Summer 2005 16x DVDR Roundup

daRk_heLmet · Jul 12, 2005, 05:02 PM

What makes a DVDR drive perfect? Well, for one, it has to be able to write to just about any media that we throw at it and then read it back without a hitch. A perfect write should have no PI/PO(DVDR) or C1/C2(CDR) errors on it when read back with PlexTools.

So, what makes a DVDR drive acceptable, a great deal, better than the rest? The ideal, best drive out of a group should be able to write to high quality media without any problems, and should be able to read back a disc to which it wrote in the first place. It should have no problems reading a disc unless it reports a successful write incorrectly. This is what we saw in our benchmarks today. There were a few drives like the Toshiba SD-R5372 and LG GSA-4163B that could write a disc "successfully", but not read it back with its own laser.

Half of these drives failed to even see Ritek brand RW media, which cannot be caused by a bad batch of media. Sony's DRU-720A wrote to them perfectly, but even its disc had a good number of PI errors. We were really dissapointed in the NEC ND-3540A's performance when compared to drives like the BenQ DW1640, but hopefully their performance will improve as their BIOS matures.

The only drive we saw that could write to the majority of discs and quickly at that was BenQ's DW1640. It had average performance on most of the benchmarks. but always had a successful read to go with the successful write. The only disc that it could not write to was the MKM A03 8x DVD+RW.

Besides that single issue, the DW1640 has features to aid in successful writes, as well as bitsetting features to allow greater compatibility of the media to which it writes. The bitsetting utility can be downloaded from BenQ's website. Over these 6 DVDR units, we recommend the BenQ DW1640 for its performance and reliability in writing to various types of media. Expect this drive to start showing up on retail store shelves very soon.
__________________________
Read More/Source: Anandtech

Necrosis · Jul 12, 2005, 05:27 PM

If you can't wait pick up the Plextor 740a.

mike2h · Jul 12, 2005, 05:56 PM

or spend a little more & get a better drive - the 716a

Necrosis · Jul 12, 2005, 06:02 PM

..and slower

mike2h · Jul 12, 2005, 06:05 PM

in what way?

Necrosis · Jul 12, 2005, 06:06 PM

Just looked it up to be sure, DL.

Necrosis · Jul 12, 2005, 06:07 PM

Plus you can switch back, and fourth between firmwares for each. 1640/740a.

Interesting little blurb about differences.

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=141972

Hmm..but the retail 740a comes /w Plex software.

mike2h · Jul 12, 2005, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necrosis

Just looked it up to be sure, DL.

the 740 does +dl at 8x & -dl at 4x. the 716a does +dl at 6x & -dl at 6x.
looks like a wash to me. & given that the 716 has an 8 mb buffer vs your 2mb buffer. & more features/enhancements....
of course easily available & cost effective blank media does not support these dl speeds yet so it is a moot point')

Quote:

Plus you can switch back, and fourth between firmwares for each. 1640/740a.

this i seriously doubt. the 740 has phillips chipset while the 716 has sanyo chipset. they have very different sized buffers & feature sets.

do not get me wrong, i think that is a kickbutt drive for the $$. & plextor needs to be competing in that price range. but for me, the extra $20 is well spent. jmo.

mike2h · Jul 12, 2005, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necrosis

Plus you can switch back, and fourth between firmwares for each. 1640/740a.

Interesting little blurb about differences.

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=141972

Hmm..but the retail 740a comes /w Plex software.

i actually like your software pkg better. mine did not have nero(i sent many emails to plex about that change to roxio.)
plextools is one of the best/cleanest AE tools out there. the vers you have just will not give you access to some of the plextor specific enhancements.

Necrosis · Jul 13, 2005, 12:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike2h

the 740 does +dl at 8x & -dl at 4x. the 716a does +dl at 6x & -dl at 6x.
looks like a wash to me. & given that the 716 has an 8 mb buffer vs your 2mb buffer. & more features/enhancements....
of course easily available & cost effective blank media does not support these dl speeds yet so it is a moot point')

this i seriously doubt. the 740 has phillips chipset while the 716 has sanyo chipset. they have very different sized buffers & feature sets.

do not get me wrong, i think that is a kickbutt drive for the $$. & plextor needs to be competing in that price range. but for me, the extra $20 is well spent. jmo.

I mean between the 740 and the 1640. So far the drive is working great though, and has burnt Verbatim 2.4x DL @ DL. It's really a great drive. You already have a great drive so there is no point, but really why pay for me something that maybe just a little bit better. Plus the 716 is just about as good as it ever will be, while the 1640/740 are just coming out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike2h

i actually like your software pkg better. mine did not have nero(i sent many emails to plex about that change to roxio.)
plextools is one of the best/cleanest AE tools out there. the vers you have just will not give you access to some of the plextor specific enhancements.

Another copy of Nero...oh well. I never could understand why they choose Roxio?

Jul 12, 2005, 05:02 PM	#1
daRk_heLmet Keep firing, assholes! Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Death Star Posts: 1,072 Rep Power: 0	Summer 2005 16x DVDR Roundup What makes a DVDR drive perfect? Well, for one, it has to be able to write to just about any media that we throw at it and then read it back without a hitch. A perfect write should have no PI/PO(DVDR) or C1/C2(CDR) errors on it when read back with PlexTools. So, what makes a DVDR drive acceptable, a great deal, better than the rest? The ideal, best drive out of a group should be able to write to high quality media without any problems, and should be able to read back a disc to which it wrote in the first place. It should have no problems reading a disc unless it reports a successful write incorrectly. This is what we saw in our benchmarks today. There were a few drives like the Toshiba SD-R5372 and LG GSA-4163B that could write a disc "successfully", but not read it back with its own laser. Half of these drives failed to even see Ritek brand RW media, which cannot be caused by a bad batch of media. Sony's DRU-720A wrote to them perfectly, but even its disc had a good number of PI errors. We were really dissapointed in the NEC ND-3540A's performance when compared to drives like the BenQ DW1640, but hopefully their performance will improve as their BIOS matures. The only drive we saw that could write to the majority of discs and quickly at that was BenQ's DW1640. It had average performance on most of the benchmarks. but always had a successful read to go with the successful write. The only disc that it could not write to was the MKM A03 8x DVD+RW. Besides that single issue, the DW1640 has features to aid in successful writes, as well as bitsetting features to allow greater compatibility of the media to which it writes. The bitsetting utility can be downloaded from BenQ's website. Over these 6 DVDR units, we recommend the BenQ DW1640 for its performance and reliability in writing to various types of media. Expect this drive to start showing up on retail store shelves very soon. __________________________ Read More/Source: Anandtech __________________ [color=white]My Blog[/color]

Jul 12, 2005, 05:56 PM	#3
mike2h DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: norcal Posts: 6,483 Rep Power: 91 System Specs	or spend a little more & get a better drive - the 716a __________________

Jul 12, 2005, 06:05 PM	#5
mike2h DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: norcal Posts: 6,483 Rep Power: 91 System Specs	in what way? __________________

Jul 12, 2005, 06:07 PM	#7
Necrosis HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 8,838 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	Plus you can switch back, and fourth between firmwares for each. 1640/740a. Interesting little blurb about differences. http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=141972 Hmm..but the retail 740a comes /w Plex software. Last edited by Necrosis; Jul 12, 2005 at 06:14 PM.

Jul 12, 2005, 05:27 PM	#2
Necrosis HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 8,838 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	If you can't wait pick up the Plextor 740a.

Jul 12, 2005, 06:02 PM	#4
Necrosis HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 8,838 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	..and slower

Jul 12, 2005, 06:06 PM	#6
Necrosis HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 8,838 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	Just looked it up to be sure, DL.