Review: BenQ DW1625A Lighscribe dual format writer |
It has been a while since the last time we looked at a BenQ drive. The drive they sent us was their LightScribe capable drive; the BenQ DW1625A. This drive supports both DVD-R and DVD+R as well as the new LightScribe standard.
Some BenQ history:
We took a quick look at the company information found at BenQ Europe¡¦s web pages:
The BenQ Group, formerly known as Acer Communications & Multimedia Group, is a global operation, employing over 14,760 people worldwide and with an annual turnover (2003) of US$ 3.6 billion. Its expertise encompasses: Communications, Imaging, Display technology, Digital media and Electro-optics products. As home, office, and entertainment merge with each other, BenQ will use these competencies to create networked digital lifestyle devices that will increasingly become part of our world.
BenQ is in a unique position to serve this newly emerging world. It owns more than 1,382 global patents. In addition to this, R&D is carried out in the Hsinchu Lab in Taiwan, the Suzhou Software Development Center in China, and the Wireless Technology Center in San Diego, USA. BenQ currently employs some 2,000 R&D specialists worldwide. It spends about 4% of its income on R&D.
For production, BenQ has facilities in Malaysia, Mexico, China, and Taiwan. BenQ Suzhou is the flagship facility covering 600,000 sq. meters and employing over 6,000 people. Today that centre boasts an annual output capacity of 4 million colour monitors, 8 million keyboards, and 4 million scanners.
As you could see it¡¦s a large company with long history. But it¡¦s time to look at the specifications of the drive.
Drive specifications:
These are the specifications of this drive, found at the BenQ Global webpage:
Model | DW1625 |
Performance | [DVD+R DL] |
Interface | E-IDE/ATAPI |
Supported IDE Mode | PIO mode 0/1/2/3/4 |
Buffer Size | 2MB |
Firmware Upgrade | Flash memory upgradable |
Writing Mode | [DVD] |
Disc Size | [DVD] 120 mm disc |
Disc Formats | [DVD] |
Power Requirement | +5V Â¡é“ 5%, ripple: 100mVpp |
Environment Conditions | Operating temperature: 5¢XC~50¢XC at humidity of 8~80% RH |
Reliability Characteristics | MTBF: 125,000 POH (20%) |
Physical Characteristics | Dimension: 146 X 42 X 198 mm (W x H x D) |
OS Compatibility | Windows XP / 2000 / ME / 98SE |
Minimum System | ¡E IBM PC compatible |
Not the best specifications with only 8x DVD-R and 2.4x DVD+R double layer. Also; CD-Writing and reading is limited to 40x.
What's inside the box?
The drive we received was a pre-release drive that came in a white box. The bundle is not complete either. But this is what we got:
Yes, we only got the installation CD and the drive.
We also got a LightScribe CD-R and Lightscribe DVD+R for use in this review.
Now it¡¦s time to take a look at the drive itself:
Nothing new under the sun here, it uses the same front as the DW1620.
Our sample was produced in China and has a production date of February 2005.
Still no changes on the back either; from the left: digital audio connector; analogue audio connector; pins and jumper to set the drive to cable select, slave or master; IDE connector and finally the power connector.
Now, let us connect the drive and check out the features and program bundle of this drive on the next page¡K