Looking for a first DVD burner.

[Bridge]

I'm looking to get my first DVD burner for a computer this year but I don't know which one to get being my first and all.

1) I have a really old computer so it's still in the mhz range. I have an old Plextor CD burner that I like so I only know about the Plextor CD burners. Nothing about computer DVD burners. I'm running a CD-ROM drive on the master and the CD burner on the slave but on different IDE cables. I would like to keep it that way. Thus, replacing my Plextor CD burner and putting in a DVD burner. So, I most likely would need something that can handle being used with a small mhz computer on the slave setting. Reason I say this is that I read that the Plextor DVD burners seem to need a lot of Gigahertz and be on the master settings.

2) Also, I need a burner that can read and rip a lot of different companies disks. I have DVDs, from a stand alone burner, from name brand to never heard of companies.

3) Also, I would like to find one that burns video with great output quality where the quality of the video looks great not just on a computer but on a stand alone set top DVD players on a standard TV.

So far, I guess I'm leaning towards a Plextor (because I know their CD burners), a Sony and a Pioneer. I only see Plextor and Sony at local stores. I never really see any of the other companies around. Unless it's some unknown company or a Lite On once in a while.

Any advice on what DVD burner I should get that can go a great job with the things I'm looking for?

[zoobie]

You're asking your old box to now handle heavy-duty video? Perhaps HD?

Min recommended speed these days is 1.5ghz
512mb ram

Not sure you're going to be happy with the results.

[Bridge]

Well, I was going to use it for data back up and maybe ripping video from my DVD set top recorder for backup storage or buring from +R/RW to - R/RW. I have some video in +R mode and some players that only takes -R. I have no way of converting it. I know it can do it because the Rom drive reads and rips only TDK disks now but my +R stuff is on disks of different companies like Merorex, Nexxtech, HP, etc. I don't really plan on recording live TV to the computer. I think it's way too slow for that.

[redwudz]

I've been happy with the Sony units I've bought lately. I have both a DVD ROM and a burner in one of my computers. Burning a DVD doesn't take so much computer power, but encoding and even transcoding like in Shrink does.

If you have sufficient memory, 256Mb, 512Mb preferred and enough extra drive space, at least 10GB, you should be OK. It will be slow, though. If you plan to do any encoding, plan to do it overnight. I did it for several years with a 400Mhz Celeron, then a 900Mhz Athlon CPU.

I'd start saving my pennies for a faster machine, though.

[Bridge]

So how much power would be needed to say rip a DVD +R video I did on my Lite on 5007 before it broke. Then take the ripped files and make a new video with the same material and burn it onto a DVD - R disk so that my older set top dvd player/burners can read them? I have a couple that can only read -R media.

Also, what about the other companies? Are Plextor, Pioneer or this BenQ company any better? Any more stable with older computers than other? Any really picky about what companies media it can read, rip and burn? Any company has better quality video output or are they all the same in all these cases?

Problem is, when I've been reading about them they all seem to have good points and bad points. I, personally, haven't read a lot about issues I'm looking at.

[budz]

how fast is your computer? as redwudz suggested start saving some pennies for a faster machine. you could get away with a Pentium III 933 but you'll probably only be able to burn at 12x spd.

The SONY 810A & PLEXTOR 740A are rebadged BENQ 1640 drives. You can flash those drives to the BENQ 1640 FIRMWARES but you'll probably lose your warranty. The SONY 810A can not overburn any dvd media but if you flash it to a true BENQ 1640 drive it's ok. In my opinion the BENQ 1640 drive is the best burner at this time. Their newest drive the DQ60 is on sale at Newegg.com for $41.99. The BENQ forum at Cdfreaks.com seems to be down at the moment but check the forum later for more info.

[ROF]

The NEC 3550a is a quiet, fast, multi-format dual layer burning drive that several people I've installed for have been happy with. I use a 3540a which isn't much different then this one. It's a great burner which you can find for around $40USD.

[Bridge]

The unit is old and slow. I only upgrade it when I need to -- bits and pieces wise. I've tried trial versions of some of the most high end software to the freeware stuff and up to this point it's done everything I've asked of it. Things that aren't suppose to even run on this thing runs. So, I spent more money on DVD set top burners than computers. This one is only a 533MHz Celeron unit. Although, It's running Win 98 and Win XP dual boot. 200 Gig hard drive with an extra 120 Gig drive off of a controller card. I can rip TDK disks with the ROM unit no problem (but just TDK -- not even Sony or Fuji.) I can see and change the VOB files into other things like AVI, MPEG 2, MPEG 4, Divx, WAV, etc. Once I can rip the disk there doesn't seem to be anything this old thing can't do. It just takes time. I can also handle high end video and photo rendering software. So, I'm thinking that it should (I guess) be able to handle a DVD burner as long as I do all the work on the hard drive and then just burn a final version onto disk.

So, I still don't know what to get but I'll look longer at the Sony 810A, BENQ 1640, and NEC 3550a. How about a Pioneer burner? Are they good too? Should I consider them as well?

I just saw not to long ago an NEC ND3550A burner on the cheap. Is that a good burner? I wouldn't have to spend a lot if it doesn't work.

[NiteLite]

Also with the BenQ 1640 the rip speed is not locked. So you dont have to find and flash a warranty voiding firmware. It comes with some software but I've found it writes excellent with -R Taiyo Yuden media and others claim the same with +R TY without installing it.
For the price I agree with budz.

[budz]

Why look at a SONY 810A? It's a rebadged BENQ 1640. In my opinion why pay more for a SONY 810A when you can get the BENQ 1640 for $40-$50. I got a HIVAL drive that is a rebadged BENQ 1640 for $30.00 after rebates. I just flashed it to the BENQ 1640 firmware and it works great. Read the forums at CDFREAKS.COM. You'll see that every manufacturer has their quality control problems. Benq has frequent firmware upgrades so that the drives will be able to write to newer dvd media that is released. Benq also has a software tool to tweak your burn settings with different dvd media. It's called "QSUITE".

I only have one PIONEER 107D drive which works well. I've seen how there are problems with some PIONEER 110 drives but as I mentioned already every manufacturer will have it's quality control problems. Just my 2 cents!

[ofbarea]

Also Lite-On SOHW-1693S is a solid option. Fast, Cheap, great quality burns, capable of burning copy protected discs, CD overburn, +DVD bit setting, DL, RPC I ...

[Bridge]

Are you saying that the Sony 810A puts a limit on it's rip speed?

Thanks ofbarea for your suggestion. I'll try to look that one up too.

[Bridge]

What's the difference between the Benq 1640 and the Benq 1620 Pro?

Is the 1640 newer because of the number or is the "Pro" part of the 1620 make that one newer and better?

I'm finding it easier to find the 1620 Pro on line for sale than the 1640 for some reason.

[budz]

What's the difference between the Benq 1640 and the Benq 1620 Pro?

Is the 1640 newer because of the number or is the "Pro" part of the 1620 make that one newer and better?

I'm finding it easier to find the 1620 Pro on line for sale than the 1640 for some reason.

The 1640 is getting harder to find because the newer model 1655 will be out soon. The 1640 is capable of using QSUITE 2.1 which is used to tweak the settings when you burn certain dvd media. The 1620 pro and regular 1620 there is no difference, both drives use same hardware but the regular 1620 is labeled as a OEM drive that had the "G" series firmware versus the 1620 had the "B" firmware. Both models are identical just the firmwares are different. You can flash the drive from the "G" firmware to the "B" firmware by using WinDWFlash and get the firmwares from this site:
http://dvdpro.club.st/firmware/BENQ_FW.htm

The 1640 is a great drive. If you can't find it online check COMPUSA under the HIVAL 16x burner because it's a rebadged BENQ 1640. I successfully flashed that drive to the official BENQ firmware BSMB. For more information check out the BENQ FORUM at CDFREAKS.COM and do a search.

[Bridge]

I can't seem to find any Benq 1640s around. Is the NEC ND-3550 just as good? I see that one for sale. What the best choice?

1) Get an NEC ND-3550.

2) Look for a Hival and some sort of software to flash the drive. Which I've never done before.

3) Wait until the new Benq drive comes out (which I don't know the model number and when it comes out.)

[budz]

I can't seem to find any Benq 1640s around. Is the NEC ND-3550 just as good? I see that one for sale. What the best choice?

1) Get an NEC ND-3550.

2) Look for a Hival and some sort of software to flash the drive. Which I've never done before.

3) Wait until the new Benq drive comes out (which I don't know the model number and when it comes out.)

You can get the HIVAL 16x drive and PM me I'll instruct you how to flash the drive to a BENQ 1640. It's easy to do.

Or you can wait until the BENQ 1650 drive is for sale which supposedly will be soon. How soon? I have no clue!!!! PM me if you wanna learn how to flash the HIVAL 16x drive from COMPUSA.

Lastly COMPUTERGATE.COM has the BENQ 1640 drive but it's grey face plate. http://www.computergate.com/products/item.cfm?prodcd=MWRB1640E@

[Bridge]

Thanks for the info and help.

I'll check out that site.

I don't want to bother anyone so I would try to find the info here first about flashing the drive if I get the Hival. Now if I can't find out how then maybe I'll talk to you about it.

[budz]

all you need to do is download the WinDWFlasher exe file then download the BSLB or BSMB cvt file which you can find in the BENQ FORUM site. The UNOFFICIAL BENQ FIRMWARE PAGE is now down which used to have the WinDWFlasher program and other BENQ FIRMWARES.

Computergate.com is a good site to purchase from they've been around for awhile.

[bokkasrealm]

Just go with the Pioneer 110. I cant say one bad thing about them except for speed. The writing has been flawless. My 105 has been through400 discs and still going strong.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827129164


Only $43.99!

[Super Warrior]

You're asking your old box to now handle heavy-duty video? Perhaps HD?

Min recommended speed these days is 1.5ghz
512mb ram

Not sure you're going to be happy with the results.

Minimum? No way. For DVD compressing&burning an super-fast pc is not required. Those are basic applications.

Although it would be nice to have a faster pc....

[Jester700]

Just a note: I ordered a DW1640 from computergate and I got a DQ60. For $8 more than I'd have paid at Newegg. I sent an RMA request; we'll see how that pans out. Maybe there are no more DW1640s.

[lordsmurf]

I would highly suggest a PIONEER 110 drive.

[Jester700]

Actually, I haven't had bad luck with any of my drives, and my current 2 are cheapos - an Optorite and a Lite-On, both 8x. Just wanted another for a big multi-copy party coming up (for CDs, but why buy a CD burner these days?)

So, the BenQ, the NEC, the Pioneer were all on the list - favorites from various places. Maybe the Pioneer...

[budz]

Just a note: I ordered a DW1640 from computergate and I got a DQ60. For $8 more than I'd have paid at Newegg. I sent an RMA request; we'll see how that pans out. Maybe there are no more DW1640s.

That's fucked up that they sent you a BENQ D60 drive without informing you first. The BENQ D60 is the drive they made for TEAC. It's a shitty drive according the thread at the BENQ FORUM. Get that refund and buy the HIVAL 16x dvd burner from COMPUSA which is a rebadged 1640. I'll help you crossflash the drive to the official BENQ FIRMWARE.

[Bridge]

I've got the same problem. I ordered the 1640, then I read lordsmurf's suggestion after it was on its way from computergate. I got it and it also turned out to be a DQ60 drive. Are those any good? Should I keep it? It says it reads RAM and I do have a Panasonic DVD set top recorder that reads and write RAM; or is the DQ60 REALLY bad and should go back right away for a Benq 1620, NEC 3550 or Pioneer 110?

[xxiangg]

I ordered a BenQ1640 following the link <DVD writer comments>->
<BenQ1640> -> <best price> last week. I got a writter the 2nd day,
but it was a DQ 60. So returned it. (Since then the dealer has already
removed its link from this website).

I bought a HiVAL 16X yesterday from CompUSA. I have already flashed
it to BenQ1640. But be aware of that someone also bought HiVAL
from CompUSA yesterday and it had a DQ60 inside.

[Bridge]

So, what's wrong with the DQ60? I see that it's a Teac drive really and that the chipset is different but why is it a bad drive? Does it cause tons of errors? Can't it read or rip dvds? Does video burnt on the burner look really bad on set top boxes? Why doesn't anyone like the DQ60? If it's o.k. I might keep it but if everybody hates it for some reason then I'll send it back and look for something else.

[OneSickPup]

Not sure there is anything necessarily wrong with the DQ60. Benq purists will never adopt it as it is not a Benq design. This rebadged Teac is rumored to be a Benq "stopgap drive" to give them a product to sell in the DVDRAM market (rather than develop their own). Somewhat of a niche market and based on their selection not too sure how serious they were!!! Check around cdfreaks.com and you will quickly see that Teac drives are not considered top performers - BUT; I have no real idea as I don't own one. I'm just stating what little I know from what I have read. The Benq 1620/1640/165x family of drives are well established top performers. I have a 1620 Pro that has been excellent with quality media. One of my favorite drives is a Pioneer DVR108. I like to try different drives and compare. I have a Liteon 1693s and an LG 4167B. All good drives with different strong suits. The Benq 1640 however is an excellent all around drive and would be an excellent 1st (or only) burner option. Good luck.

[Bridge]

Yeah, a lot of people are saying the 1640 but all the sellers are saying that they aren't available.

It's hard to find info on the DQ60 but from little I can gather a lot of people don't like it. Some say that the functions of the regular BenQ is not there, that there is a riplock on it, that there is no firmware updates, spikes during burning. I love the RAM feature but it sounds like this is drive is not to cool. Any great burners with DVD-RAM support? If not, I think I'll return this one and keep looking around and reading.

[OneSickPup]

If DVD RAM support is a big issue then that really falls into the LG domain. They probably support RAM better than any other optical maker IMO of course. Current model is the GSA 4167B. A very fast and excellent quality burner but it has several drawbacks that would not make it a good all around option. It is not a particularly good reader (meaning slow ripper). And it does not support PI/PO scanning, but it sure will burn fast and maintain great quality burns.

I can't really comment on NEC drives as that will be my next purchase at some point. I know I'm probably gonna take some grief here but I'm gonna go out on a limb and make a suggestion. Assuming you can't find a Benq 1640 (or any of it's rebadged variaties - the HiVal, Sony 810 or the Plextor 740???) and you can't wait till the release of the new Benq 1650/55 drives - then I would probably opt for the Liteon 1693s. Not necessarily the best at anything but does all things well. If you like to experiment with patched firmwares it can become one of the best burners out there. It's definitely worth a close look.