Does anyone know about BenQ DW822A? Is it an old model? But it has 8MB buffer which is great. Is it as good as BenQ dw1640? http://geek.pricegrabber.com/search_techspecs_full.php/masterid=2583775
With only a 8x record speed for +R discs and very slow (24x) CD writing speed and not supporting DL burning without an upgrade ... It's definitely an older model ... I read a test made in May of 2004 and here are some positives and negatives ..... ••Positives•• •Retail package with an impressive software bundle. •Supports 8x DVD+R speed. •Supports 4x DVD+RW speed. •Could be upgraded to write dual layer DVD+R discs. •Writes many types of 4x DVD+R discs at 8x. •Excellent CD-R writing quality with most media. •Impressive writing quality with most DVD+R and DVD-R media. •Features Walking OPC technology that constantly adjusts the writing strategy to ensure maximum quality. •Impressive reading performance with all types of CD/DVD media. •Very good seek times. •Supports DAO-RAW writing. •Supports reading and writing of full SubChannel Data. •Supports reading and writing 8cm CD-R discs and credit card CD-R discs. •Fast and perfect audio extraction. •Supports reading and writing 99 minutes CD-R discs. •Supports bitsetting for DVD+R/RW media. •No speed lock for reading DVD-Video discs. •8Mb buffer •Price ••Negatives•• •Only 24x CD-R writing speed •Only 10x CD-RW writing speed •Doesn’t support 8x DVD-R or 4x DVD-RW. •Writes 2x DVD-RW discs at 2.4x which makes unreadable discs. •Slow at writing DVD-R discs at 4x compared to the competition. •The BenQ booktype tool does not work with all computer configurations. •Does not support Mt. Rainier. •Low performance with protected audio discs. •Doesn’t support “Correct EFM encoding of regular bit patterns” making it harder for it to backup safedisc protected games. •Problems backing up Laserlok protected discs. ••Conclusion•• BenQ has put together a drive with some clear strengths, just to bad that it’s coupled with some noticeable weaknesses as well, compared it to the competition. Let us try to summarize the most important points in two groups: The main positive points: We can’t get around the fact that it’s the first drive on the market that is advertised as dual layer capable (although a firmware upgrade is required), and many people will probably buy it just because of that. It does also offer 8x DVD+R writing speed and is pretty fast at writing at 8x too. Couple this with BenQ’s Walking OPC technology and the result is that it creates very good quality discs with almost all types of DVD-R and DVD+R media. The walking OPC technology does also help when writing CD-R discs, as the quality of the created CD-R discs was also outstanding. It’s also worth mentioning that the drive supports bitsetting, and it has a nice 8Mb buffer. And when it comes to reading discs it’s in its own class, few other drives are able to combine the high reading speeds and low seek times that this drive has. The main negative points: Nowadays it is rare to see a new DVD-Writer with CD-RW writing speed of only 10x and CD-R writing speed of only 24x, so you should consider this if you plan to have only one drive in your computer. The fact that it doesn’t support 8x DVD-R and 4x DVD-RW also puts it behind many other competitors. Due to the Walking OPC, it’s pretty slow at 4x DVD-R writing too, using almost 2 minutes more on a disc compared to the fastest writers. Now it’s time to look at the real problems with this drive; first of all it writes 2x DVD-RW discs at 2.4x, making them unreadable in most drives. It’s not the best choice for backing up protected music and game discs either. The drive is priced at $ 87 USD (Price from Pricewatch per 8.05.2004 ) which makes it very competitive to similarly featured drives. To sum it all up, this is the best we could say: “A drive with many clear strengths, unfortunately coupled with some drawbacks”. We have to say that the drive does not qualify for our “Editors choice” award, but due to the low price and the fact that it will support dual layer writing in the future; it deserves our “Best Value” award! {from cdfreaks.com}
