Would an expert pls review this scan on new 1620?

iaminhicksville 2005-01-25 07:50:11 UTC #1

Thanks to everyone here at CDfreeaks, I got a new 1620 for my relatives. I thought I'd get it set up here (they live out of town) to test it out and make sure everything works before my trip there.

So I installed it in my PC (it's the retail version) and flashed the fw to B7P9 and burned 1 fuji 8x +R from best buy's sale this week. Media code shows Yuden T02. Nero burned it at 16x. That's pretty cool... (I have an old NEC 1300A that I think is going to be upgraded pretty soon :D)

So if this scan looks good, then I guess there's nothing more I need to do to prep the 1620 to give to them, right?

Does anyone have more comments on the RCp1 fw from TDB? Should I leave the fw alone until and unless they need to be RCP1? Thanks all!

insaneoctane 2005-01-25 08:05:37 UTC #2

Leave firmware as is...looks good, time to set it free :sad:

Urshurak776 2005-01-25 08:20:13 UTC #3

I'm far from an expert, but it looks good to me. The only suggestion I would have is to burn at 12X. You are only losing a few seconds and the burn quality is much better. Though I admit we are splitting hairs.......

swifty7 2005-01-25 08:31:08 UTC #4

don't change the fw, B7P9 is very good, and in the future burn at 12X not 16X. Burning at 12X will most likely give you a score between 97 to 99, but the average is 97% if burned at 12X.

iaminhicksville 2005-01-25 09:00:54 UTC #5

hehe.. I couldn't find that setting in nero to burn at 12x, so I went ahead for the thrill of doing it at 16x.. I'll look harder next time! Thanks for the advice! now I have to decide between one of these bad boys for myself or more RAM for the lappy..

Thanks again!

swifty7 2005-01-25 09:25:43 UTC #6

you should be able to select 12x under 'write speed' menu!!!!

test123 2005-01-25 09:39:35 UTC #7

Go for the 1620 burner...you will be glad that you did!

iaminhicksville 2005-01-25 09:46:14 UTC #8

@swifty7 - thanks, found it. I've used it before, maybe I was thinking about something else and looked in the wrong place this am.

Thanks for the help guys!!

swifty7 2005-01-25 10:07:01 UTC #9

I'm glad you found it!!! that's what we're for.....to help!!!!!
post a scan image of your 12X burn!!!!!

iaminhicksville 2005-01-26 05:04:26 UTC #10

Just for you, I'll post a 12x burn.. but it will have to wait till tomorrow. Gotta go do a day trip today..

Garmy 2005-01-26 05:47:39 UTC #11

I noticed a few discs that when burned at 16X using Shrink had some problems. I slowed down to 8X in Nero and they are fine now. Is there any difference in burn quality between 8X and 12X?

Braxas 2005-01-26 07:41:38 UTC #12

Scan at 8x for more realistic results next time (plus it's faster). That scan looks great though, certainly nothing wrong with it.

swifty7 2005-01-26 15:12:05 UTC #13

I got better results burning at 12x than 8X. I prefer 12X.

JDaMan 2005-01-26 15:36:00 UTC #14

I have the same results. For some reason, i get better burns at 12X than i do at 8X

iaminhicksville 2005-01-27 10:25:28 UTC #15

ok here ya go! this was burned at 12x. same spindle as the first burn. Have to take it out now and pack it up for the trip; leaving tomorrow am ... the bad news is that the new dell PC is lost somewhere and I don't know if will be delivered by tomorrow when I arrive. It was shipped on 1/20 but the can't track it. que sera sera.

Since I have to go back to my nec 1300a for the time being, I may not see you guys around anytime soon, but you've been friendly and helpful, and I'm sure I"ll see you around the forums another time..
bye

iaminhicksville 2005-01-27 10:27:34 UTC #16

oh and i figured out why I didn't see 12x in the list-- I looked before I inserted the media and then after I inserted the media, I clicked burn and it set itself to 16x... d'oh..

swifty7 2005-01-27 17:17:29 UTC #17

that looks excellent, but next time scan at 8X which is more comparable to scans made by others. Have a nice trip!!!!

danielwritesback 2005-01-29 00:17:51 UTC #18

Scans look great, but be aware that P9 firmware has data integrity and playback issues with CMC (very popular) and Daxon (benq, sony) medias. These issues have been fixed in T9.

So, if you're shipping this drive out/have already shipped this drive out with P9, advise the relatives of good sources to purchase TY, Prodisc, and MCC +R medias.

Otherwise, you may wish to switch to T9 in case your relatives shop at any retail store where they are very likely to pick up some CMC (disguised under 23 different brands/packaging, all on sale) and then call you on the phone for each and every annoying coaster.
While the scanning performance of T9 is marginally lesser, playback and data integrity have improved greatly for most medias.

You may also wish to advise the relatives to use 12x speeds whenever available because 16x reduces quality and saves only about 20 seconds.

Hopefully, this is a retail drive and includes the near-bulletproof RecordNow. If not, you may wish to provide DVDshrink+DVDdecryptor (advise burning with Decryptor) for their backup needs.

Hey, the good news is that BenQ's quality product is easy to support because it usually works much better than average for a DVD writer.

edit: I re-read your original post. The RPC1 can generate support issue headaches and additional trips to cover the support needs of your relatives (true of anybody's relatives). Use only retail firmwares.

iaminhicksville 2005-01-30 23:41:18 UTC #19

hi
thanks for the add'l info! the drive is sitting on a shelf in their house because dell's gone and lost the new pc. so I had a nice time visiting. no serious pc work.. just attached an ext HD to their win98!!! machine (yikes!!) I set them up with some memorex + media which should get them going for a while. I didn't openthe spindle so I don't know the media code, but they can practive the techniques on them (they still have trouble with cd burning and well ... let's say they're "AOL people"...) and then they can get good media later..

I REALLY appreciate all the help! What a friendly group!