Benq DW1640 and important questions..

First, I'd like to say that I've been lurking for a long time and I've learned alot from the forums. I find the collection of intelligence and the will to share information with anyone who needs it to be seriously killer.

Alright, I've recently aquired a 1640 (man. june '05, made it china.) and there are some things I need to know before I go willy-nilly with the burning.

1.) I have yet to set the region. (I'm in the US)

-A.- <i>Must</i> I set the region for the drive to read/write?

-B.- I've read about updating the firmware soon after getting the drive. What will the most current firmware affect on my 1640?

-c.- I would like to set it as region-free: Will I have to update my firmware to do so? And if so, how do I find out which firmware I currently have?

-C.- Will setting the drive to region-free lessen the drive's read/writing ability/qualtiy <u>at all</u>?

2.) The 1640 will be replacing one of two drives. Which is a better companion for the 1640? A Lite-On 16x DVD-ROM (for 1 to 1s, I have a standalone player, so I figure I don't need the ROM for viewing) or a Samsung 52x CDRW (to take the load off the 1640 and have it only write DVDs.)?

3.) Does the 1640 prefer dvd+r over dvd-r?

-A.- Which media code does it seem to like the most? (I'm wanting to get genuine TYG02s or YUDEN00T02s)

-B.- If I decide on the +Rs and booktype to -ROM: Will doing so promote more burning errors than if I used -Rs?

-C.- Is the quality of a (now) -ROM movie the same as a -R? (ie - visual anomalies, pixels, blocks, non-syncing, etc..)

4.) Which is more likely to have errors? (meda@speed) - 4x@4x, 8x@8x, 8x@4x, or 4x@8x

Is there any other fundemtal information I'm missing?

Thanks, guys. I visit afterdawn (registered today) atleaste five times daily.

Keep it up,
john

P.S. CMCs forever!!!..... No! Wait!