BenQ DW1625 Lightscribe DVD-Writer.

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It has been a while since the last time we looked at a BenQ drive. The drive they sent us was their LightScribe capable drive; the BenQ DW1625A. This drive supports both DVD-R and DVD+R as well as the new LightScribe standard.

Some BenQ history:

We took a quick look at the company information found at BenQ Europe¡¦s web pages:

The BenQ Group, formerly known as Acer Communications & Multimedia Group, is a global operation, employing over 14,760 people worldwide and with an annual turnover (2003) of US$ 3.6 billion. Its expertise encompasses: Communications, Imaging, Display technology, Digital media and Electro-optics products. As home, office, and entertainment merge with each other, BenQ will use these competencies to create networked digital lifestyle devices that will increasingly become part of our world.

BenQ is in a unique position to serve this newly emerging world. It owns more than 1,382 global patents. In addition to this, R&D is carried out in the Hsinchu Lab in Taiwan, the Suzhou Software Development Center in China, and the Wireless Technology Center in San Diego, USA. BenQ currently employs some 2,000 R&D specialists worldwide. It spends about 4% of its income on R&D.

For production, BenQ has facilities in Malaysia, Mexico, China, and Taiwan. BenQ Suzhou is the flagship facility covering 600,000 sq. meters and employing over 6,000 people. Today that centre boasts an annual output capacity of 4 million colour monitors, 8 million keyboards, and 4 million scanners.

As you could see it¡¦s a large company with long history. But it¡¦s time to look at the specifications of the drive.

Drive specifications:

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These are the specifications of this drive, found at the BenQ Global webpage:

Model	DW1625
Performance	[DVD+R DL] Data Transfer / double layer write: 26.59 Mbit (2.4x) [DVD+R/+RW] Data Transfer Rate /write: 177.28 Mbit/sec (16X) Data Transfer Rate /rewrite: 44.32 Mbit/sec (4X) * DVD+R LightScribe available @ 1x with LightScribe discs. [DVD-R/-RW] Data Transfer Rate /rewrite: 88.64 Mbit/sec (8X) Data Transfer Rate /rewrite: 44.32 Mbit/sec (4X) [DVD ROM] Data Transfer Rate /read: 177.28 Mbit/sec (16X, Max.) Access time: 120 ms [CD] Data Transfer Rate /write: 6000 KByte/sec (40X) Data Transfer Rate /rewrite: 3600 KByte/sec (24X) Data Transfer Rate /read: 6000 KByte/sec (40X, Max.) * CDR LightScribe available @ 1x with LightScribe discs. Access time: 120 ms
Interface	E-IDE/ATAPI
Supported IDE Mode	PIO mode 0/1/2/3/4 DMA mode 0/1/2 UDMA mode 0/1/2
Buffer Size	2MB
Firmware Upgrade	Flash memory upgradable
Writing Mode	[DVD] DVD Data and Video [CD] Track-at-Once, Disc-at-Once, Multisession, Packet Writing (fixed & variable packet), CD Digital Audio, Direct-Over-Write on CD-RW, Test Write
Disc Size	[DVD] 120 mm disc [CD] 80 and 120 mm discs
Disc Formats	[DVD] DVD+R DL 8.5GB, DVD Video, DVD-5, DVD-9, DVD-10, DVD-18, DVD+RW 4.7GB (Closed Session), DVD+R 4.7GB, LightScribe DVD+R, DVD-RW 4.7GB (Closed Session), DVD-R 4.7GB     [CD] CD-DA, CD-ROM XA (m1, m2f1/m2f2), CD-R, LightScribe CD-R, CD-RW, Bootable CD, Photo CD (Single &  Multi-session), Video CD, Super Video CD, CD-Extra, Mixed-mode CD, CD-Text
Power Requirement	+5V Â¡é“ 5%, ripple: 100mVpp +12V Â¡é“ 10%, ripple: 200mVpp
Environment Conditions	Operating temperature: 5¢XC~50¢XC at humidity of 8~80% RH Non-operating temperature: -40¢XC~60¢XC at humidity: 5%~95% RH
Reliability Characteristics	MTBF: 125,000 POH (20%) Non-recoverable read error < 1 block in 1012 bits (CD and DVD)
Physical Characteristics	Dimension: 146 X 42 X 198 mm (W x H x D) Weight: 1.0 Kg
OS Compatibility	Windows XP / 2000 / ME / 98SE * QVideo and QSuite are supported by Windows XP and 2000 only.
Minimum System Requirement	¡E IBM PC compatible ¡E Pentium III 550MHz CPU ¡E 128MB RAM ¡E 100MB free HDD space for CD/DVD recording related software installation ¡E 1GB free HDD space for CD image recording (10GB for DVD authoring) is recommended.

Not the best specifications with only 8x DVD-R and 2.4x DVD+R double layer. Also; CD-Writing and reading is limited to 40x.

What's inside the box?

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The drive we received was a pre-release drive that came in a white box. The bundle is not complete either. But this is what we got:

Yes, we only got the installation CD and the drive.

We also got a LightScribe CD-R and Lightscribe DVD+R for use in this review.

Now it¡¦s time to take a look at the drive itself:

 

Nothing new under the sun here, it uses the same front as the DW1620.

 

Our sample was produced in China and has a production date of February 2005.

 

Still no changes on the back either; from the left: digital audio connector; analogue audio connector; pins and jumper to set the drive to cable select, slave or master; IDE connector and finally the power connector.

Now, let us connect the drive and check out the features and program bundle of this drive on the next page¡K

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