Ready to buy the 1621

vbimport
#1

I’m about to head off and buy myself the 1621 {external version of the 1620}. I’ve scoured these forums and read countless reviews of makes and models. I’ve narrowed it down to the 1620 as the consensus seems to be that it’s by far one of the two best models, the other being the nec, i have a bad history with nec so that makes my choice very simple :slight_smile:

That said, while there are scads of posts, opinions, reviews and information about the 1620 {the internal model} i’ve seen precious little about the external variant, the 1621 itself. I’m assuming that it’s pretty much the same, or better {being newer} and having heard nothing bad about it, but still if anyone has it, or knows anything about it any info on the 1621 itself would be greatly appreciated. Big thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to reply.

#2

Well, the approach of using it on firewire seems to be a great solution when coupled with firmware meant for the external version (found on www.benq.com).
USB 2.0 also works well, and it achieves up to 12x speeds on that (very few seconds slower than 16x for USB 2.0 connection)
Either case, the drive works surprisingly well.

Good media and good writing software will help you enjoy that fantastic writer drive.
RecordNow that comes with it is very good (adjust user setting to make DVD’s write once, disc at once, UTF+Joliet). DLA, also included, should be skipped (not installed).
You may also wish to add DVDShrink plus DVDDecryptor because they are vitally useful and also free.

#3

Not sure, but think authentic BenQ 1621 is USB 2 only??? Can someone confirm this.
I have BenQ DW1620-OEM crossflashed to EW 1621, 47L9 firmware in an USB/1394 external case. You must be careful in selection of right case with appropiate chipset.
Yes I can get 16X over 1394, yet for quality, I usually burn at 12X, which is the upper limit for my drive over USB2. Either USB2 or 1394 produce great 12X burns.
Authentic BenQ EW 1621 may be tweaked for 16X burn on USB2…but so far I have not seen a successful 16X create data disc scan coupled with disc quality scan that demonstrates this. Would love to see this.
I purchased my BenQ from Newegg on sale for approx. $62.00 (a while back), my external case from Dealsonic for $32.00…so under $100.00 for both.
Hope this is of some help as a second option.

#4

http://www.benq.com/storage/storage_dvdrw_ew162i_specs.html

The above link is to the BenQ United States site. It lists the EW1621 product specifications. Under interface, only USB 2.0 is listed.

#5

Socrates007,
Thanks for the confirmation.
By the By, found BenQ 1620 non retail Biege & Black, for $62.99/each here:
http://www.compgeeks.com/products.asp?cat=DVD#External%20DVD%20Burners

#6

No prob. :cool:

#7

The link lists both BenQ DW1620 bulk models as writing to CD-R at 48x speed. This is probably an error as the DW1620 only writes to CD-R at 40x speed max. :confused:

#8

thanks for all the replies so far. The usb issue is not a problem for me as i don’t have firewire so that doesn’t bother me at all, I definately do need an external model, so, that definately narrows my options significantly. Also 12x is plenty fast for me, i’m not looking to break any land/speed records, as long as it’s reasonably quick and most importantly, good quality burns, iow, no coasters. This drive will be used entirely for backups, for my large dvd movie collection and for data backup {mp3’s and large games and the like}.