What's the best DVD Drive to buy?

Wow...does this development mean I should steer clear of the DQ60? I'm noticing some increasingly odd things happening with recent burns so I should probably order something asap. Should I just keep trying to find the 1640 or is the 1620 comparable in terms of quality?

 

i read the same thing as catfreak mentioned...but, i apologize for that link...it WAS the benq-1640 when i found it...but, they apparently switched it to a "comparable" model~ i dunno~

if i were you, and obviously i am NOT, i would wait and NOT purchase the DQ60...and try to find the 1640 for sale...OR, what i'm going to do personally, is wait for Benq to release the dw1650 here in the U.S...i'm not one to chance it until others have tried it out..but, i have been anticipating the actual DW1650, not the DQ60.

http://www.benq-eu.com/products/storage/index.cfm?product=603

so good luck on ur search and decision...

docTY

 

Well Doc, I'll let you know how the DQ60Bk works out .. the Mrs and I are giving one to a daughter for Xmas .. I've been informed by BenQ that the firmware and QSuite is interchangable between the DW1640 and the DQ60Bk .. Soooo I'm assuming that the DQ60Bk is also ab excellent unit ..

 

Wow..the more I read on these different burners the more confusing it gets! I guess there's no burner that *everyone* loves...just like media. My two biggest concerns at this point are
1) is there any performance difference between the DQ60 and the DW1620? I see them both on Newegg and am anxious to pull the trigger on something
2) I did read some stuff saying BenQ generally worked better on DVD+R...does anyone here have any experience using BenQ with DVD-R as that is all I have. (seems to be more compatible with my DVD players in the house)
Thanks again!

 

My 1640 does an excellent job with -R Fuji/TYG02 discs .. but that's the only -R I've tried .. As far as +R compatability goes .. the BenQ supports bitsetting and when the booktype is changed to DVD-ROM (only on +R discs of course) everything plays the discs ...

 

I just bought a TEAC DV-W516GB..I've been more impressed with this drive then any other burners I have [NEC,Plextor,Liteon].Of course this is a new burner,& it has only been used about a 150 times this month.Now I'm not sure if the lasers give out over time,but mechanics sure do breakdown & even though my older burners still work after 2000+burns.I did notice a little pixelating in my movies W/OLDER Burners,this seems to have cleared up with this new burner.I at first blamed it on the originals,figureing my backup were exact copies of what was on the original..But this was'nt so,I burned a couple of the same movies with the Teac & they were beautiful.mind U useing DVDInfoPro..ALL Discs checked out AOK new & old burners..Like I said don't know if the laser brks down,but mechanics do..If any body knows just post a comment..I'm curious maybe my older burners are draging,bad laser,but i definetly know after 2 & 3 yrs they have acumulated a little dirt on the interior.But I have no inclination nore desire to take them apart.i just figure that they are old,& need to be retired before they die.They have most definately earned it!!

 

@catfreak

woah, are you serious? so in essence, you are saying i could use my current BSNB dw1640 firmware on the new DQ60 drive? the internals MUST be quite similar if you can interchange the firmware and qsuite so easily...well, u heard it from the horse's mouth, so i might pick one up too~ it WAS you few months back that finally made me "pull the trigger" on the 1640, and i have not regretted it since..thank you for that~

seems like i might need to find yet another excuse to the mrs. and pick up another burner..lol, since my recent mobo fry, i've been without my main Sony & Pioneer burners the last 2 weeks, been relying on my Benq 1640 and my laptop Sony burner to take up the slack~

please let me know when you try it out, i will once again go by YOUR recommendation if you feel it's a good quality drive and lives up to the Benq reputation~ in the meantime...*thinking of excuse to buy another burner* hehe

docTY~

 

Cheers for the tips zenon, but you may wana check this out! :S

http://www.edbydesign.com/books/B000636FJG.html

 

interested in the DW1640 or the DW1620 tho as mentioned above and on the previous page..

which model is actually newer and which is better? it seems the 1640 writes and reads faster than the 1620 yet is slightly cheaper.. what's the catch?

would this drive be fine for writting/backing up ps2 games??

 

The LG GSA-4167B looks promising!!!

http://www.cdfreaks.com/article/242

Gonna get myself one from NewEgg to join my Pioneer 109 and LiteOn 1693S!!!

 

I was told this by a customer service rep .. I really don't know how this can be since the DW60 also records DVD-RAM but I have an inquiry to tech service that I'm waiting for a response to ... I'll let you know

I do know that the DW1650 and DW1655 (lightscribe) are ready for release here in the USofA probably in January ..

Something else about the DQ60 is that you can drag and drop directly to DVD-RAM .. eliminating the need for burning software ... interesting

 

Does anybody has try a Nec burner; I think they are really good.
It burns really well, but what I like about it is that if a put a 4x media it would burn it at 8x and if you put a 8x it would burn it at 16x. I found this amaizing. the burner that I got is the NEC ND-3540A

I havent try the Ben Q, so I dont' know what to say but I have try an emprex, optorite, hammer(made by panasonic),nec, philiphs, toshiba, memorex, and plextor; but my favorites are optorite and Nec.
what I like about optorite is that all their burners are 8 mb of buffer.