The BenQ EXTERNAL ENCLOSURE thread

[RLipp69]

i am looking to make a external unit for my laptop.I am looking at the Ben Q burners Do i get the1620 or the 1640.Am i makeing the right choice?Any in put would be great!Thanks

[alan1476]

Originally Posted by RLipp69

i am looking to make a external unit for my laptop.I am looking at the Ben Q burners Do i get the1620 or the 1640.Am i makeing the right choice?Any in put would be great!Thanks

I have the external BenQ1621 and it works great on my Vaio Laptop. I would think the 1640 would be even better but I have not seen it sold as an external drive and I really do not know what enclosure would be best for it. The Prolific chipsets are very popular on this forum but maybe someone more knowledgeable than I could help you.

[chas0039]

Check with the folks at dealsonic.com. They sell a Plumax case which should work with BenQ and the 1640 should be no different than the 1620s as far as the chipset goes.

http://www.dealsonic.com/plpmblcousb22.html

I wouldn't wait too long as Plumax seems to be switching over to Cyprus chipsets.

[qwakrz]

Prolific chipset should now be fine, they have just released the updated firmware for them to remove the last annoying problem (errors or slow reading) and can burn upto 16x using firewire and 12x using USB. I burn at 12x almost all the time anyway so use USB.

[chas0039]

Originally Posted by qwakrz

Prolific chipset should now be fine, they have just released the updated firmware for them to remove the last annoying problem

Thanks for the tip. Here is the source for firmwares.

http://www.prolific.com.tw/eng/downloads.asp?ID=44

[JT44]

Originally Posted by chas0039

I wouldn't wait too long as Plumax seems to be switching over to Cyprus chipsets.

I just received a pre-assembled 1640/Plumax combo from an eBay purchase today. When I plugged it in to my laptop it recognized a Cyprus USB bridge rather than a Prolific. Should I expect trouble? I have not done any burns yet. I did all the research on these forums and thought I was getting the right thing.

Juan

[chas0039]

I have no direct knowledge concerning the Cyprus chip other than the information at Dealsonic where they specifically omit the BenQ as a supported drive. I would do some test burns with software that will report the burn speed, I think CDSpeed in test mode will do this, and see how it works. Also check the burst rate. If someone put this together either they know it works or they missed the fact that Plumax switched to the Cyprus chip. Worst case, try for a return, get a case from Dealsonic, or if a retun is not possible, keep the Cyprus case for another drive. Looks like Liteon and Pioneer and NEC are OK.

[insaneoctane]

I'm in the market for an external burner, USB 2.0.

• I've read TONS of posts here and I'm scared to death of BenQ and external! !
• I want a BenQ (love burn quality and 16x rips)
• I'd be happy buying a 1620 or 1640 or 1655 and putting it in the case myself, if I was sure it would work! This would allow me to upgrade the drive later
• I could buy the BenQ retail external EW162I if needed...
• I'd like to keep the package south of about $90, under $60 is even better!

Suggestions?

[Iwo]

My 1640 works in Welland ME-350U2F enclosure with Prolific PL-3705 chipset. It has been working fine since updating firmware both of the enclosure and of 1640 to the latest one.

[El_Mariachi_X]

questions should be what's cheaper internal with a good enclosure or a retail (or online) external drive?

also which enclosure at newegg has that prolific chipset my 1640 so needs?

[Metaluna]

So are you saying that if I get the Plumax enclosure linked to in this thread, which specifically mentions that it has the Prolific chip and supports BenQ, that I might end up getting a Cypress chip anyway? Or do you mean that they will just stop selling that particular model number at some point?

[insaneoctane]

I can't burn at 16x or rip at 16x across USB 2.0?
I'm limited to 12x?
Is this true for other, non-BenQ solutions?

[insaneoctane]

Do you use the latest regular 1640 firmware or something specific for external use?

[TCAS]

Originally Posted by insaneoctane

I can't burn at 16x or rip at 16x across USB 2.0?
I'm limited to 12x?
Is this true for other, non-BenQ solutions?

As a rule of thumb the external devices are slower in operation than internal devices. Therefore don't be surprised if that is the case with other burners.

[TCAS]

Originally Posted by El_Mariachi_X

questions should be what's cheaper internal with a good enclosure or a retail (or online) external drive?

also which enclosure at newegg has that prolific chipset my 1640 so needs?

Obviously if you are willing to pay the price for it the retail external is your preference since it being design for that environment but if you want to get it cheaper then enclosure is the way to go. You can buy enclosure from CompUSA for $29.99, but if I have to make a choice for $10- to $20 more I would go with retail version and get peace of mind.

[Iwo]

Originally Posted by insaneoctane

Do you use the latest regular 1640 firmware or something specific for external use?

I use regular firmware BSNB, however BEGB for external BenQ drive EW164B worked also flawlessly giving even higher transfer rates.

[qbbradshaw]

Hi, I have just bought BenQ DW1640 and tried to connect to my IBM T41 via IDE Adapter cable for USB2.0. BUT IT DOESN'T WORK!

PC only recognise Mass storage device for USB connection and doesn't recognise DW1640. Would some one please help me to solve this problem?

[Iwo]

@qbbradshaw
BenQ seems to be choosy when connecting it as an external drive, so I thing you might not be able to run your 1640 via this adaprer cable.
As I wrote some posts earlier my 1640 works fine with Prolific 3705 chipset enclosure. It is also compatible with Oxford 911 chip, however with the latter you can't reach x16 burns. Epass chipset wasn't good for my 1640 and I don't know how new Oxford 922 (firewire 800) works.
I don't know if anybody succeeded in connecting BenQ via adapter cable.

[qbbradshaw]

Hi, IWO
Thank you for your quick reply. Well, I may need to try your suggestion. Do you know the case which satisfy your specification (Prolific 3705)?

[Iwo]

I have Welland ME-350U2F, the case is sold under that name in Europe and Australia I guess. In USA it's not Welland, but still it's ME-350U2F. The first example I found:
http://www.dealsonic.com/eumeidetousb1.html
Mine looks like this one.

[qbbradshaw]

Thank you, IWO!

[Pianoman]

Originally Posted by Iwo

@qbbradshaw
BenQ seems to be choosy when connecting it as an external drive, so I thing you might not be able to run your 1640 via this adaprer cable.
As I wrote some posts earlier my 1640 works fine with Prolific 3705 chipset enclosure. It is also compatible with Oxford 911 chip, however with the latter you can't reach x16 burns. Epass chipset wasn't good for my 1640 and I don't know how new Oxford 922 (firewire 800) works.
I don't know if anybody succeeded in connecting BenQ via adapter cable.

Do you have the Oxford 911 or 911+ ?

[El_Mariachi_X]

question time

does it have to be a specific version or will any prolific chipset do?

like these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817186107

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817146313

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817146319


also will be flashed to BEGB

[Iwo]

Originally Posted by Pianoman

Do you have the Oxford 911 or 911+ ?

No, I don't, but I know a guy that has one that works with BenQ 1640.

[chas0039]

Originally Posted by Metaluna

So are you saying that if I get the Plumax enclosure linked to in this thread, which specifically mentions that it has the Prolific chip and supports BenQ, that I might end up getting a Cypress chip anyway? Or do you mean that they will just stop selling that particular model number at some point?

I am saying that they changed the chipset on the USB only enclosure and may well do so on the firewire/USB version as well. Dealsonic was very precise in identifying the chipset and Plumax is considerate enough to change the part number when they replaced the chip so I wouldn't worry if you make clear to Dealsonic what you want.