BenQ DW1670 DVD Burner Preview

February 26, 2006

Preview: BenQ DW1670
Reviewed by: Wesley Novack
Provided by: BenQ Taiwan
Firmware: 004
Manufactured: December 2005

In this article we take a look at the latest DVD Writer from BenQ, the DW1670. We took this early sample through a barrage of tests in order to create this preview. Thanks to BenQ Taiwan for providing this Engineering sample.

The BenQ DW1670 supports 5x DVD-RAM, 16x DVD±R, 8x/6x DVD+RW/DVD-RW. The drive also supports 8x/6x DVD+R DL/DVD-R DL writing technology, allowing Double/Dual Layer discs of 8.5Gb to be written.

Company Information:

We took a quick look at the company information found at the BenQ Europe website:

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:

Here are the preliminary specifications.

⋅ DRIVE TYPE: Internal DVD Multi DVD/CD Recorder

⋅ MEDIA & MODES SUPPORTED: DVD-R/-R DL/-RW, DVD+R/DVD+R DL/+RW, DVD-RAM: DVD-ROM, DVD-Video
CD: CD-DA, CD-ROM (XA), CD Extra, Video CD, Photo CD, CD Text, multi-session

⋅ READ/WRITE SPEED:

o Write (DVD-R) 4X CLV, 8X P-CAV, 16X CAV max.

o Write (DVD-R DL) 2X, 4X max.

o Write (DVD-RW) 2X, 4X, 6X CLV max.

o Write (DVD+R) 2.4X, 4X, 6X CLV, 8X ~ 12X P-CAV max., 16X CAV max.

o Write (DVD+R DL) 2.4X, 4X, 6X CLV, 8X Z-CLV max.

o Write (DVD+RW) 2.4X, 4X, 6X CLV, 8X Z-CLV max.

o Write (DVD-RAM) 5x CLV max

o Write (CD-R) 8X ~16X CLV, 32X P-CAV, 40X ~ 48X CAV max

o Write (CD-RW) 4X ~ 10X CLV,24X ~ 32X CAV max.

o Read (DVD-ROM) 16X max.

o Read (CD-ROM) 48X max.

⋅ SUSTAINED DATA TRASFER RATE: 21 MB/s max. (16X DVD-ROM)

⋅ AVERAGE ACCESS TIME: 130 ms (DVD 16X) 135 ms (CD 48X)

⋅ INTERFACE: EIDE (ATAPI)

⋅ BURST TRANSFER RATE: 33.3 MB/s Ultra DMA33 Mode 2

⋅ BUFFER MEMORY: 2MB

⋅ POWER CONSUMPTION : +5V 1.6A max., +12V 1.4A max.

⋅ DIMENSIONS (WxHxD): 5.75 X 1.63 X 7.0 inches

⋅ WEIGHT: 2lbs.

What's inside the box?

The drive we received is an Engineering sample and came shipped in a plain white box.

Let's take a look at the drive surfaces.

Bezel

The drive bezel has a simple look with the emergency eject hole centered underneath the tray, a single green colored LED light and a rectangular eject button. The retail version of this drive should have a much nicer looking design.

Top

Sticker

On the top of the drive we found one sticker. We can read that the drive was manufactured in China, December 2005.

Left Side

Right Side

We can see that this drive uses BenQ's distinctive dual cooling system (DCS).

Bottom

As stated earlier, this unit is an early Engineer Sample. The sticker on the bottom of the drive reminds us of this.

Rear

On the rear of the drive starting from the left we can see a digital audio connector, analog audio connector, jumper and pins for cable select, slave, or master, an IDE connector, and finally the power connector.

Internals