The Mt.Rainier spec has been around for a while now, and it still doesn't support Mt.Rainier? So much for a manufacturer with 'high end' optical drives. But then again, what do you expect from someone ?http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?p=1000879#...">suing PxLinux developer with DMCA?
Why is it that the drive being reviewed is not in most of the error rate graphs? And I think the headings are with the wrong graphs for some of the article too. This is pretty sloppy work even by web standards...
quote: Our test unit ran us about $76.00 excluding shipping costs, which is not bad, but compared to some retailers offering BenQ's DW1640 for about $10 less, the PX-740A does give more bang for the buck.
surely the dw1640 gives more bang for the buck if it is cheaper and since the plextools does not even work with the 740a (because of the dumb rebadging).
Since hardware-wise this drive is the same as the BenQ DW1640, it may make more sense to buy the BenQ (cheaper) and flash it with either the latest BenQ or latest Plextor firmware (yes, it works)
Flashing the 1640 with the 740 firmware works? Cool. I'll keep that in mind, since it looks like the 740 firmware is a bit better in some cases than the 1640's.
Ok... I think we've been scammed yall. Dual layer media has been out for prolly 2yrs now and it is still $4-5 a pop. For the same amount of time, single layer has dropped almost 70%. I'm really tired of all these new burners that are expensive to actually use (for dual layer).
It's like having a Ferrari for $20k but gas costs $5k a gallon.
Blame all the people that decided to steal DVDs using Netflix or Blockbuster, renting them as fast as they could for $15/mo and ripping the ones they _would_ have bought, burning them to DVD-(+)R instead.
In reality the only (obvious?) use for DL-DVD is making exact copies of commercial DVDs, including the menus and extra features that were usually ignored during the above process; now DL carries an extra "tax" to help movie companies recover their "losses".
So, yeah, some assholes won in the short term, but now we _all_ pay for their theft in the long term. Don't think others' actions don't affect you.
yeah that bothers me too. mcc media are a good high grade specimen but ty are a lot more consistent. infiniti branded mcc media does not perform as good as verbatim branded ones (just like memory, some chips are ultra fast and ultra expensive and some are slow and just expensive).
ty on the other hand don't deviate much from excellent (even the value grade ones). i have some unbranded 8x rated tyg02 dvd-rs that burned @ 16x in my dw1620 surpass the 16x mcc 03rg20 infinitis (burned at any speed) in quality.
ty should be used more in reviews since it is very consistent. i'm half way through my tub of 100 and i never got a dvd with >500 pifs (usually less than 80). ty media is also very cheap in the us. in the uk it is more expensive but it is still half the price of even the cheapest junk sold in supermarkets or even cheaper and about the same price as mcc.
Woah woah... time out. When did Plextor start rebadging drives? I always thought they were an OEM with top-notch quality. Now they're like everybody else? Sad.
hahah yeah, I almost fell asleep by the third page. Oh well it's still a very useful review for the review database here so when you're looking for a DL DVD burner drive in the future you can read it.
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n7 - Thursday, August 4, 2005 - link
Moral of the story: The BenQ DW1640 still pwns :)Heck, it's good enough that Plextor (who is really quite a joke nowdays) is using the BenQ drive :)
quanta - Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - link
The Mt.Rainier spec has been around for a while now, and it still doesn't support Mt.Rainier? So much for a manufacturer with 'high end' optical drives. But then again, what do you expect from someone ?http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?p=1000879#...">suing PxLinux developer with DMCA?Den - Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - link
Why is it that the drive being reviewed is not in most of the error rate graphs? And I think the headings are with the wrong graphs for some of the article too. This is pretty sloppy work even by web standards...Den - Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - link
Just to be more specific, no plextor on the error rate graph for MCC 03RG20 on page 5, or Ritek 008 (DVD+RW) on page 6, or c1 or c2 errors on page 8.semo - Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - link
that sentence does not sound right to me...surely the dw1640 gives more bang for the buck if it is cheaper and since the plextools does not even work with the 740a (because of the dumb rebadging).
shabby - Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - link
I bought the 1640 for $53 cdn, its impossible that it costs even more in the states.LX - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link
Since hardware-wise this drive is the same as the BenQ DW1640, it may make more sense to buy the BenQ (cheaper) and flash it with either the latest BenQ or latest Plextor firmware (yes, it works)dmxlite - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link
Flashing the 1640 with the 740 firmware works? Cool. I'll keep that in mind, since it looks like the 740 firmware is a bit better in some cases than the 1640's.WooDaddy - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link
Ok... I think we've been scammed yall. Dual layer media has been out for prolly 2yrs now and it is still $4-5 a pop. For the same amount of time, single layer has dropped almost 70%. I'm really tired of all these new burners that are expensive to actually use (for dual layer).It's like having a Ferrari for $20k but gas costs $5k a gallon.
andrep74 - Monday, August 8, 2005 - link
Blame all the people that decided to steal DVDs using Netflix or Blockbuster, renting them as fast as they could for $15/mo and ripping the ones they _would_ have bought, burning them to DVD-(+)R instead.In reality the only (obvious?) use for DL-DVD is making exact copies of commercial DVDs, including the menus and extra features that were usually ignored during the above process; now DL carries an extra "tax" to help movie companies recover their "losses".
So, yeah, some assholes won in the short term, but now we _all_ pay for their theft in the long term. Don't think others' actions don't affect you.
Bozo Galora - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link
Yet another DVD review with no Taiyo Yuden DVD media.semo - Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - link
yeah that bothers me too. mcc media are a good high grade specimen but ty are a lot more consistent. infiniti branded mcc media does not perform as good as verbatim branded ones (just like memory, some chips are ultra fast and ultra expensive and some are slow and just expensive).ty on the other hand don't deviate much from excellent (even the value grade ones). i have some unbranded 8x rated tyg02 dvd-rs that burned @ 16x in my dw1620 surpass the 16x mcc 03rg20 infinitis (burned at any speed) in quality.
ty should be used more in reviews since it is very consistent. i'm half way through my tub of 100 and i never got a dvd with >500 pifs (usually less than 80). ty media is also very cheap in the us. in the uk it is more expensive but it is still half the price of even the cheapest junk sold in supermarkets or even cheaper and about the same price as mcc.
joex444 - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link
I'm liking that 716's SATA inteface, though. Time to replace my NEC 1300.larson0699 - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link
PERHAPS its low price tag (in relation to PX-716A) has *something* to do with the fact that it's back to the old interface.Sorry, but SATA is totally 0wn1ng. *pets his 716A*
WileCoyote - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link
Woah woah... time out. When did Plextor start rebadging drives? I always thought they were an OEM with top-notch quality. Now they're like everybody else? Sad.dmxlite - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link
Maybe because the BenQ drive is really good, and they needed something for the low end in their product lines.kmmatney - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link
So, are these only sold in 10 packs, or what?...Hacp - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link
I was hoping for something for Anandtech to review....... Cameras and Optical drives are just boring :(.yacoub - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link
hahah yeah, I almost fell asleep by the third page. Oh well it's still a very useful review for the review database here so when you're looking for a DL DVD burner drive in the future you can read it.DeeSlanger - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link
Instead of bitching about , Why dont you suggest or ask them if they can review some thing for Hacp...ssvegeta1010 - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link
I could swear I saw this a while ago... where did it go?Hi - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link
i saw it the other day toogovernment coverup?
mariush - Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - link
just a glitch in the matrix.. deja-vu :) sorry for off-topic ... couldn't help it..dmxlite - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link
Probably had some fixing up to do, cause they know we're picky about spelling and things like that.Hi - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link
after looking at them they actually added graphs and stuff, so i see why they took it backjm20 - Sunday, July 31, 2005 - link
Your missing the graph's on pages 4 through 7.Stas - Sunday, July 31, 2005 - link
I'm tired of AT mislabeling pages. This is like the 3rd time I see it happen in the last 3 months. :(Quiksel - Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - link
STFUI swear some of you on here are the most perfection-centered people I've ever seen. Give it a break.
andrep74 - Monday, August 8, 2005 - link
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN""http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitiona...">http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitiona...
andrep74 - Monday, August 8, 2005 - link
Well, at least this is fixed, but how do I delete my own posts???