Movie Junkie Posted January 9, 2006 Posted January 9, 2006 I will be replacing one of my drives and I am thinking about purchasing the BenQ DW 1640. From what I have read about the drive it seems to be very good but I would like some input on, if you have the drive, what you think about it.
LIGHTNING UK! Posted January 9, 2006 Posted January 9, 2006 Nice drive, good + fast at scanning too. Might aswell get a 1655 though. They're hard to get in the UK (well, the 'Retail' model is) but newegg have them in the US. btw, you want the retail one
Movie Junkie Posted January 9, 2006 Author Posted January 9, 2006 (edited) Nice drive, good + fast at scanning too. Might aswell get a 1655 though. They're hard to get in the UK (well, the 'Retail' model is) but newegg have them in the US. btw, you want the retail one Thanks for the info. I did not know about the 1655. I just checked and I see that the 1655 has LightScribe. Are there any other differences? I will be purchasing the retail version. Edited January 9, 2006 by Movie Junkie
LIGHTNING UK! Posted January 9, 2006 Posted January 9, 2006 What other differences could there be?! Well you know, ones you could actually see I mean! Hardware is different, firmware is different but I'm not sure if there have been any speed improvements (that's the bit you would 'see'). I guess DVD+R DL might be faster, or DVD-R DL. Other than that, the 1640 was probably maxed out anyway! Burn quality in general is supposed to be better than the 1640 and previous models. Any glitches the 1640 had, have probably been ironed out.
lfcrule1972 Posted January 10, 2006 Posted January 10, 2006 I still can't find retail DW1655 here in the UK - honestly its as rare as rocking horse shit
digidragon Posted January 10, 2006 Posted January 10, 2006 Komplett.co.uk says they'll have the retail (black) version in stock on the 20th... http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=317132&cks=PRL
Movie Junkie Posted January 10, 2006 Author Posted January 10, 2006 What other differences could there be?! Well you know, ones you could actually see I mean! Hardware is different, firmware is different but I'm not sure if there have been any speed improvements (that's the bit you would 'see'). I guess DVD+R DL might be faster, or DVD-R DL. Other than that, the 1640 was probably maxed out anyway! Burn quality in general is supposed to be better than the 1640 and previous models. Any glitches the 1640 had, have probably been ironed out. Thanks again Lightning UK. I will be purchasing the 1655...except NOBODY HAS IT!! They don't have the 1640 either. (I am talking about the retail versions of each model.) I have been to NewEgg, CyberGuys, ZipZoomFly and a few others. I did find one place that claimed they had it but according to a post I read they are sending out the OEM versions. According to BenQ America they don't expect to get more drives until the middle of next month. What a bummer!
Movie Junkie Posted January 10, 2006 Author Posted January 10, 2006 I still can't find retail DW1655 here in the UK - honestly its as rare as rocking horse shit How much do you want?
lfcrule1972 Posted January 11, 2006 Posted January 11, 2006 Komplett.co.uk says they'll have the retail (black) version in stock on the 20th... http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=317132&cks=PRL Thanks digi but I e-mailed them to check it was the retail version otherwise the free discs aren't free cos they cost ?5 ! They mailed me back to say that too was the OEM version I still can't find retail DW1655 here in the UK - honestly its as rare as rocking horse shit How much do you want? Couple of bags should do the garden - thanks !! ha ha
chewy Posted January 11, 2006 Posted January 11, 2006 (edited) Why let a little thing like retail/oem stop you, B/G firmware? http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=...ssflashing+1640 http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=...ssflashing+1640 everybody should try at least one! there's a lot more 1640's out there than you know Edited January 11, 2006 by chewy
LIGHTNING UK! Posted January 11, 2006 Posted January 11, 2006 We were more concerned with 1655 OEM/Retail firmware. AFAIK, nobody has dumped the 1655's firmware or knows for sure if any 3rd party flashers work.
chewy Posted January 11, 2006 Posted January 11, 2006 agreed, but as the original poster said "I will be replacing one of my drives and I am thinking about purchasing the BenQ DW 1640." the 1650 won't be crossflashed to the 1655, because of ram liscensing fees and who knows what quickee's up to.
LIGHTNING UK! Posted January 11, 2006 Posted January 11, 2006 Agreed, original poster mentioned the 1640 initially, but after my 1st post, the thread moved over to the 1655. 'Movie Junkie' didn't know about the 1655 until I mentioned it. Anyway, it's clear you were just trying to be helpful and I'm sure we're both more than capable of reading/following the thread.
chewy Posted January 11, 2006 Posted January 11, 2006 (edited) http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/kl.asp?bn=10034 do they ship to the usa? Edited January 11, 2006 by chewy
chewy Posted January 11, 2006 Posted January 11, 2006 another advantage of the 1640 is it can be crossflashed now
Movie Junkie Posted January 11, 2006 Author Posted January 11, 2006 Komplett.co.uk says they'll have the retail (black) version in stock on the 20th... http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=317132&cks=PRL Thanks digi but I e-mailed them to check it was the retail version otherwise the free discs aren't free cos they cost ?5 ! They mailed me back to say that too was the OEM version I still can't find retail DW1655 here in the UK - honestly its as rare as rocking horse shit How much do you want? Couple of bags should do the garden - thanks !! ha ha It's on the way to you. In case you are wondering where I got it, there is always a BIGsupply in Washington, DC...especally at the White House!
Grain Posted January 11, 2006 Posted January 11, 2006 Noticed in the Qtools that came w/ the 1655 that you can change the booktype of any +r/rw/dl media, even to dvd-r if you so wish, although that option may have been possible on older Benq's too. Any advantage/disadvantage to that over changing it to dvd-rom?
digidragon Posted January 11, 2006 Posted January 11, 2006 (edited) Thanks digi but I e-mailed them to check it was the retail version otherwise the free discs aren't free cos they cost ?5 ! They mailed me back to say that too was the OEM version Oh well, at least they're honest... I'd assumed it was a retail as it didn't say OEM, as their other OEM drives did. I'll keep me eyes peeled and let you know. BTW, I've got a BenQ and it's been great. Even better than my previous Lite-on... EDIT: Hang on a sec... This is the the one that's in stock: http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=316659&cks=PRL And this is the one that isn't yet (which I posted about): http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=317132&cks=PRL The in-stock one says OEM, but the out-of-stock one doesn't. So, are they BOTH OEM then...? Edited January 11, 2006 by digidragon
lfcrule1972 Posted January 11, 2006 Posted January 11, 2006 Yeah apparently they are both OEM's, I had two mails to confirm it at work, which I copied to LUK! You never know when they come in they might be Retail just the person on the helpdesk didn't know
lfcrule1972 Posted January 11, 2006 Posted January 11, 2006 I queried it cos the one coming in has free lightscribe CD-Rs that actually cost you money - hardly free
zacoz Posted January 14, 2006 Posted January 14, 2006 Anyone seen the BenQ DW1655 available in Oz ? I gather the difference between Retail & OEM (apart from the pretty box) is some free media ?
Grain Posted January 14, 2006 Posted January 14, 2006 In Canada the "free media" is 1 free lightscribe cdr. Big fuckin' deal. The difference's I've noticed is that the Qtools has 8 tabs w/ options over the oems 4 tabs, they have different firmware, and the retail is 2.5X as expensive as the oem. It can't burn TYG02's for shit either, real ugly scan, shows their write speed as 2.4x, 4x, 8x, whereas my Plex & Nec both show 4x, 8x, 12x, 16x. I suspect this will be corrected with a firmware update.
lfcrule1972 Posted January 14, 2006 Posted January 14, 2006 @digi - Turns out that Komplett got it wrong, the more expensive DW1655 is the retail one I kept pushing them to clarify and eventually I noticed that the manf. prod id is for the retail model ! The included progs have more options in them than the OEM as Grain pointed out......
lfcrule1972 Posted January 14, 2006 Posted January 14, 2006 I am just going to get the retail DW1655.....
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now