...... why am I just finding out now? mumble mumble...... (hangs up)."

Person B (again):
"Yes, it will be a lightscribe capable drive"


This obviously isn't the EXACT conversation... but it really was very similar... especially the phone call part.

PostPosted: Tue Jan 18, 2005 1:25 pm
by Wesociety
dolphinius_rex wrote:Ok... then SONY08D1 is good... but DON'T overspeed to 16x, only 12x :wink:

SONY08D1 works great at 16x on my NEC 3500A 8)

@Dolphin, very humorous phone call indeed. :lol:

PostPosted: Tue Jan 18, 2005 1:52 pm
by Bhairav
Wesociety wrote:
dolphinius_rex wrote:Ok... then SONY08D1 is good... but DON'T overspeed to 16x, only 12x :wink:

SONY08D1 works great at 16x on my NEC 3500A 8)

@Dolphin, very humorous phone call indeed. :lol:


No NEC 3500 in India for love or money,Wes :(

PostPosted: Tue Jan 18, 2005 2:32 pm
by cfitz
TCAS wrote:Welcome back to the forum and nice to you back after long period of time.

Hi TCAS. Thanks for the welcome.

:D

cfitz

PostPosted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 9:59 pm
by eleewhm
got word is coming end of FEB..1625....model...:D:D

PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 2:15 am
by dolphinius_rex
eleewhm wrote:got word is coming end of FEB..1625....model...:D:D


Confirmed... although I can't say whether that will be accurate for North America... but should be in that ball park :wink:

PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 9:06 am
by Ian
If you believe DigiTimes, it will be released in Taiwan in February and worldwide in March:

http://www.digitimes.com/systems/a20050205PR200.html

PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 2:02 pm
by jberry
that is why there is a $50 (canadian) rebate on the 1620 pro now.....

gonna be discoed soon say the future shop guys

PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 3:55 pm
by dolphinius_rex
jberry wrote:that is why there is a $50 (canadian) rebate on the 1620 pro now.....

gonna be discoed soon say the future shop guys


Hrm... it's not being REPLACED by the DW1625... it's being replaced by the DW1640, which won't be out until April probably.... :o

Then again, Futurshop employees usually don't have much knowledge for these sorts of things.

PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 5:09 pm
by jberry
well they predicted the demise of the LG 4160 right on!!!!

what is to be on the 1640? -R DL?

PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 5:29 pm
by dolphinius_rex
jberry wrote:well they predicted the demise of the LG 4160 right on!!!!

what is to be on the 1640? -R DL?


I don't have the specs here, I think I have them at home (I'm at work). If I can find them I'll post them for you :wink: