First look: BenQ DW1640 DVD Burner

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Preview:
BenQ
DW1640
Previewed by: Jan70
Provided by:
CDFreaks
Firmware: BSDB &
BSGB
Manufactured: March
2005

We at
CDFreaks would like to present an exclusive 1^st look at the latest
drive from BenQ the DW1640. At the time this article was written, the BenQ
DW1640 was available for sale in Germany '“ meaning we got hold of one before the
official launch.

The BenQ DW1640
supports 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x
DVD-RW and
8x DVD+R9 DL writing technology, allowing dual layer
discs of 8.5Gb to be written. So far this is the worlds
first DVD-burner to support the DVD+R9 DL format at 8x.

Company
information:

BenQ is an
industry leader in networked digital lifestyle devices with an expertise that
encompasses display, storage, imaging, wireless and broadband areas. BenQ has
manufacturing plants in Malaysia, Mexico, China and Taiwan. The company has over
13,895 employees worldwide, supporting a strong global sales marketing and
service network spanning Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Americas.

BenQ has
research and development facilities in Taiwan (Hsinchu Lab), China (Suzhou
Software Development Center) and California, USA (Wireless Technology Center),
and has more than 2000 research and development employees in Suzhou, Taipei,
Taoyuan, Hsinchu and San Diego. BenQ has amassed 2,162 global patents. 2004
revenues exceeded US$5 billion dollars.

Drive specifications:

Taken from -
www.BenQ.com

Performance	[DVD+R DL] Data Transfer Rate /double layer write: 88.64 Mbit/sec (8X) [DVD+R/+RW] Data Transfer Rate /write: 177.28 Mbit/sec (16X) Data Transfer Rate /rewrite: 88.64 Mbit/sec (8X) [DVD-R/-RW] Data Transfer Rate /write: 177.28 Mbit/sec (16X) Data Transfer Rate /rewrite: 66.48 Mbit/sec (6X) [DVDROM] Data Transfer Rate /read: 177.28 Mbit/sec (16X, Max.)Access time: 120 ms [CD] Data Transfer Rate /write: 7200 KByte/sec (48X) Data Transfer Rate /rewrite: 4800 KByte/sec (32X) Data Transfer Rate /read: 7200 KByte/sec (48X, Max.) 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	2 Mbytes
Writing Mode	[DVD+R/+RW] DVD Data and Video [CD-R/-RW] 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+R 4.7GB, DVD+RW 4.7GB, DVD-R 4.7GB (closed session), DVD-RW 4.7GB (closed session), DVD-Video, DVD-5, DVD-9, DVD-10, DVD-18 [CD] CD-DA, CD-ROM XA (m1, m2f1/m2f2), CD-R, CD-RW, Bootable CD, Photo CD (single & multi-session), Video CD, Super Video CD, CD-Extra, Mixed-mode CD, CD-Text
Audio Performance	Signal-to-Noise ratio: 76 dB min. Number of stereo channels: 2 Analog audio line output: 0.75 VRMS at 470 Ohm Analog headphone output: 0.6 VRMS at 34 Ohm CD sampling frequency: 44.1 KHz
Power Requirement	+5V± 5%, ripple: 100mVpp +12V ± 10%, ripple: 200mVpp
Environment Conditions	Operating temperature: 5 0C~50 0C (410F~1220F) at humidity of 8-80% RH Non-operating temperature: -40 0C~60 0C (-40 0F~140 0F) 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 178 mm (W x H x D) Weight: 820 g
Firmware Update	Flash memory upgradeable
Panel Design	Front side: open/close button and read/write status indicator LED Rear side: 40-pin ATA-2 dual row flat-cable connector, 4-pin DC power connector, 3-position device jumpers, digital audio output and analog audio output
OS Compatibility	Windows XP, 2000, ME, 98SE
Minimum System Requirements	IBM PC compatible Pentium III 550MHz CPU 128MB DRAM 100MB free HDD space for CD/DVD recording related software installation 1GB free HDD space for CD Image recording (10GB for DVD authoring) is recommended.

What's inside the
box?

 On this
page we will take a look at what the drive came shipped with, and take a look at
the drive and its technology.

Front

On the front
side we can also find our Award logo, which was given to the BenQ
DW1620.

Back

Top

Bottom

Left Side

Right Side

Below you will
see the contents of the retail box:

• Internal
  drive itself
  
• BenQ
  Software Disc (ver. 2.1)
  
  
  
  • Nero
    Suite
    
    
    
    • Nero
      Express v6
      
    • NeroVision Express
      
    • Nero
      ShowTime
      
    • InCD
      v4
    
    
  • BenQ Qvideo 2
    v5.2.3.23
    
  • QSuite v1.0
    
  • User's
    Manuals
  
  
• 4 Mounting
  screws
  
• BenQ
  Warranty information
  
• Software
  Quick Start Guide
  
• Addendum
  for BenQ Optical Drives
  
• Hardware
  Quick Start Guide

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

The front is pretty strange
looking, a lot of 'sharp" edges, at the same time it's pretty simple as it has
an eject button, a LED (green - for read and write - we prefer a different LED
colour though for writing), and an emergency eject hole.

The logos from the left to right:
BenQ logo, DVD+R DL, DVD+ReWritable High Speed, DVD-R/RW, CD-RW Ultra
speed+.

On the underside of the drive we
found one sticker, and we can read it was manufactured in Malaysia, dated March
2005.

Top

Side

On top of the
drive and on the right side, we can see the ventilation system/feature called
Air Flow Cooling System (AFCS) and Anti-Dust Cooling System (ADCS), but more
about this later.

On the back of the drive there are
from the left: digital audio connector??; analogue audio connector; pins and
jumper to set the drive to cable select, slave or master; IDE connector, power
connector.

Now, let us install the drive and
check out the features on the next page…

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