«

I am considering a drive to add to my Lite-On SOHW-832S and am tossing
up between the Lite-On 160P6S, or BenQ DW1650. (Isn't the 160P6S
based on the BenQ DW1650 with 'learning mode'?) The only review I can
find on the Lite-On drive was dated from February and new firmware
could have changed things a lot since then. I have seen good review
of the BenQ. My main requirement is good writing quality (speed not
an issue) and good DVD reading ability.

A friend wants to know whether he should consider the LG GSA-4166B or
would he be better to consider either of the two above? That would
only get light use.

On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 23:28:17 +1200, GraB <> wrote:

>I am considering a drive to add to my Lite-On SOHW-832S and am tossing
>up between the Lite-On 160P6S, or BenQ DW1650. (Isn't the 160P6S
>based on the BenQ DW1650 with 'learning mode'?) The only review I can
>find on the Lite-On drive was dated from February and new firmware
>could have changed things a lot since then. I have seen good review
>of the BenQ. My main requirement is good writing quality (speed not
>an issue) and good DVD reading ability.
>
>A friend wants to know whether he should consider the LG GSA-4166B or
>would he be better to consider either of the two above? That would
>only get light use.

LG 4166 are the lightscribe drives. They require special media to
print on top of the media using these drives.

LIGHSCRIBE Printable media
- : (Printing Time)
- : 1070TPI * 12cm Entire Disc less than 36 minutes
- : 800TPI * 12cm Entire Disc less than 28 minutes
- : 530TPI * 12cm Entire Disc less than 20 minutes

LightScribe printing is far to slow and not in the same class of a
print done on a CD capable printer. LightScribe printing takes far to
long to even bother with, where a CD Printer takes about a minute if
that.

The LG H10 ones are the latest drives and might even be the cheapest
these days.

I prefer the latest Sony DWG120A drives for all round ability.
For low PIE rates then the Pioneer are still the lowest but their
latest Pioneer 111D drives only burn 16X at 16X for about half the
brands of 16X speed media out there. The older Pioneer 109 drives burn
to more brands of 16X media.

The LG drives have a higher PIE than the Sony DVD burners with good
quality media that is, not that it matters to much as all three are
well within the PIE standard of 280 on good quality media.

What I like about the Sony drives is that the firmware can burn to
most 16X media at 16X. CDR burning is also faster on this drive even
set at 40X over the LG's or Pioneers at 40X. When I do a recording on
my Panasonic recorder it only takes a few minutes to transfer the
video to the hard drive via the Sony drive where the Pioneer or LG's
take a lot longer. Some may get slower or faster speeds depending on
the computer system.

The Sony drives can also be used to test media like the BenQ drives
can. The latest BenQ are the 1670 models.

SalesMart.com.au
Perth, Western Australia
http://www.salesmart.com.au
*******************************************
Email Contact info on the above site.
*******************************************

On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 23:28:17 +1200, GraB wrote:

> I am considering a drive to add to my Lite-On SOHW-832S and am tossing
> up between the Lite-On 160P6S, or BenQ DW1650. (Isn't the 160P6S
> based on the BenQ DW1650 with 'learning mode'?) The only review I can
> find on the Lite-On drive was dated from February and new firmware
> could have changed things a lot since then. I have seen good review
> of the BenQ. My main requirement is good writing quality (speed not
> an issue) and good DVD reading ability.
>
> A friend wants to know whether he should consider the LG GSA-4166B or
> would he be better to consider either of the two above? That would
> only get light use.

There is also a recent Samsung model that does very well in the reviews. I
notice Noel Leeming has them for $100 or so.

--

.... Brendan

#365072 +(4643)- [X]

<xxxGirlygirlxxx> Thank you for listening to me.
<xxxGirlygirlxxx> You know your a really good listener.
<xxxGirlygirlxxx> Sweety please say something.
<Sandaedar> Ok I'm back.


Note: All my comments are copyright 31/07/2006 11:54:33 p.m. and are opinion only where not otherwise stated and always "to the best of my recollection". www.computerman.orcon.net.nz.

On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 12:10:14 GMT, sales@___Email_Address_on_Web_site
(SalesMart.com.au) wrote:

>On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 23:28:17 +1200, GraB <> wrote:
>
>>I am considering a drive to add to my Lite-On SOHW-832S and am tossing
>>up between the Lite-On 160P6S, or BenQ DW1650. (Isn't the 160P6S
>>based on the BenQ DW1650 with 'learning mode'?) The only review I can
>>find on the Lite-On drive was dated from February and new firmware
>>could have changed things a lot since then. I have seen good review
>>of the BenQ. My main requirement is good writing quality (speed not
>>an issue) and good DVD reading ability.
>>
>>A friend wants to know whether he should consider the LG GSA-4166B or
>>would he be better to consider either of the two above? That would
>>only get light use.
>
>LG 4166 are the lightscribe drives. They require special media to
>print on top of the media using these drives.
>
>LIGHSCRIBE Printable media
>- : (Printing Time)
>- : 1070TPI * 12cm Entire Disc less than 36 minutes
>- : 800TPI * 12cm Entire Disc less than 28 minutes
>- : 530TPI * 12cm Entire Disc less than 20 minutes
>
>LightScribe printing is far to slow and not in the same class of a
>print done on a CD capable printer. LightScribe printing takes far to
>long to even bother with, where a CD Printer takes about a minute if
>that.
>
>The LG H10 ones are the latest drives and might even be the cheapest
>these days.
>
>I prefer the latest Sony DWG120A drives for all round ability.
>For low PIE rates then the Pioneer are still the lowest but their
>latest Pioneer 111D drives only burn 16X at 16X for about half the
>brands of 16X speed media out there. The older Pioneer 109 drives burn
>to more brands of 16X media.
>
>The LG drives have a higher PIE than the Sony DVD burners with good
>quality media that is, not that it matters to much as all three are
>well within the PIE standard of 280 on good quality media.
>
>What I like about the Sony drives is that the firmware can burn to
>most 16X media at 16X. CDR burning is also faster on this drive even
>set at 40X over the LG's or Pioneers at 40X. When I do a recording on
>my Panasonic recorder it only takes a few minutes to transfer the
>video to the hard drive via the Sony drive where the Pioneer or LG's
>take a lot longer. Some may get slower or faster speeds depending on
>the computer system.
>
>The Sony drives can also be used to test media like the BenQ drives
>can. The latest BenQ are the 1670 models.

Yes, OK about the LGs but what about the other two drives? The BenQ
1670 is newer but uses an inferior chip, from what I have heard and
isn't as good as the 1650.

On good quality media my old 832S achieves well under 280, mostly not
exceeding 20 avg, so I guess the newer drives would be OK too?

On Tue, 01 Aug 2006 02:14:54 +1200, GraB <> wrote:

>On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 12:10:14 GMT, sales@___Email_Address_on_Web_site
>(SalesMart.com.au) wrote:
>
>>On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 23:28:17 +1200, GraB <> wrote:
>>
>>>I am considering a drive to add to my Lite-On SOHW-832S and am tossing
>>>up between the Lite-On 160P6S, or BenQ DW1650. (Isn't the 160P6S
>>>based on the BenQ DW1650 with 'learning mode'?) The only review I can
>>>find on the Lite-On drive was dated from February and new firmware
>>>could have changed things a lot since then. I have seen good review
>>>of the BenQ. My main requirement is good writing quality (speed not
>>>an issue) and good DVD reading ability.
>>>
>>>A friend wants to know whether he should consider the LG GSA-4166B or
>>>would he be better to consider either of the two above? That would
>>>only get light use.
>>
>>LG 4166 are the lightscribe drives. They require special media to
>>print on top of the media using these drives.
>>
>>LIGHSCRIBE Printable media
>>- : (Printing Time)
>>- : 1070TPI * 12cm Entire Disc less than 36 minutes
>>- : 800TPI * 12cm Entire Disc less than 28 minutes
>>- : 530TPI * 12cm Entire Disc less than 20 minutes
>>
>>LightScribe printing is far to slow and not in the same class of a
>>print done on a CD capable printer. LightScribe printing takes far to
>>long to even bother with, where a CD Printer takes about a minute if
>>that.
>>
>>The LG H10 ones are the latest drives and might even be the cheapest
>>these days.
>>
>>I prefer the latest Sony DWG120A drives for all round ability.
>>For low PIE rates then the Pioneer are still the lowest but their
>>latest Pioneer 111D drives only burn 16X at 16X for about half the
>>brands of 16X speed media out there. The older Pioneer 109 drives burn
>>to more brands of 16X media.
>>
>>The LG drives have a higher PIE than the Sony DVD burners with good
>>quality media that is, not that it matters to much as all three are
>>well within the PIE standard of 280 on good quality media.
>>
>>What I like about the Sony drives is that the firmware can burn to
>>most 16X media at 16X. CDR burning is also faster on this drive even
>>set at 40X over the LG's or Pioneers at 40X. When I do a recording on
>>my Panasonic recorder it only takes a few minutes to transfer the
>>video to the hard drive via the Sony drive where the Pioneer or LG's
>>take a lot longer. Some may get slower or faster speeds depending on
>>the computer system.
>>
>>The Sony drives can also be used to test media like the BenQ drives
>>can. The latest BenQ are the 1670 models.
>
>Yes, OK about the LGs but what about the other two drives? The BenQ
>1670 is newer but uses an inferior chip, from what I have heard and
>isn't as good as the 1650.

BenQ Australia won't sell the BenQ DVD burners here.
There are a few that do import them. I bought a BenQ 1640A a while
back. It does tests for PIE/POF and the jitter rates. Its not a drive
I'd be selling as there is no Australia wide warranty coverage like
the LG and Sony drives and I found that the PIE/POF were higher than
these other brands.

>
>On good quality media my old 832S achieves well under 280, mostly not
>exceeding 20 avg, so I guess the newer drives would be OK too?

Some may give a low PIE but due to media thickness being to thin they
do tend to have DVD video playback problems.

If a good brand of media has a PIE of 10 or 280 then that is all that
matters. Even a PIE of 300 maybe OK.

If I was given a choice between a Pioneer 109, 110 or 111.
I'd go for the 109 every time. Pity they are no longer available.
I own two of these myself along with a 110 drive and many other brands
of DVD burners.

Many testing labs test for the following.

PIE - Parity Inner Error.
PIF - Parity Inner Failure.
POF - Parity Outer Failure.
Jitter percentage.

Sony DWG120A
Aurora DVD-R 8X.
PIE AV - 7.16
PIE MAX - 30

Pioneer 109
Orion DVD-R 16X.
PIE AV - 1.41
PIE MAX - 16

Standard for PIE is 280, so anything below this is good.
Jitter rates anything below 11% is good.

Some drives and different software programs will give different
results. Firmware is important too. I've done hundreds of test burns
with each new speed of media along with firmware and Nero updates.
I doubt if I'll do much more testing. Can't see any faster speed media
any time soon. Plus they seem to be moving towards Blu-Ray and HD-DVD
now. All that is likely to happen with DVD burners in the future is
faster re write speeds and maybe they'll add HD media read
capabilities on DVD burners in the future. Current HD burners cost to
much.

The three drives I tend to be looking at would be the Pioneer, Sony or
LG. They fall within the standards when burning to good brands of
media. I feel Sony are the best all round drive for now. BenQ 1650
maybe OK but as I own the 1640A I don't think I'd be moving up to a
newer BenQ drive any time soon.

Each to their own of course.

Plextor PX-760 has their fan base too. To expensive for me and the
drives burn to slowly on DVD-R 16X speed media. Burn speeds are from 7
to 8 minutes which is 8X to 12X burning speeds on these 18X DVD
Burners. More at:
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Revi...16587&PageId=8

The above link also has reviews on the latest other brands of DVD
burners which you maybe interested in.

SalesMart.com.au
Perth, Western Australia
http://www.salesmart.com.au
*******************************************
Email Contact info on the above site.
*******************************************

On Tue, 01 Aug 2006 02:14:54 +1200, GraB <> wrote:

>On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 12:10:14 GMT, sales@___Email_Address_on_Web_site
>(SalesMart.com.au) wrote:
>
>>On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 23:28:17 +1200, GraB <> wrote:
>>
>>>I am considering a drive to add to my Lite-On SOHW-832S and am tossing
>>>up between the Lite-On 160P6S, or BenQ DW1650. (Isn't the 160P6S
>>>based on the BenQ DW1650 with 'learning mode'?) The only review I can
>>>find on the Lite-On drive was dated from February and new firmware
>>>could have changed things a lot since then. I have seen good review
>>>of the BenQ. My main requirement is good writing quality (speed not
>>>an issue) and good DVD reading ability.
>>>
>>>A friend wants to know whether he should consider the LG GSA-4166B or
>>>would he be better to consider either of the two above? That would
>>>only get light use.
>>
>>LG 4166 are the lightscribe drives. They require special media to
>>print on top of the media using these drives.
>>
>>LIGHSCRIBE Printable media
>>- : (Printing Time)
>>- : 1070TPI * 12cm Entire Disc less than 36 minutes
>>- : 800TPI * 12cm Entire Disc less than 28 minutes
>>- : 530TPI * 12cm Entire Disc less than 20 minutes
>>
>>LightScribe printing is far to slow and not in the same class of a
>>print done on a CD capable printer. LightScribe printing takes far to
>>long to even bother with, where a CD Printer takes about a minute if
>>that.
>>
>>The LG H10 ones are the latest drives and might even be the cheapest
>>these days.
>>
>>I prefer the latest Sony DWG120A drives for all round ability.
>>For low PIE rates then the Pioneer are still the lowest but their
>>latest Pioneer 111D drives only burn 16X at 16X for about half the
>>brands of 16X speed media out there. The older Pioneer 109 drives burn
>>to more brands of 16X media.
>>
>>The LG drives have a higher PIE than the Sony DVD burners with good
>>quality media that is, not that it matters to much as all three are
>>well within the PIE standard of 280 on good quality media.
>>
>>What I like about the Sony drives is that the firmware can burn to
>>most 16X media at 16X. CDR burning is also faster on this drive even
>>set at 40X over the LG's or Pioneers at 40X. When I do a recording on
>>my Panasonic recorder it only takes a few minutes to transfer the
>>video to the hard drive via the Sony drive where the Pioneer or LG's
>>take a lot longer. Some may get slower or faster speeds depending on
>>the computer system.
>>
>>The Sony drives can also be used to test media like the BenQ drives
>>can. The latest BenQ are the 1670 models.
>
>Yes, OK about the LGs but what about the other two drives? The BenQ
>1670 is newer but uses an inferior chip, from what I have heard and
>isn't as good as the 1650.
>
>On good quality media my old 832S achieves well under 280, mostly not
>exceeding 20 avg, so I guess the newer drives would be OK too?

PIE - Parity Inner Error.
PIF - Parity Inner Failure.
POF - Parity Outer Failure.
Jitter percentage.

Sony DWG120A - Firmware MYR3
Aurora DVD-R 8X.
PIE AV - 7.16
PIE MAX - 30

Pioneer 110D - Firmware 1.39
Aurora DVD-R 8X.
PIE AV - 0.97
PIE MAX - 13

As you can see the Pioneer have lower PIE but really its hardly worth
worrying about as its well below the PIE standard for DVD media of
280. The Sony gives me DVD-RAM read/write support and is very fast as
moving video to the harddrive of the computer and its CDR burning is
so much faster so for me its the Sony over the Pioneer.

Pioneer 110D drives do have firmware 1.41 that has been out for some
time. Firmware 1.39 works fine so I have no need to move up.

Having a look at a supplier that does sell the BenQ 1650 drives is
that the retail kit boxes are the same price as the OEM's.
BenQ are one of the very few drives that checks for everything in
PIE/PIF/POF/Jitter.

I own the BenQ 1640 and hardly ever use it because its not as good as
the other drives. I may look at the 1650 but it doesn't even support
DVD-RAM which most people want with their drives.

Anyway here is the info on the BenQ 1650 drives.
=========
BenQ 1650
Features such as BenQ's exclusive Write Right Technology ensures every
bit of your data is written at the best possible quality while the
Dual Cooling System (DCS) accelerates the circulation inside the drive
and redirects the heat flow out of the steel housing. BenQ's latest
exclusive SolidBurn Technology now further enhances writing
performance and speed while producing the best possible quality as a
result.

Fast reading and writing speeds and a generous software bundle tops
off this already impressive package
DVD+R speed 16X Writing, 8X Rewriting, 16X Reading DVD-R speed 16X
Writing, 6X Rewriting, 16X Reading Double Layer DVD+R speed 8X Writing
Double Layer DVD-R speed 4x Writing CD speed 48X Writing,32X
Rewriting,48X Reading Powerful and user friendly burning tool BenQ
exclusive QSuite software BenQ exclusive SolidBurn Technology
=========

If I was buying a new drive I'd still go for the Sony DWG120A models.
Each to their own.

SalesMart.com.au
Perth, Western Australia
http://www.salesmart.com.au
*******************************************
Email Contact info on the above site.
*******************************************

On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 19:10:54 GMT, sales@___Email_Address_on_Web_site
(SalesMart.com.au) wrote:

>On Tue, 01 Aug 2006 02:14:54 +1200, GraB <> wrote:
>
>>On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 12:10:14 GMT, sales@___Email_Address_on_Web_site
>>(SalesMart.com.au) wrote:
>>
>>>On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 23:28:17 +1200, GraB <> wrote:
>>>

>If I was buying a new drive I'd still go for the Sony DWG120A models.
>Each to their own.



Yes made by LiteOn..


>SalesMart.com.au
>Perth, Western Australia
>http://www.salesmart.com.au
>*******************************************
>Email Contact info on the above site.
>*******************************************

On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 19:10:54 GMT, sales@___Email_Address_on_Web_site
(SalesMart.com.au) wrote:

>On Tue, 01 Aug 2006 02:14:54 +1200, GraB <> wrote:
>
>>On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 12:10:14 GMT, sales@___Email_Address_on_Web_site
>>(SalesMart.com.au) wrote:
>>
>>>On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 23:28:17 +1200, GraB <> wrote:
>>>

>If I was buying a new drive I'd still go for the Sony DWG120A models.
>Each to their own.



Yes made by LiteOn..



Plus Sony do not update there firmware very often..


>SalesMart.com.au
>Perth, Western Australia
>http://www.salesmart.com.au
>*******************************************
>Email Contact info on the above site.
>*******************************************

GraB wrote:
> I am considering a drive to add to my Lite-On SOHW-832S and am tossing
> up between the Lite-On 160P6S, or BenQ DW1650. (Isn't the 160P6S
> based on the BenQ DW1650 with 'learning mode'?)

The Liteon is still based on the Mediatek chipset where the Benq 1650
is based on a Philips chip. I went with a Liteon 165P6S because you can
easily reset the region change counters without needing hacked
firmware. One less potential hassle. Strange that Sony's partner is one
of the easiest to bypass RPC2 on.

SalesMart.com.au wrote:


<snip>

> If I was given a choice between a Pioneer 109, 110 or 111.
> I'd go for the 109 every time. Pity they are no longer available.
> I own two of these myself along with a 110 drive and many other brands
> of DVD burners.

<snip>

> The three drives I tend to be looking at would be the Pioneer, Sony or
> LG. They fall within the standards when burning to good brands of
> media.

I have a Pioneer 110 and was considering "upgrading" it to a 111 as I really
like the 110 and have a brother who'd like a DVD writer but would rather
have a second-hand one. Of course I thought the 111 would be better than the
110, being newer.

I contacted my supplier and he said "DON'T DO IT!!!". Apparently the 110 is
far superior to the111 and the 110 is no longer available (from the
supplier) in NZ, he gets requests for them all the time. From reading
CDFreaks I didn't get the impression that the 109 was all *that* much beter
than the 110. In fact they didn't say it was superior at all (from memory).
They said that the 110, with the latest firmware, was a great drive and gave
it their 'award'. (The 110 was made in Japan, the 111 in China).
--
Shaun.