Which one is better? BENQ 1620 / NEC 3500 / PIONEER A08

[Toaster]

Of these three drives... Which one performs the best? and why?

BenQ 1620
NEC 3500
Pioneer A08/108

[lenti_75]

nec...bitsetting

[Ma_Jie]

Hi toaster.

I personally think the BenQ 1620 is best. Why?

See this thread.

Cheers,

Ma Jie

[nic2k4]

I got the NEC, it's a great drive can't complain about it, media compatibility seems pretty good. Apparently, the NEC and Pioneer are very similar, but the Pioneer gets more official firmware updates. On the other hand, the NEC has more firmware hacks available, greatly enhancing it's abilities. NEC just released the 3520; similar to the 3500 with higher DL speed and they should be coming out with the 3540 around March.

Don't take my word on it, find out for yourself:

Pioneer: http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.php?reviewid=250

NEC: http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.php?reviewid=249

BenQ: http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.php?reviewid=245

[mattyboy]

If you are gonna rip DVDs get the benq

[lordsmurf]

Pioneer 108 is old. The 109 is out.

[Bodyslide]

I would get a Pioneer.

[steve2713]

Pioneer 108 is old. The 109 is out.

The NEC 3500 is 'old' as well with the 3520 out, I'm not sure how much more we can squeeze out of these comparisons at this point anyway, they all are good drives, they each have their MINOR advantages over one another. The Benq can do PI/PO tests, but I've already got a Benq drive to test with and I'd still probably prefer the NEC over the other two from my experience but I'd be happy with any of the three personally.

[Gregg]

There are two types of DVD burners: Pioneer and others.

[Toaster]

I know the 109 is out, but I figured the 1620 and 3500 are more in line with the 108 ? Were'nt they all basically released around the same time? I thought comparing the 109 to the other 2 would be unfair. ?

[lenti_75]

I thought comparing the 109 to the other 2 would be unfair. ?

109 and 3520...the same, but 109 is 30$ more for same quality

[budz]

BENQ 1620 because bitsetting is automatic on DVD+R, no 3rd party or hacked firmware to enable it like how NEC drives are. BENQ has frequent firmware upgrades to support different brands of media. The 1620 also burns DVD-R media just as well as DVD+R media via recent firmware upgrades.

Newegg.com has the BENQ 1620 retail in stock for $62.99.

[JohnnyCNote]

I got the Pioneer and have been very happy. I guess I'm just biased towards that brand, not to say that the others are bad....

[samijubal]

The NEC rocks, hundreds of discs it hasn't made a coaster yet. From previous experience with NEC and Pioneer products, NEC stuff is higher quality.

[chas0039]

Same poll run over at CDFreaks. NEC by a landslide.

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=113670

[ViRaL1]

Not that there are any real benchmarks yet, but what about the -R DL speed ratings on the 3520 and the 109?