Looking for Retail Benq 1620 Pro or 1640

[DataCom]

I just refused a bad package of a Benq 1620 Pro drive from Newegg tonight. (box was partialy crushed and compromised) :sad: Newegg doesn't have anymore of what I purchased so I am now looking for a reputable place selling either a 1620 Pro or 1640 with black bezel. I want the retail Box version.

Thanks

[drpino]

just got my 1640 retail with black faceplate at Circuit City...on sale this week for $79.99 with a $30 mail-in-rebate (if you're so inclined) which brings it to a competitive $49.99

you can check the website and go through the first 3 steps of checkout to see if it's in-stock at your nearest CC (i did that and luckily got the 1 remaining at my local store)...

[DataCom]

Thanks drpino

I live in western NY and there isn't a Circuit City close by. Probably an hour drive at best.
Newegg refunded everything including shipping and priority handling.
Is there a good merchant online other than Newegg that has good prices, service and support?

[biikman]

www.zipzoomfly.com is also a good place to take a look.

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1991.html

[bigmike7]

Yo-

Did you try Neweggs great Customer Service? They have been known to go to extremes to help their customers (not their fault that the box was crushed - probably FedEx-eh)

Looks like the 1640 may be better than the 1620 - (I got the 1640 black oem - like it alot)-

Call them and try them out-

Mike

[chas0039]

You are really going to pay a premium price for what amounts to a different faceplate. If that is what you want I would wait until Newegg gets them back in stock. I did a quick check of the places I would buy from and none carried the retail black.

[DataCom]

@ bigmike7
Yes I agree it wasn't their fault the order was crushed.
Yes I did go through Neweggs Customer support.
Alexis Hernandez stated The refused order will be refunded in it's entirety, including the warranty purchased.

But also stated: the refund will apply within 3-5 business days upon receipt.
It was processed the same day.

[DataCom]

@chas0039

I figured I would buy a model with a beige faceplate and then try to find a black one here.

[drpino]

Circuit City ships...

[dtog]

I got my DW1640 retail with black face plate, for my black case, at Circuit City, as well. I paid $79.95, and did NOT get a rebate But I really wanted the retail face-plate, as well.

[zevia]

Circuit City ships...

yes, ships free for $25 and above, but currently for this purchase is not available for shipping, only store pickup.

[DataCom]

Well the 1620 Pro is sold out at Newegg.
they will probably have it again soon.
I am also looking at the 1640.

I keep deeing estensions on the drive modes such as:
1640B
1640 with other extensions
1620 with OC1-OC3 and other extentions.

what do the extensions mean?

I am leaning towards the 1640, however I have read the led stays the same color? (green)

I prefer a retail drive but haven't found any 1640's in retail.\

I also want buffer underun, does the Benq models have this?

are there any good deals going today?

Sorry for all the questions, I am still new at this.

Thanks

[biikman]

I would hazard a guess the 1640B would be the Black model. Not sure the others. You are correct the LED is green, blinks when burning, solid when a disk is inserted. It does have a 2MB buffer.

[ninbang]

I don't think buffer underrun errors are much of an issue anymore, or are they? At least not to the degree when CD burners first showed up. 2MB buffer is pretty standard. I don't know how much of a real world difference having a larger one makes.

If I were you, the main thing I'd wanna focus on is the burn quality. Color of the faceplate, LED colors, buffer ... they seem quite trivial if a burner can't perform to the standard you're looking for.

If you're satisified with the general sense of the burns for particular media you're targeting, then the overburning, overspeeding, etc ... seems to be gravy.

I guess it's a matter of perspective. But, I came into the DVD burning realm with the lure of burning a full DVD in under 6 minutes @ 16x. Then, thanks to this site, I learned quality of the burn is of the essence ... ie. having a 6 minute dvd burn does me no good if it turns out to be a coaster, etc. So, now, I don't mind waiting an additional minute or two to burn at 8-12x and give my chance the best chance for a high quality burn.

Just my $.02.

[alan1476]

I don't think buffer underrun errors are much of an issue anymore, or are they? At least not to the degree when CD burners first showed up. 2MB buffer is pretty standard. I don't know how much of a real world difference having a larger one makes.

If I were you, the main thing I'd wanna focus on is the burn quality. Color of the faceplate, LED colors, buffer ... they seem quite trivial if a burner can't perform to the standard you're looking for.

If you're satisified with the general sense of the burns for particular media you're targeting, then the overburning, overspeeding, etc ... seems to be gravy.

I guess it's a matter of perspective. But, I came into the DVD burning realm with the lure of burning a full DVD in under 6 minutes @ 16x. Then, thanks to this site, I learned quality of the burn is of the essence ... ie. having a 6 minute dvd burn does me no good if it turns out to be a coaster, etc. So, now, I don't mind waiting an additional minute or two to burn at 8-12x and give my chance the best chance for a high quality burn.

Just my $.02.

I think you are on the right track but all these new burners advertise 16x burning capabilities with the right media. They fail to tell you that the quality of the copy will be crap and almost none of them are showing the ability to write firmware to substanciate their claims of 16x writing. Most people are turning to mod firmware to accomplish their goals. I think its a shame that they market a product that really doesn't perform to its stated capabilitys.

[DataCom]

ninbang
I agree with you.
Quality is what I am interested in. The rest isn't a major issue.
It looks like I am going to go with a Benq 1640B Oem.
do they come with All the standard Benq Software and Nero?

Thanks

[bigmike7]

Yo-

My 1640B from Newegg only came with a cheapo version of Nero-

I happen to like the fact that it does not have a BIG "BenQ" in white on the faceplate - so it just kinda blends with the case-

There is a brand new BenQ 1640 review here:

http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/12315

The review says that the 1640 is slightly better - more mature than the 1620-

Mike

[ninbang]

Thought Newegg removed the Benq 1620 from their online catalog, but I noticed the Retail Bonus Pack is back in there. So, would you pay $52.99 for a Benq 1620 (+ Benq media ... whooo hoo!!! - that's a joke, btw - ) or $39.99 for Benq 1640 OEM?

[DataCom]

the 1620 with nedia is out of stock.

I have a 1640 oem sitting in a saved order there.
I just wish it was a retail version, also didn't see the 1 year manufacture warrenty on the 1640 oem. I want to get all the software Benq includes with the retail versions.

[ninbang]

If I'm not mistaken, you can download all the Benq utilities direct from their website. Don't have a link handy, but I know it's been discussed in one of the 1640 threads.