BenQ DW1655 16x DVD±RW

Model: BenQ DW1655 16x DVD±RW
Manufacturer: BenQ

While the name BenQ might seem relatively new to some, the company behind it has been around for a number of years. Formerly known as Acer Communication & Multimedia, BenQ made the split from their parent company in December of 2001. Under the new brand, BenQ has continued to offer a wide range of products including LCD displays, digital cameras and even notebook computers. Here at CDRLabs though, they're best known for their optical storage products. Working closely with companies like Philips and Lite-On, they've lead the way in this area, bringing new and innovative technologies to the market.

In the spring of 2005, BenQ introduced one of the world's first LightScribe enabled DVD writers, the DW1625. Developed as an alternative to markers and stick on labels, LightScribe gave users the ability to burn silkscreen-quality graphics and text onto the tops of specially coated discs. Unfortunately, the DW1625 was designed primarily to showcase its LightScribe capabilities and BenQ had to make some sacrifices in regard to performance to implement the technology. Needless to say, the DW1625 was not one of the faster DVD writers available at the time.

With the competition announcing their LightScribe enabled DVD writers, BenQ went back to work, developing a drive with faster reading and writing speeds. The result of this was the DW1655. Sporting specs very similar to the DW1640, the DW1655 is capable of 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+R DL and 4x DVD-R DL writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 16x. Of course, BenQ hasn't stopped there. Along with support for LightScribe, the DW1655 also includes features like BenQ's Write Right, OverSpeed and SolidBurn technologies.

This is just a sample of what BenQ's new DVD writer has to offer. Over the next few pages we'll take a look at the DW1655's features and then see how it compares to the 16x DVD±RW drives from the competition. Can the DW1655 deliver the performance and features that we've come to expect from BenQ? More importantly, is it the best bang for your buck? Read on to see what we had to say.

What's in the box?:

• BenQ DW1655 16x DVD±RW Drive
• BenQ Software Disc v2.4
• Hardware Quick Start Guide
• Software Quick Start Guide
• 1 Verbatim LightScribe 52x CD-R Disc
• Mounting Screws
• Warranty Information

Physical Features:

The drive BenQ sent us for this review was manufactured in November of 2005 and had firmware version BCAB. For this review we used firmware version BCHB.

From the front, the DW1655 looks very similar to BenQ's previous 16x DVD±RW, the DW1640. Both drives share the same basic design and have many of the same logos. Along with the large "BenQ" logo, you can see a few showing support for DVD+R DL, DVD-R/RW and Ultra Speed CD-RW media as well as technologies like LightScribe and SolidBurn.

Below the tray you can see the DW1655's single LED. Off by default, this LED lights up green whenever the drive is reading or writing.

The rear of the DW1655 looks very similar to some of the other BenQ based DVD writers we've reviewed. By looking at the picture below you can see the drive's IDE interface, power connector and analog audio output connector.

Starting from the left of the IDE connection you'll see the jumper switch for master, slave and cable select. By default it comes set as master. Next to the jumper block is the analog audio connector. The connector on the far left is the digital audio output.

Technical Specs:

The specs below have been taken from BenQ's website and the box that the drive came in.

LightScribe:

Note: We took a much closer look at LightScribe technology in our review of the BenQ DW1625. In this review we'll just go over some of the basics and see how the DW1655 performs with the bundled software.

The DW1655 is the second drive from BenQ to feature LightScribe technology. Developed by HP, LightScribe lets you burn durable, silk screen quality labels directly onto your CD's and DVD's using the same drive that burned the data. According to HP, it's as simple as burning the data, flipping the disc, and then burning the label.

Of course you can't do this with just any drive, media or software. While LightScribe capable drives use the same laser when burning both the data and label, they have to be able to accurately control the laser's focus and position as well as the spindle speed. They also must be able to recognize LightScribe media. These special discs have a thin dye coating on the label side that absorbs laser light. This triggers a chemical reaction that produces a color change, allowing the user to print text, artwork or graphics.

Even if you have a LightScribe capable drive and media, you will need software that supports it. Most major software companies have pledged support for the technology. However, at the time of this review, the list of compatible software is still relatively short. For the DW1655, BenQ turned to Nero. Using the bundled software you can both create and burn LightScribe disc labels.

Once you've created your LightScribe label, you're ready to print it. Before you can do this though, you will need to choose the contrast. Keep in mind this option not only changes the level of detail, it also affects the amount of time it takes to print the label. The higher the quality, the longer the process will take.

How long does it take to print a label? For testing purposes, we created a few discs using Verbatim's LightScribe v1.2 CD-R and DVD+R media. In both cases, the quality has been set to "best". The results are shown below.

Verbatim CD-R v1.2 - 16 minutes		Verbatim DVD+R v1.2 - 21 minutes

Write Right Technologies:

The DW1655 features what BenQ calls their "Write Right Technologies." Consisting of WOPC II (Walking Optimal Power Control II) and Tilt Control, these technologies work together to deliver the best writing quality possible.

WOPC II - In the past, drives would use a preset writing strategy and stick to it throughout the entire burning process. That's not the case with BenQ's WOPC II technology. It constantly monitors and evaluates writing quality, adjusting the writing power in order to ensure the best writing quality possible over the entire disc.

The screen shot below shows WOPC II in action. The dips in the graph indicate where WOPC II has adjusted the writing power of the laser.

With the DW1655, BenQ has also implemented BLER OPC (Block Error Rate Optimal Power Control). Similar in function to WOPC II, this technology enhances the writing quality near the end of the disc to prevent any warping or other potential problems.

Tilt Control - The best reading and writing quality occurs when the angle between the disc and laser is 90 degrees. If a disc is warped though, the laser beam will not be positioned correctly. To remedy this, BenQ developed Tilt Control technology. With this technology, the DW1655 can reposition the OPU (Optical Pickup Unit) to maintain a 90 degree angle between the disc and laser.

SolidBurn:

BenQ's new DVD writer also features their SolidBurn technology. Activated by default, SolidBurn automatically creates writing strategies for unknown, or unsupported, DVD±R media. Simply insert your disc and burn. The new writing strategy is then created on-the-fly.

SolidBurn also works with supported media. When activated, the drive will ignore the writing strategy stored in the firmware and instead create a new one. This is very useful if you are trying to record a disc that uses another company's MID code (I.E. fake TYG02 code discs).

OverSpeed:

The DW1655 also supports BenQ's OverSpeed function. When enabled, the drive will try to write to 4x or 8x DVD±R media at 8x or higher. In order to make the process more likely to succeed, SolidBurn is automatically activated when this function is used.

More Features:

By looking at the picture below, you can see that BenQ's new DVD writer is identified as a "BENQ DVD LS DW1655."

The Nero screenshot also shows that the DW1655 has a maximum CD writing speed of 48x and a 2048KB buffer. This buffer is backed up by BenQ's Power-Burn buffer underrun protection. According to Nero, the DW1655 can write CD-Text and overburn. When testing the drive's capacity, it had no problems overburning up to 99 minutes with our CompUSA media.

Using Alex Noe's Weak Sector Utility we were able to determine that the DW1655 is a "no sheep" burner. This means that the drive is not a very good choice if you plan to back up titles protected by SafeDisc 2 or later.

Here is a screen shot from Nero's InfoTool. This program queries the drive to see what its reading and writing capabilities are. InfoTool had no problems detecting the DW1655's maximum reading and writing speeds, recording modes, buffer underrun protection and 2MB buffer.

InfoTool also shows that the DW1655 is an RPC-2 DVD drive. This means that the drive's region is stored in the firmware. The drive's region can be changed five times and after that it cannot be changed anymore. A patched RPC-1 firmware can be downloaded here. Just keep in mind that it is not supported by BenQ nor by CDRLabs. Use it at your own risk.

While InfoTool gives us a quick glance at the DW1655's features, DVDINFOpro provides a little more information on some of the drive's reading and writing capabilities. By looking at the screenshot above you can see that while BenQ's new drive can read and write to both DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media, it does not support the Mt. Rainier format.

The DW1655 also supports a feature called "bitsetting." Using CD Speed or BenQ's QSuite utility you can set the book type for DVD+R, DVD+RW and DVD+R DL media. By doing so, your recorded discs will identify themselves as "DVD-ROM." This feature comes in handy if you have an older DVD player that has problems playing recordable media.

The DW1655's software bundle is very similar to what BenQ has included with their previous DVD writers. Along with BenQ's own QSuite utility, this disc contains a number of applications from Nero including Nero Express 6, NeroVision Express 3, Nero Recode 2, Nero BackItUp, Nero ShowTime 2 and InCD.

Nero Express 6 - With Nero Express, Nero has taken the features and performance people have come to expect from Nero Burning Rom and combined them with a user friendly interface. While the interface has been simplified, Nero Express still supports more advanced features like VCD and DVD creation, CD/DVD duplication, overburning, CD-Text and realtime audio filters

The version of Nero Express that BenQ included with their new DVD±RW drive is 6.6.0.14. You can download the latest version of the software from Nero's website.

NeroVision Express 3 - NeroVision Express 3 is the latest version of Nero's video authoring application. Using a user friendly interface very similar to that of Nero Express, NeroVision Express makes it easy for users to capture, edit and then burn their favorite videos to VCD, SVCD or DVD or export it to Nero Digital format.

NeroVision Express also lets users add things like transitions, custom backgrounds, animated menus and text effects. You can even use it to turn your photos into custom slide shows.

Nero Recode 2 - This new program from Nero can copy unprotected DVD videos onto recordable DVD media. If the source disc is larger than 4.7GB, Nero Recode 2 has the ability to remove unwanted material and compress the contents so that it will fit onto a single blank DVD disc.

Nero Recode 2 will also let you convert your DVD movies to Nero Digital. Using Nero's own MPEG-4 audio and video encoder, an entire DVD movie can be compressed so that it will fit onto a CD. Better yet, Nero Recode 2 does this without any loss of quality.

Nero BackItUp - If you're looking for a way to quickly and easily backup your data, Nero BackItUp is the answer. This new program from Ahead Software lets you backup your data to CD/DVD, hard disc, image recorderor another computer on your LAN.

Nero ShowTime 2 - Nero ShowTime is Nero's software DVD player. Along with support for DVD's, ShowTime can be used to play back VCD's, SVCD's and miniDVD's as well as any MPEG or AVI files you might have on your hard drive.

InCD 4 - InCD is Nero's packet writing software. Like Roxio's Drag-to-Disc or Sonic's DLA, it allows a person to use their CD-RW or DVD±RW drive as a big floppy disk. The person can then drag and drop files onto a CD-RW or DVD±RW disc. Many people consider InCD to be one of the best packet writing tools because of its simplicity and performance.

BenQ QSuite 2.1 - The DW1655 also comes with BenQ's QSuite utility. This group of tools displays information about the drive and lets you adjust many of its functions. Along with the ability to set the booktype, you can enable/disable features like OverSpeed, SolidBurn, WOPC and Test Write. While not normally part of the DVD+R/RW spec, Test Write will let you run burn simulations on this type of media.

Using the QScan tool, you can also test blank DVD media for Tracking and Focus Errors, or TE/FE. By measuring a disc's TE/FE signal, QScan is able to determine its quality and whether or not it will successfully burn at the desired speed. For the best results, the lines on the graph should remain low and relatively flat.

The DW1655 also has the ability to measure a disc's PIE/PIF/POF and Jitter rates. Unfortunately, these tests are not supported by QScan. However, they are fully supported by programs like CD Speed and DVDINFOpro.

While affordably priced, BenQ's new DVD writer delivers a good number of features. The DW1655 supports most CD and DVD formats and sports some pretty impressive specs. The drive is capable 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+R DL, 4x DVD-R DL writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 16x. Of course, BenQ's new drive isn't just about speed. Along with support for LightScribe, the DW1655 includes many of the features we've come to expect from BenQ like Write Right, SolidBurn and bitsetting. With all this, it's easy to see why the DW1655 gets the full 10 points for its features.

Like the other BenQ drives we've reviewed, the DW1655 was very easy to install. From start to finish, the entire process took only a few minutes. After taking the drive out of the box, I left the jumper set to master and installed it on the secondary IDE chain of our test computer by connecting the IDE cable and power connector. When I turned on the computer the BIOS detected it as a drive supporting UDMA 33. After making sure that the DMA was enabled in the Device Manager, I was ready to start installing the software.

Software Installation:

As I mentioned earlier, the DW1655 comes with a CD full of software containing a number of different applications from Nero and BenQ. If you have autorun enabled on your computer, the menu pictured below should automatically appear when you insert the disc.

At this point, you can choose to install the Nero Suite, BenQ QSuite or the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Clicking on the little arrow/computer icon to the right of each will bring up their respective setup program. Otherwise, you can check out the documentation by clicking on the little book shaped icons.

Clicking on "Nero Suite" will bring up the menu pictured above. From here you can install Nero Express,NeroVision Express, InCD 4, or the InCD Reader. You can install each component individually, or everything but InCD in one shot. Once you reboot, you'll be ready to start burning your own discs.

Installing BenQ's QSuite is also fairly straightforward. Simply choose the location where you want to install the program and click next a few times. Once the files are copied over, you'll be able to use QSuite to control many of the DW1655's functions.

Documentation:

While the DW1655 comes with a fair amount of documentation, the majority of it focuses on the bundled software and not the drive itself. The closest thing to a manual is the "Quick Installation Guide". Similar to the ones included with BenQ's previous DVD writers, this small, fold out guide is broken up into 11 different languages. As you can imagine, with this many languages crammed into a guide of this size, it's hard to include a lot of information. Nevertheless, the diagrams BenQ has provided do take the user step by step through the installation process. If you're looking for things like the DW1655's specs or system requirements, you'll have to check the back of the box or visit BenQ's website. You won't find that information in the guide.

In the end, installing the DW1655 and the bundled software was pretty easy. While the documentation BenQ has included is fairly brief, it should be enough to get the driveup and running. Even then, those looking for elaborate explanations or drive specific information will be a little disappointed. Overall, I give the installation an 8 out of a possible 10.

While CPU, memory, OS and other variables don't often make a huge difference, there are some nonetheless. We have a computer that is used only for testing hardware. We do this so all tests can be compared reliably.

Test System:

For DVD writers the performance tests are broken down into four sections: CD read, CD write, DVD read and DVD write tests. Each benchmark test has been run three times. The score given is an average of the three. DMA has been enabled in device manager for all IDE devices supporting it.

CD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the CD-ROM benchmarks, CD WinBench 99 v3.0 and CD Speed v4.51 are used to test read speeds, seek times and CPU usage. For DAE testing both CD Speed and CD DAE are used. CD Speed is used to give an overall DAE speed rating and CD DAE is used to give the track by track extraction speeds and to check the extracted tracks for errors the drive may have created.

CD Write Tests: To test the write speeds, Nero Burning Rom is used to write 650MB and 700MB to our test media. Times are recorded. To test rewrite scores, Nero is used again to time how long it takes to write 400MB of random files and directories. Then Sonic's DLA is used to test packet writing speeds. The same files are copied and pasted in Windows Explorer and timed.

DVD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the DVD benchmarks CD Speed v4.51 is used to test read speeds, seek times, and CPU usage.

DVD Write Tests: To test the DVD write speeds, Nero Burning Rom is used to write 4GB to our test media. Times are recorded. Then Sonic's DLA is used to test packet writing speeds. The same files are copied and pasted in Windows Explorer and timed.

CD Winbench 99 Scores:

The CD Winbench test is as close as we can get to testing every day usage. It fires off eight different applications using scripts. This tries to mimic the activities of a person loading these programs onto their own computer.

BenQ's new DVD writerdid pretty well in the CD Winbench portion of our tests. While the DW1655's overall score wasn't as high as some of the other drives, it had some fairly good transfer rates. The drive started reading at 19.3x (2890 / 150) and reached a maximum speed of about 43.7x (6550 / 150) on the outside.

CD Speed v4.51 - Pressed CD:

For this test I used a pressed CD containing one Mode 1 data track. The disc is 74:38 in size and is full of data and directories.

	BenQ DW1655	LG GSA-H10N	Lite-On SHM-165H6S	NEC ND-4550A
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	36.54x 20.71x 48.30x	35.57x 20.42x 46.78x	36.68x 21.95x 48.50x	35.60x 20.54x 47.09x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	107ms 125ms 176ms	114ms 130ms 175ms	103ms 116ms 168ms	137ms 145ms 219ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	1% 1% 3% 6%	1% 1% 3% 21%	2% 4% 7% 12%	17% 1% 3% 6%

The DW1655 performed very well when reading pressed CD's. It flew through CD Speed's transfer rate tests, reaching a maximum read speed of 48.30x. Looking at the other scores, you can see that the drive's seek times were also quite good.

CD Speed v4.51 - CD-R Media:

For this test I made a copy of our pressed test CD. I used 12x rated Memorex Gold 74 minute media for the tests.

Like the other drives, the DW1655 was a little faster when reading CD-R media. Thanks to this small speed boost, the drive was able to reach a maximum transfer speed of more than 49x. On top of that, its seek times were again quite good.

BenQ's new DVD writer had no problems recognizing our 99 minute CompUSA media. The drive read our test disc from start to finish, reaching a maximum transfer speed of 53.19x! This is pretty good for a drive rated at only 48x.

CD Speed v4.51 - CD-RW Media:

For this test I made a copy of a pressed test CD. I used some PNY 80 minute CD-RW media for the tests.

Like the GSA-H10N and ND-4550A, the DW1655's CD-RW read speeds are limited to only 40x. As you can see, the drive had no problems reaching this speed in our tests.

CD DAE and CD Speed v4.51 - Pressed CD:

For this test I used Pure Funk. The CD is almost exactly 74 minutes. This helps to squeeze the maximum performance out of the CD.

Exact Audio Copy can tell us a lot about a drive's capabilities. You can see from the screen shot that while the BenQ DW1655 supports accurate stream and has the ability to cache audio data, it does not have the ability to retrieve C2 error information.

CD Speed	BenQ DW1655	LG GSA-H10N	Lite-On SHM-165H6S	NEC ND-4550A
Average: Start: End: DAE Quality: Accurate Stream:	36.90x 21.00x 48.76x 10 Yes	30.73x 17.95x 40.68x 10 Yes	37.03x 21.26x 48.93x 10 Yes	30.94x 17.99x 40.12x 10 Yes

The DW1655 did very well in our DAE tests. While it wasn't able to top the drive from Lite-On, it gave it a run for its money thanks to a maximum DAE speed of 48.76x.

To get a better look at the quality of the extracted audio we use CD DAE. CD DAE is actually designed to be an audio ripping program. It converts the CD-DA on the CD to .wav files. We use it in our testing because it can also be used as a quick and easy way to test the quality. Where CD Speed tests the DAE as one large session, CD DAE extracts each CD track individually. It actually extracts each track twice and then compares them to check for any errors. Every error a drive creates could be a hiss or pop you would hear later in the audio tracks.

While the DW1655 started out a little faster when extracting our test CD with CD DAE, its average and maximum speeds were slower than what we saw with CD Speed.

CD DAE and CD Speed v4.51 - CD-R Media:

For this test I used a copy of the Pure Funk CD. It's burned onto the same Memorex Gold 74 minute media I used in the CD Speed tests.

While the DW1655 was a little slower when extracting audio from CD-R media, this didn't keep it from reaching amaximum DAE speed of 48x in our tests. So how did it do in CD Speed's advanced DAE tests? Take a look below.

BenQ's new DVD writer completed CD Speed's advanced DAE tests with an average score of 34.78x. The drive had no problems passing all of the on-the-fly tests and did not create any errors. In the advanced tests, the DW1655 was able to read the CD-Text, subchannel data and lead in section of the CD, but for whatever reason was not able to read the lead out.

To see how well BenQ's DVD writer can read scratched and dirty discs, I used CD Speed's ScanDisc utility to see how many sectors were damaged or unreadable. This is a very rough, but good way to test the drive's error correcting abilities.

CD Speed - ScanDisc

While all of that green looks good, these ScanDisc results are a little misleading. Without the ability to retrieve error information, the DW1655 is unable to determine which sectors are damaged or unreadable.

You can also get an idea of how well the drive can read scratched and dirty discs by using CD DAE. CD DAE will extract the audio tracks twice and then compare them. From this information we can see what the drive's average speed was and how many errors it generated.

The DW1655 didn't do as well as some of the other drives in this test. The scratches on the disc not only slowed it down considerably, the number of errors was a little higher than what we'd like to see.

CD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 6.6.1.4 and DLA 4.95:

For this test I randomly generated 650MB and 700MB of files and directories to test the time it takes the drive to write and close a CD. All of the files are between 1MB and 25MB in size and no more than 10 directories deep. All of the times below include not only the actual writing time, but the lead in and out times too. This gives a more realistic idea of how long it takes to write a CD.

The DW1655 has a maximum CD writing speed of 48x. To reach this speed, it uses CAV, or Constant Angular Velocity. With Fuji's 48x media, the drive started writing at about 21.29x and reached a maximum speed of 47.72x at the end of the session. This gave the DW1655 an average writing speed of about 35.07x.

To test the drive's writing times, I wrote our test data to some Taiyo Yuden manufactured Fuji media rated at 48x. The results are below.

BenQ's new DVD writer did fairly well in our tests. While no match for the SHM-165H6S, the DW1655 took a little more than 3 minutes to write an entire 650MB CD.

To test the drive's writing quality I used Lite-On IT's KProbe2. Written by Karr Wang, this utility can be used to test the number of C1 and C2 errors on a disc. For these tests I used a Lite-On LTR-52246S (firmware 6S0F) and read the discs at 32x.

Fuji 48x (Taiyo Yuden)

Memorex 52x (CMC)

Verbatim 52x

The DW1655's writing quality is very good. By looking at the KProbe screenshots, you can see that the discs burned by the drive had a low number of C1 errors and there were no C2 errors at all.

For the rewriting tests I created 400MB of files on the hard drive and wrote them in DAO mode using Nero. To test the packet writing speeds I copied and pasted the same files off the hard drive onto a CD-RW disc using DLA from Sonic. Verbatim's 32x Ultra Speed CD-RW media was used for these tests.

The DW1655 uses P-CAV, or Partial CAV, when rewriting at 32x. By looking at the screenshot above, you can see that the drive starts rewriting at about 21.48x and accelerates, reaching its maximum speed at about the 22 minute mark.

BenQ's new DVD writer did very well in our rewriting tests.Thanks to its P-CAV writing method, the DW1655 took only 1:55 to write 400MB with Nero and 1:56 to do the same with DLA.

The DW1655 also erases at 32x. While it didn't have the fastest quick erase time out of the four drives here, it was able to do a full erase in 3:53.

Nero CD Speed v4.51 - DVD-ROM:

A little editorial note here. Like a CD-ROM, you will get different benchmark results depending on what kind of discs you are using. You are probably going to get varying results from a full data disc to a single layer movie disc. You're also going to get different results for single and dual layer discs.

The CD Speed website recommends using a single layer DVD-ROM disc with a capacity of at least 4GB. If you use a dual layer disc you probably won't get the best results because most DVD-ROM drives slow down to read them. Some even slow down to read single layer DVD-Video discs. To make a long story short, I am using a 4.37GB single layer, single sided disc for this test.

The DW1655 performed very well when reading single layer DVD-ROM's. In the transfer rate tests, it started reading at 6.60x and reached a maximum transfer speed of about 16.15x.Like in our CD read tests, the drive's seek times were also quite good.

Nero CD Speed v4.51 - DVD-R and DVD-RW:

First, we'll look at the drive's DVD-R and DVD-RW reading performance. For this I made copies of our DVD-ROM test disc using some general use 4x DVD-R and 2x DVD-RW media from Verbatim and then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD Speed. The results are below.

The DW1655 performed very well when reading DVD-R and DVD-RW media. In our tests, the drive read DVD-RW discs at 12x and DVD-R media at an impressive 16x.

Verbatim DVD-R DL

BenQ's new DVD writer had no problems reading Verbatim's 4x DVD-R DL media. The DW1655 started reading at 5.03x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 12.12x.

Nero CD Speed v4.51 - DVD+R and DVD+RW:

Next we'll look at the drive's DVD+R and DVD+RW reading performance. For this I made a copy of our DVD-ROM test disc using some 4x DVD+R and 2.4x DVD+RW media from Verbatim. I then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD Speed. The results are below.

The DW1655's performance with DVD+R and DVD+RW media was very similar to what we saw with DVD-R and DVD-RW media.The drive read DVD+R discs at 16x and DVD+RW media at 12x.

Verbatim DVD+R DL

Reading Verbatim's double layer DVD+R media wasn't a problem for the DW1655 either. While not as fast as the drive from LG, it reached a respectable 12.14x in CD Speed's transfer rate tests.

Nero CD Speed v4.51 - DVD-Video:

For these tests I am using the US version of Transformers: The Movie on DVD. The disc is over 4GB and single sided.

The DW1655 didn't slow down very much when reading single layer DVD videos. It started out at about 6.54x and reached a maximum read speed of 16.02x. BenQ's new drive was also fairly quick when reading dual layer discs. By looking at the screenshot below, you can see that the drive's transfer speeds peaked at about 12x.

To see how well the DW1655 worked as a DVD player, I watched a few scenes from Transformers: The Movie and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace using WinDVD 4 and PowerDVD 5. The drive had no problems playing back these movies with either program and was fairly quiet.

DVD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 6.6.1.4 andDLA 4.95:

To test the DVD writing performance of BenQ's new drive I used RiDATA 16x DVD+R, Taiyo Yuden 16x DVD-R, Verbatim 8x DVD+RW and Verbatim 6x DVD-RW media. To get the writing times, a 4.38GB image was burned to our test discs using Nero. All tests have been performed with WOPC and SolidBurn enabled.

When writing to DVD+R and DVD-R media at 16x, the DW1655 uses CAV. By looking at the screenshots above, you can see that BenQ's new drive starts writing at about 4.8x and accelerates, reaching its maximum speed as it reaches the end of the disc.

The DW1655 also features 8x DVD+RW and 6x DVD-RW writing speeds. While the drive uses CLV when writing to DVD-RW media, it uses Z-CLV to reach its maximum DVD+RW writing speed.

The DW1655 wasn't as fast as some of the other drives when writing to DVD±R media at 16x. However, by disabling WOPC, I was able to cut more than 40 seconds off the total writing time.

To check the media compatibility of the DW1655, I ran a few tests using some of the media available in my area. The media types, along with the average time it took the drive to write our 4.38GB image, are listed below.

So what about writing quality? Testing a drive's DVD writing quality isn't easy. Until now, there were very few options, unless you wanted to shell out thousands of dollars for a certified test machine. Thanks to KProbe, we can test a disc's PI (Parity Inner) and PIF (Parity Inner Fail) rates.For these tests I used a Lite-On SOHW-1673S (firmware JS07) and read the discs at 4x with the PI and PIF ECC sums set to 8 and 1 respectively. For comparison, I also tested the discs on the BenQ DW1655. When combined with Nero CD Speed, the DW1655 is able to report PI Errors, PI Failures, Parity Outer Failures and even jitter levels. For this test, the discs are read at 8x with both the PI and PIF ECC sums set to 8.

So what are "good" results supposed to look like? With KProbe, the PI errors should not exceed 280 and the number of PIF errors should stay below 4. When testing with CD Speed, the number of PI errors should stay below 280 as well. However, because it scans with an ECC sum of 8, a higher number of PIF errors is acceptable, as long as they do not exceed 32. Since POF errors are uncorrectable, we really don't want to see any of them at all.

I also put these discs through a "stress test" by reading them back at 16x with the DW1655. By reading these discs back at this speed, we can see if there are any readability issues caused by the number of errors or high levels of jitter.

The DW1655's writing quality was pretty good with most of the DVD+R media we tested. Aside from a few small spikes, the PI/PIF rates stayed within acceptable limits.

Lastly, here are some results from our DVD-R test media. When scanned with the DW1655, the discs yielded some some fairly good results. Surprisingly enough, the PI rates were actually higher with KProbe. Nevertheless, they were still within acceptable limits and there were no readability issues.

To test the DW1655's packet writing performance I used DLA 4.95. Verbatim 8x DVD+RW and 6x DVD-RW media were used once again.

The DW1655 performed pretty well in our packet writing tests. While not as fast as some of the other drives when writing our test data to disc, it took a little more than 6 minutes to read back all 4GB of files and directories.

Double Layer DVD Write Tests - Nero Burning Rom 6.6.1.4:

To test the double layer DVD writing performance of the DW1655, I used Verbatim 8x DVD+R DL, Verbatim 2.4x DVD+R DL, Memorex 2.4x DVD+R DL and Verbatim 4x DVD-R DL media. I created about 8GB of random files and directories on my hard drive and then burned them to our test discs with Nero.

Finding DVD+R DL media that would work at 8x was not an easy task. The only media we found that would work at this speed were Verbatim's new 8x DVD+R DL discs. With the other DVD+R DL media, the writing speed was limited to 2.4x.

With Nero, it took the DW1655 about 17 minutes to write 8001MB of data. While faster than the drives from Lite-On and NEC, it was almost three minutes slower than the GSA-H10N. So what about writing quality? Take a look below.

The writing quality was very good with Verbatim's 8x DVD+R DL media. As you can see, the PI/PIF rates remained very low from start to finish. Verbatim's 2.4x DVD+R DL media also yielded some pretty decent results. While higher than what we saw with their 8x media, the PI/PIF remained well within acceptable limits. The worst results were with Memorex's 2.4x DVD+R DL media. The PI/PIF rates were very high at the layer change which caused some readability problems.

The DW1655 also features 4x DVD-R DL writing speeds. To test the drive's writing times, Verbatim's 4x DVD-R DL media was used.

The DW1655 wasn't as fast when writing to DVD-R DL media. In our tests, it trailed behind the drives from LG and NEC by more than 12 minutes and was even a couple of minutes slower than the SHM-165H6S. So what about writing quality? Take a look below.

The DW1655's writing quality was pretty good with Verbatim's 4x DVD-R DL media. The PI/PIF rates stayed within acceptable limits when tested with both KProbe and CD Speed and there were no readability problems.

Performance Revisited:

Like BenQ's previous DVD writers, the DW1655 performed pretty well in our tests. While not as fast as some of the other drives when writing to DVD-R DL discs, it held its own relatively well with DVD±R, DVD±RW and DVD+R DL media. Reading DVD's wasn't a problem for the DW1655 either. In our tests, the drive was able to read single layer DVD-ROM's and DVD±R discs at 16x and other types of recordable media at an impressive 12x.

The DW1655 also did pretty well in our CD read tests. The drive had no problems reading all types of media at its rated speeds and had some very good seek times. When writing CD's, the DW1655 performed as expected. The drive turned in some respectable times and its writing quality was quite good. With all things considered, the BenQ DW1655 gets a solid 8 out of 10 for the performance section of this review.

Last spring, I reviewed BenQ's first LightScribe enabled DVD writer, the DW1625. While the ability to burn images and text onto the tops of discs was impressive, the DW1625's performance left me wanting more. Fortunately, that wasn't the case with the DW1655. While affordably priced, the drive delivers the performance and features that BenQ has become known for.

When writing to DVD+R and DVD-R media at 16x, the DW1655 took about 6 and a half minutes to burn an entire 4.7GB DVD. While this isn't exactly speedy, disabling WOPC cut a good 40 seconds off the total burn time. BenQ's new DVD writer did pretty well in our rewriting tests, turning in some very good times with both DVD-RW and DVD+RW media. Even more impressive was the DW1655's DVD+R DL writing performance. Thanks to its 8x writing speed, the drive took a little more than 17 minutes to burn an entire 8.5GB DVD. Unfortunately, its 4x DVD-R DL writing speed also put it at a slight disadvantage in some of our tests.

Finding compatible media really wasn't an issue with the DW1655. The drive wrote to most of our test media at its rated speed and with OverSpeed enabled, it was able to write to 8x DVD±R discs at 16x. Just keep in mind that if you want to write to DVD+R DL media at 8x, you will need to buy media rated at this speed. The DW1655's writing quality was also pretty good for the most part. However, there's still room for improvement, especially with Ritek manufactured DVD+R DL media. Hopefully BenQ can tweak this in a future firmware update.

The DW1655 also did very well in our DVD read tests. The drive was able to read single layer data and video DVD-ROM's at speeds as high as 16x and had some pretty good seek times. The DW1655 also reached some pretty impressive transfer speeds with other types of DVD media. In our tests, it read DVD±R discs at 16x and both DVD±RW and DVD±R DL media at an impressive 12x.

Reading CD's wasn't a problem for the DW1655 either. In our tests, the drive read pressed and CD-R media at 48x and CD-RW discs at 40x. This level of performance carried over to our DAE tests, where the drive ripped audio CD's at 48x. As a writer, the DW1655 performed reasonably well. The drive turned in some respectable times thanks to its 48x CD-R and 32x CD-RW writing speeds and its writing quality was quite good.

Like BenQ's previous DVD writers, the DW1655 isn't short on features. Along with Seamless Link buffer underrun protection, it supports things like BenQ's Write Right, OverSpeed and SolidBurn technologies. The drive also has a good number of writing and rewriting speeds to choose from and has the ability to set the book type of DVD+R/RW and DVD+R DL media. Most notable though, is the DW1655's LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling system. An alternative to markers and stick on labels, LightScribe lets you burn graphics and text onto the tops of specially coated discs.

In the end, it usually comes down to price. For what it offers, BenQ's new drive is surprisingly affordable. Current prices vary depending on the seller, but the retail version of the DW1655 can be picked up for less than $50 on Pricegrabber.

Highs:

• Writes to DVD±R media at 16x
• Writes to DVD+RW media at 8x
• Writes to DVD-RW at 6x
• Writes to DVD+R DL media at 8x
• Writes to DVD-R DL media at 4x
• Reads single layer DVD-ROM's at 16x
• Reads DVD±R media at 16x
• Reads DVD±RW and DVD±R DL media at 12x
• Features 48x CD-R and 32x CD-RW writing speeds
• Very good transfer speeds with all types of CD media
• Excellent DAE speeds
• Low seek times
• Supports SolidBurn, Write Right and OverSpeed technologies
• Good selection of writing and rewriting speeds
• Includes software from Nero
• Supports bitsetting for DVD+R/RW and DVD+R DL media
• Supports FE/TE, PI/PIF/POF and Jitter testing
• Supports 99 minute media
• Affordably priced

Lows:

• Not as fast as other drives when WOPC is enabled
• Questionable writing quality with some DVD+R DL media
• Cannot write to 2.4x DVD+R DL media at 8x
• Has a 2048KB buffer
• Documentation could be better