wtf? benq 1620 reads/writes dvds but doesnt read/write cds??

[icec0ld]

i dont get this. my benq 1620 works perfectly fine in my old desktop. reads/writes cds and dvds perfectly. with my new desktop, it reads/writes dvds perfectly as well but doesnt even read or recognize a cd upon insertion. it has the latest firmware as well. any ideas would be great

[redwudz]

One possibility: Have you tried cleaning it? CD and DVD lasers are separate. One may work while the other doesn't. If you have used the burner for a while, gunk can accumulate on the lens. Or the CD part may have just died.

Still, I would look for a software cause. A lot easier to fix.

[icec0ld]

well. it seems now it sometimes wants to read a disc. like 1 in 20 (i stopped after inserting a disc for the 20th time). any other ideas?

[budz]

i dont get this. my benq 1620 works perfectly fine in my old desktop. reads/writes cds and dvds perfectly. with my new desktop, it reads/writes dvds perfectly as well but doesnt even read or recognize a cd upon insertion. it has the latest firmware as well. any ideas would be great

This is a common problem that others have experienced. Check out the BENQ FORUM at CDFREAKS.COM. It could be the laser wearing out on the drive. Are you using B7W9 firmware? You could try flashing the drive back to a older firmware. It wouldn't harm the drive at all by flashing the drive. At times I will flash my 1620 drives to older/newer firmware depending on what brand of dvd media that I am using. The 1620 drives I have are still going strong. The 1640 drive is awesome!

If your drive still has a warranty left contact BENQ support or if you live in the USA and purchased the drive from Newegg.com they would honor their own 1 year warranty.

Slightly off topic.....I don't understand why USA manufacturers like PLEXTOR & BENQ only have 1 year warranties where as in the UK warranties are 2 years......

[hech54]

Although I've never switched mine from one computer to another...my 1620 is still going strong. The only thing it wont do is burn a DAO/SAO audio CD....I have to use my LG for those.

[pchan]

Time to shop for another drive. This time please consider Pioneer NEC, or LG.

[budz]

Time to shop for another drive. This time please consider Pioneer NEC, or LG.

Yuh, and take a look at those forums at CDFREAKS.COM because they have their own problems as well. Every manufacturer of dvd burners have quality control issues.

[pchan]

Time to shop for another drive. This time please consider Pioneer NEC, or LG.

Yuh, and take a look at those forums at CDFREAKS.COM because they have their own problems as well. Every manufacturer of dvd burners have quality control issues.

No offence budz. I have a DW822A, and it burned a ring on a Verbertim DVD-RW. My brother have a 1620(it was a bargian from PC Show). But it couldn't read the DVD-R from his Toshiba even with the latest firmware. So, he bought a LG burner and it read the DVD-R.

Learn my lesson, stick to DVD+ media at all time.

[draganong]

Learn my lesson, stick to DVD+ media at all time.

In my experience, I have found -R media to be more compatible. I have had 6 DVD burners (Pioneer, NEC, Toshiba) and always -R media was better as compatibility for burning and being read on various players, including some finicky portables that would not like +R media at all.

/dragan

[budz]

No offence budz. I have a DW822A, and it burned a ring on a Verbertim DVD-RW. My brother have a 1620(it was a bargian from PC Show). But it couldn't read the DVD-R from his Toshiba even with the latest firmware. So, he bought a LG burner and it read the DVD-R.

Learn my lesson, stick to DVD+ media at all time.

Most people know that BENQ burners favor DVD+R media than DVD-R. But with the BENQ 1640 it burns DVD-R media very well. I've never had problems with my 1620 and DVD-R media. DVD burning comes with my variables.