I know, not another friggin what drive should I buy thread.
I am helping a friend build a system (started out just helping him pick some parts but now think I might get stuck building it). He said something about paying me a little so no big deal (though I'm hoping he just wants help rather than me do it all for him). So is the benq 1620 still about the best for the money (about 45$ on newegg right now). I know that a 3500 would be beter but they are too hard to find and the places that have them want twice what the benq costs. I doubt very much that he would wait for a 3540 (0r the 1640). I'm guessing the 16x liteons (newer models, havent really followed them) are still not liked. For under 60$ avalable right now, is thier really anything beter? This would probably be his only drive and I'm not sure how savy he is to screwing with his firmware (might have to just find a good all around firmware that won't void his waranty and flash it to that for him). Any other contenders out thier (lg I guess but I'm not to farmiliar with them, not that I'm super farmiliar with the benq either). It can do error testing and bitsetting (not sure how many sheep it is) but thats two out of three and it's suposed to burn good with lots of media, right (I know it favors +)?
On a side note, looking throught the benq forum, it seems that ty and mcc seem to be preferable with the 1620. Any other recomendations?

It depends on the media. If you look at my sig you will see the LG 4163 is more compatible with -R whereas the BenQ is better with -R. Also there are a lot of reports of early failures with BenQ so you might have to do some repairs.

Otherwise, I think you are on target; the 3540 has firmware problems so far.

I assume that you meant that the lg4163 is more compatible with -r and the benq is beter with +r? If you don't mind me asking (going blind researching parts for him), does the lg support bitsetting, error scanning and does it do ok with a range of - media or is it picky?

Sorry for the typo, you are correct. The LG does no bitsetting nor error scanning. I only use the media below and the only one I found that the LG was not great was the MCC 003 made by Prodisc. If you go with the LG he should stick with TY and Verbatim -R. Given that this stuff is available for $30-$40 per 100 there is no reason to mess around with cheap junk. If he buys locally he will probably get stuck with CMC and I cannot vouch for that. If you stick with -R Ty and Verbatim there really is no need for bitsetting and scanning will only confirm the high quality.

How about the NEC3520A ?

Most retailers are dropping the prices on this model just now, since the 3540 is just around the corner. I use a 3520 myself and (so far) it's been almost flawless with most media.

Agree with chas0039, I have have great results with my Benq 1620 and my NEC 3520A is just an OK burner. Firmware updates are very slow with NEC and BenQ seems to update firmware quite often. So in my opinion the BenQ 1620 is the best bang for the buck. You may wan't to have a look at the 1640 also as it looks good so far.

I agree with crossg, especially as he has a 3520 and a Liteon and I assume he has compared scans. If I wanted quality burns as good as my 3500 I would use the LG with carefully selected media. If I could only have a single burner and the 3500 was off the table I would have the BenQ (with a spare standing by). Again, I would have to carefully select the media. So far the 3520 has not been that impressive and the 3540 has problematic firmware to work through. The next NEC I hold out hope for is the 4550. I have one open bay just waiting.

Everyone has their favorities based upon personal histories. I have had 3 Necs, 2 Liteons ,2 BenQ1620's and a Plextor 716A. To me it is not even close. I won't be buying anymore NECs or Liteons and although the Plextor 716A is fine it is not as good as the BenQ's so for me the BenQ 1620 is not the best bang for the buck it is the best bang period.

I just explained about various drives and let him make his own decision. He decided to get the benq 1620. Thier were some possibilities of getting a 3500 but for around 80-90$ so he decided to go with the benq for 45$ (he was ordering other stuff from newegg anyway). Thanks for the help everybody. I have been thinking about getting a benq to play with myself (it's only 45$) but seeing as I trashed both my computers this weekend (power supply died on one, started the other with the cpu fan unhooked and killed windows on both), I guess I should fix that before I buy any more toys (as if three burners wasn't enough already).

Yo ripit-

Sure hope that you have better luck with your 1620's than I am having with my new one-

Just did a burn of four of my new movies - and the BenQ transcoding was wicked slow compared with my AOpen 1648/aap that it replaced - so it looks like the 1620 is going to replace the AOpen on the spare parts shelf-

Mike

Hey Mike, I have a few left over Bytecc enclosures for cheap after I set up my tower. Don't give up! I hate to see a burner die before its time (I feel your pain). My AOpen performs flawlessly with USB2.