Old BenQ kicked the bucket, need new drive advice

CD, DVD and (Ultra HD) Blu-ray Writers BenQ / Philips Writer
#1

My good old 8x BenQ 800@822 drive kicked the bucket.
Everything seems like it is functioning, but I stick a disk in and it doesn’t think there is anything in there. When burning from Nero I put a blank DVD+R in and it keeps saying to insert a disk. Tried it in another computer with the same results.

So I’m shopping for a new drive. I got the 8x BenQ because at the time it was a very reliable drive and gave very nice burns.

I though I read a while back that as a result of the Lite-On take over of BenQ’s optical drives that quality may have dropped.

Is that still the case?

If you were to buy a new drive would it still be a BenQ? If so what model?

Thanks!

#2

Yo-

Would suggest the BenQ 1650 or 1655 models-

I have the 1655 - and it performs very well compared to my other burners (see below)-eh!

#3

DW1650 for sure. You’ll love it.

#4

Hi jds580s, and welcome to the forum. It’s a sad day when our drives go south… 1650 or 1655 (which essentially is a 1650 with LightScribe) would be my best choices. Just make sure you don’t install the latest BenQ firmwares, the best ones so far are BCFC (for the 1650) and BCGB (for the 1655). They are not available at the official BenQ sites, but search for them in this forum and you will find out why they are the best choice (and why the latest firmwares are not so good).

Also see my post in http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?p=1506500#post1506500
explaining why a Samsung would be a good choice.

#5

Go for BenQ 1655, you get the best performance plus LightScribe capability.