New BenQ -- A bizarre TS answer...

[Pain_Man]

I rec'd the BenQ DW 1655 yesterday (paid for two day, got overnight, not surprisingly since the company's less than 400 miles from here).

 

Down to brass tacks:

 

There are two issues.

 

It will burn Verbatim + R DLs at only 2.4x. Should be 8x. (To dlbchk IB, I popped a blank in and opened Nero to see if perhaps it was something with IB, nope, 2.4x is all it'll give me).

 

I called their tech support line and got somebody who was not technically proficient.

 

She asked me to look at the burning surface of a (Verbatim) +R DL. "Is it bluish-purplish?" Of course it is. "According to our techs," she tells me, "these disk don't work very well with BenQ drives. Use [DLs] with silver or gold backs."

 

Is there even such an animal? I checked the back of the Ritek DLs I have and the color's virutally indistinguishable from the Verbatim's color.

 

Have I managed to get another malfunctioning burner?

 

I've swapped out four burners in two weeks, two of them bad. This is getting irritating. I considered whether there might be a problem with the Controller, but I don't think so. The Pioneer 110D is running just fine--burning DLs at 8x--and it's on the same channel. And the Memorex True-8 (Pioneer 107) ran just fine as Master drive on this channel and on the exact same cable (80-wire, 40pin).

 

Does the QSuite need to be working in order to burn DLs at top speed?

 

Second issue

 

The "Qsuite" software won't launch. It appeared to install normally (nothing in the Event Viewer, but that doesn't mean much, does it?). When I click the shortcut--or the exe directly--I get a warning window, the usual "use this at your own risk" crap. When I click okay, that window goes away, but the software will not launch.

 

I don't know if the problem with Qsuite sftw is affecting the drive's performance or not.

_____________________________________________________

 

Anyone else have problems with DLs burning at only 2.4x?

 

Anyone else unable to launch the Qsuite software?

 

All help appreciated! Otherwise I guess I'll be send my third burner back in ten days!

[chewy]

what's the firmware on the benq?

[Grain]

Unfortunately that's the norm with the 1655 and Verb +R DL's, the only speed you can burn them at is 2.4X, unless you buy there newer 8X rated media. I know its shit, burned one of the MKM-001-00(2.4X Verb +DL's) at 8X last night to check out my Pioneer. It worked, not as nice as 6X with a Plex 716 though. So, BenQ MAY change that with a firmware, but not necessarily, the color bit the IT help desk told you about was shite.

[Pain_Man]

Unfortunately that's the norm with the 1655 and Verb +R DL's, the only speed you can burn them at is 2.4X, unless you buy there newer 8X rated media. I know its shit, burned one of the MKM-001-00(2.4X Verb +DL's) at 8X last night to check out my Pioneer. It worked, not as nice as 6X with a Plex 716 though. So, BenQ MAY change that with a firmware, but not necessarily, the color bit the IT help desk told you about was shite.

 

 

thanks, amigo.

 

I knew the "color" thing was crap. I've done TS myself so I know the smell of shite myself.

 

I have both 6x & 8x Verbatim DLs (even the - R DLs I have burn @8x in the Pioneer). I just checked both in the BenQ. Even the 8x still shows a max--the only--speed as 2.4x.

 

Hopefully, the next FW update will allow me to burn DLs at least at 6x.

 

The Pioneer plays very nicely with the Verbatims, so its not like I'm stuck with only 2.4x speed for them. Interesting that you should say that about the Plex 716A. It was the one I've replaced. It died last month (suddenly decided it only wanted to be a ROM instead of a burner ). The Pioneer 110D actually burns the DLs slightly faster than the 716A--if not as smoothly looking at the graphs.

 

I only wish I'd known about the 111D before I bought the 110D. That's what I get for shopping at BestBuy. I got screwed on the price by about $20US and I didn't get the newest version. But I don't really now how I could have told. The box labels the 110D as a "R100." Only when I checked it with DVDInfoPro, VSO Inspector, et al, did I find out that I had 110D. In a like way I discovered that my old Memorex True-8 was actually a rebadged Pioneer 107. This is the third Pioneer I've had (the VAIO came with a 106) and they've all been solid.

 

The other thing is the Qsuite software. Am I losing any capabilities because it won't work? The girl "womanning" the TS line didn't know. I would hope not. I would hope the media speeds would be determined by FW and not an application (a la AUTOSTRATEGY with Plextor).

 

Christ, I wish the Plextor 760 had just burned DLs without a problem! Then I'd be a happy camper. Instead of a dissatisfied one.

 

I've got a few days, the weekend, to decide whether to send back this BenQ for another brand. But what brand? Just skip the bells and whistles and go with the NEC 3550A? Maybe.

 

Basically, I wish the 716A was still working. Then I'd have it and the Pioneer 110D and be burning away happily.

[Pain_Man]

what's the firmware on the benq?

 

 

DVDInfoPro and DVD Identifier both say BCDB.

 

I'm wondering how I update this? Looking on the website, there's no specific listing for the 1655, just the 1620. The girl on the TS line directed me to the 1620's media list. Not helpful as it was clearly out of date for the 1655.

 

I looked around quite a bit for a FW update but couldn't find one.

 

If someone's got a newer one than BCDB, I'd love to know where you got or to get it from you. (Perhaps there's a third party website where they're posted?)

 

BTW, whatever happened to Tarrful?

Edited April 15, 2006 by Pain_Man

[chewy]

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showpost.php?p=1374564&postcount=33

 

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=175852

 

flashed my 1650 a week ago

[dbminter]

Christ... silver/gold backs only apply to DVD-9 pressed discs! Sounds like the "tech" doesn't the know the difference between a DVD+R DL and a pressed DVD-9.

[Pain_Man]

Christ... silver/gold backs only apply to DVD-9 pressed discs! Sounds like the "tech" doesn't the know the difference between a DVD+R DL and a pressed DVD-9.

 

 

 

She wasn't a tech. In fact she said, "Our techs tell us..."

 

Jesus.

[Pain_Man]

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showpost.php?p=1374564&postcount=33

 

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=175852

 

flashed my 1650 a week ago

 

 

Danke.

 

I'll check it out.

[Pain_Man]

Christ... silver/gold backs only apply to DVD-9 pressed discs! Sounds like the "tech" doesn't the know the difference between a DVD+R DL and a pressed DVD-9.

 

 

she was nice for a girl with name like a facial cream--Niva. But giggly. Giggly's not really a prime quality I'm looking for in an L1 TSR. (Maybe if I'm flirting...)

 

The drive works tits. The Verbatim it burned at 2.4x works/looks great. In fact, to top it off, it was a screw up. I had intended to copy Aunt Narni's funeral and instead copied Uncle Jean Luc's 98th birthday. Ain't that a bitch? I was in a hurry and forgot that IB likes to default to the last image burnt. There's a $2 mistake. Good thing Uncle Jean Luc's almost completely deaf and can only remember French (he was a Captain in the French Marines in WWI).

 

I also burned a Johnny Mercer album to a CDRW (approx 100MB of MP3s) and it came out perfectly, on a CDRW that's been used many, many times.

 

It burns my 6x -RWs excellently.

 

Since I'm going to buy a new PC in August, I'm going to keep the BenQ. Aside from the slow burning speed of DLs (and since the Pioneer more than makes up for that--and you really wouldn't want to burn two DLs simultaneously outside a RAID would you?), it's a solid drive. Plus, I'm tired of screwing with optical drives, messing with the VAIO case--a pain in the tuchus--having to ship things back, catch the UPS girl to refuse deliveries. Hell I still have to ship the defective Plex back to Plextor's online vendor.

 

Hopefully, by August, Plextor will have worked out the bugs in the 760 and I'll be buying a 760SA.

 

Maybe by August there'll be burners that can handle the DL RWs that DVDInfoPro has a listing for. That'd be nice.

[chewy]

so far my benq 1650 doesn't seem to overspeed any burn, very conservative firmware

[Pain_Man]

so far my benq 1650 doesn't seem to overspeed any burn, very conservative firmware

 

 

It'll burn 8x Yuden000T02's at 12x. (The Plextor 716A would burn them @16x.)

 

The only other 8x'ers I have are Sonys and it will only burn them at 8x (the Pioneer 110D burns them at 12x).

 

According to the information on their website the "Solid State" technology is supposed to function like Plextor's AUTOSTRATEGY and figure out the best burning speed for media not already in the FW to burn at speed y.

 

However, if this is a function of the Qsuite software, then I'm SOL because it won't work.

 

Oh well. I'm tired of screwing with it. As long as I get my card credited with the refunds from Plextor's online vendor, I'll be happy. Messing with DVD burners wore me out.

 

Like I said, I'm just going to wait until I buy a new machine in Q4 of this year and then buy another Plextor. But I'll probably always have a Pioneer in one of the slots. They are extremely reliable (KOW).

[lfcrule1972]

I haven't done it myself but in QSuite you can turn off WOPC or SOLID BURN (I think its that) and the drive will then burn media faster than the rated speeds.

 

Pain_Man obviously you can't see that if your QSuite isn't playing ball but I remember when I first installed the drive and was exploring there was the option to burn discs faster (by disabling the function above) if you are sure the media quality is ok......

[Pain_Man]

I haven't done it myself but in QSuite you can turn off WOPC or SOLID BURN (I think its that) and the drive will then burn media faster than the rated speeds.

 

Pain_Man obviously you can't see that if your QSuite isn't playing ball but I remember when I first installed the drive and was exploring there was the option to burn discs faster (by disabling the function above) if you are sure the media quality is ok......

 

 

I just wish someone would pop in with a post and say,

 

 

"Hey Pain_Man do you have XYZ installed? I did too and that's what keeps Qsuite from launching."

 

So far, no luck.

 

Besides, benefitting from your wisdom and from Grain, I've decided that burning slower produces better results. The scans seem to be bearing that out. Watching the videos, on the other hand, I can't see any difference between video burned at 16 and that burned at 8.

 

The big difference, which I just watched yersterday was between media. I burned a copy of Uncle Jean Luc's 8th birthday onto a TY 16x (it had been on a CMC 4x) and the difference in video quality was quite striking.

 

Ahh, Uncle Jean Luc, how we miss him so.