BENQ DW1640 Media -- (Newbie) _Tell me what to buy_

Blank Media
#1

Hi, all you very obsessive people (which I like), but absorbing all of this, even after trying for several days and weeks is just confusing the issue. The last time I had to make media decisions was a long time ago, when using plain old blank CD’s, to archive MP3’s and the like to, and Taiyo Yuden made the choice easy enough not to get a headache looking over various forums.

I’m an owner of a Benq DW1640, and an unknown rebadged ‘generic’ Benq, I believe it’s a Benq/Sony that is really a DW1655 (fuzzy memory - this research was done a long time ago), I don’t really use it – EAC what I primarily am using to burn things with (lossless audio), notices little if no difference in either. I read somewhere, that I can reflash (now?) the generic, but this is getting off topic.

I need:

  1. blank CD media for long time archival and to also serve dual purpose to occasionally pass files to friends
  2. blank DVD media for long-term archival of single movies or several compressed movies
  3. blank DL media (or whatever you call what this Benq model prefers) for long term archival, due to rapidly running out hard drive space

If someone could be so helpful as to telling me, regardless of price, what would be the best to purchase, and if possible a direct link to supermediastore or wherever you prefer to purchase from (I am from the USA), I would love you and that.

Reiterating:

  1. a spindle or two of 100 blank CD’s - several year old Taiyo Yuden 48x has worked well, but now I’m out; so without advice I will purchase those again.
  2. blank DVD media, no reason to tell me the why of +D or -D, just tell me, and let me research the reason later. A single spindle of 100. Without advice, the best I can gather from grokking the forums is DVD+R …something… heh. Pointer, please.
  3. high quality DL DVD media, speed quality doesn’t matter as much, as these are meant for long term archival. Clueless, I can’t find much help on the forums in a useful definitive statement.

Any help?!
Thank you anyone for your time and any effort put into replying to this post. It is very appreciated.

#2

The person I bought my 1640 from always used MCC004 (16x +R - usually sold under the Verbatim brand, but the Infiniti ones are also excellent).

If you can find any, YUDEN000 T02 (8x +R) works very nicely on most drives also.

If you tell us your location, we can advise you on the best places to find discs with these MIDs :slight_smile: Edit: I see you’re from the US - www.rima.com :wink:

Blank CD media - either TY or Verbatim :slight_smile:

As for DL media, there’s only one way to go - yes, you guessed it, Verbatim.

DrageMester has a 1655, so hopefully he can add to (or disagree with :bigsmile: ) my personal opinions :slight_smile:

#3

pleco, if you live in the U.S., here’s a sweet deal after rebate from another good online retailer, NewEgg. They have the MCC004 100-pk for $28.99 with $14 rebate (people say they always get the rebates back from NewEgg). Keep in mind the shipping inside the U.S. may be about $6.41. This would be a cheaper way to go, and probably snag you a good quantity of media to start with. :wink:

#4

For CD media go Taiyo Yuden. Verbatim is a mixed bag, only get the DataLifePlus Made in China or Made in Taiwan, not the normal ones with phthalocyanine dye made by Ritek/Daxon/CMC/Prodisc/MBI.
I’ve had too many bad experiences with Moser Baer CD-R, I personally dislike Made in India media.

CMC DL media seems to be okay too, but it is not widely available.

#5

CD-R: TY (link). Alternative: Ritek.

DVD+R: TY 8x (YUDEN000T02) 2x 50pack or 1x 100pack. Or Verbatim 16x (pick up at BestBuy whenever they are onsale for 17.99/50 pack).

DVD+R DL: Verbatim 8x (MKM003) (link). Alternative: Verbatim 2.4x (MKM001).

#6

My BenQ 1655 likes a lot of media, but since [B]plecosaur[/B] seems to want only the best media, I don’t think I have anything to add to what you and others have recommended. :slight_smile:

I will only say that I don’t share [B]kg_evilboy[/B]'s dislike of Made in India media. They can be anything from excellent to poor, and so can media made in other places - even Taiyo Yuden media Made in Japan.

#7

One thing: the 1640 will burn the MCC004, but in all the scans I saw, it does best burning the MCC004 at 12x. :wink: