I got it from three days only, but already i'm worried for the read transfer test. It seems me better pioneer scans. Do you think is it normal?

1° scan: benq 1640 - verbatim
2° scan: benq 1640 - tdk

3° scan: pioneer A06 - verbatim
4° scan: pioneer A06 - tdk

You can't actually compare 1640 16x read with 106D 6x read speed. BenQ is 3x faster and that's why probably the drive picks up some noise.

Please do a Quality Scan on both disks with your 1640 so we can take a look and comment on your read problem.

Dang, I don't understand wtf is up with these damn 1640's. Everytime I look in the Benq forum, there's another thread about read problems with this drive. I have the same kind of thing with the whacked out speed drops (only with the 1640, NOT my other drives). People will say, "it's maybe the media" or whatever, and maybe for some it's true. But for me, pristine discs can't even be read well with this drive.


And ya, I turned off the riplock and that's when it happens, some people will talk about that if it works with stock fw then there's nothing wrong. BS man, is this thing king ripper or not? I'm saying not, along with a alot of other people with this drive. I think people who say that are one of the real lucky ones who got one that always reads well, or people who don't wanna believe this drive isn't as great as some think. I don't think it deserves the pedestal some people put it up on. If I wanted a drive that worked well with stock fw only, I'd buy a second rate drive, which is how I'm starting to view this 1640. My 1625 kicks it's ass all over the place for reading stability, so do 3 other drives I have, and this even my second 1640. I mean why does this drive ALWAYS struggle to keep it's read speed when others, even cheap crappy drives don't. I been doing all my ripping with my 1625, cause I just don't trust this drive. I'd get another, but I think I'd have a 50% chance of gettin another just as bad or worse.

Sorry to rage on about it, but I think this drive gets too much good press. It burns very well sure, about as well as my 1625 or my NEC3500, and not any better. But for reading, my damn NEC does better, and the 3500 is even known to be a mediocre reader. If I can get 2 discs in a row to read without severe read speed drops, I'm lucky. And NO, it's not all due to how fast this drive is trying to read. The 1625 goes nearly as fast, and reads every disc the 1640 craps out on flawlessly. I mean, look at his scans (just like mine) dropping to 2x over and over and over....

Then get a DVD-ROM to do the ripping for you!

LOL ya I know, but that doesn't change the fact that many of these 1640's are lame ducks for reading, which drops it a notch for being a good drive in my book. And the whole "works with stock then it's OK" thing doesn't fly with me. Working well with riplock removed and other enhancements is what separates the OK drives from the great drives, and I don't think this 1640 has got what it takes to be considered so great by so many people. I'm very happy with my 1625 ripping, faster than almost any DVD-ROM and nearly as cheap. I just get frustrated seeing all the people talking about what a fantastic reader it is, meanwhile theres thread after thread of read problems with it. Somehow I think when they come out with a 1650, even if it isn't quite as good as the 1640, alot of Benq fanatics will rave about how great it is.

I was just saying that I don't think this drive is all that great, the 1620/1625 I think are better. I'll have to seriously consider ever getting another Benq, the only thing that's saved them in my eyes is the fact that my 1625 is so awesome, or I'd dump them for good.

Yo-

I have mine mated with a AOpen 1648/aap Pro-

This combo seems to work very well together-

Will pop a 8gb movie copy in 35 minutes using TYG02 with a QS of 95-97-

I'm happy with that-

Mike

Ya I hear ya bigmike, I'm not disputing this drive as a top notch burner. It deserves it's rep as a great burner, but as a reader absolutely not. I would never recommend it to anyone as a single use drive for reading and writing, maybe for stock fw for a very basic user. Makes me sad when I see anyone talking about what a great reader it is, it's just not, unless you wanna stay at stock 12x then it's OK. Even then I've seen some people get problems. It's not a Ferrari, it's a Ford.
It's great at burning only, nothing more.

Well, Im pretty pleased with my drive.. Its great at both reading and burning.. I guess its a Ford with a Ferrari engine..

Looks like you have the same or similar problem I'm having (though I'm using the stock firmware).

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=149940

Greats, i'm happy to know i'm not alone and paranoid.
Good idea DVD_ADDICT, but i can't get two cars, one to go job and another to return home . I need only one! Are there hopes for a new firmware that improves reading capability?

Does your drive produce this sound to when spin down en spin up again?
Because I had a benchmark like that as well and my benq produce this sound!

http://media.putfile.com/scratchdw1640

The benq support said it wasn't normal and advise me to do an RMA

No, i don't hear that sound, so i can't do an RMA .

Oh yeah, finally a miracle , i've crossflashed befb164b and now the reading is another story, with the same dvds i obtain a perfect curve. I hope it doesn't burn before the new original firmware .

Yo-

Would you mind translating that into something we can understand - I personally don't understand what you are trying to say-

TIA

Mike

I think he was trying to say that he crossflashed his 1640 into a 164B with FW BEFB, and his read issues dissapeared. The I hope it doesn't burn part... probably "I hope the drive doesn't fail before BenQ releases a new official 1640 firmware, I'd hate to not be able to RMA it".

Or something to that effect.
Q.

Yo Q-

Missed ur calling - should probably be a geeks translator-eh!

Mike

Sounds like the drive was fine all along and he was having an IDE throughput issue on his system and the UDMA 4 gave him a higher transfer rate.

UDMA 2 is fast enough for 16x but it doesn't have a lot of margin to spare and anything that slows it down like other load on the CPU or other IDE activity can cause the drive to slow down while the interface catches up. UDMA 4 makes it a lot easier for the system to keep up with the drive.

Mike

Can you flash a BenQ1640 internal drive with this new firmware with out using an external enclosure?

Traduzione: ho flashato con il bios 164b e ora la lettura è un'altra storia, con gli stessi dvd ottengo una perfetta curva. Spero che il masterizzatore non bruci prima del nuovo firmware originale

Yo-

Much better - now I understand completely-

Mike

Yeah, I'm glad we cleared that up!

Yes, with either BQflasher + official firmware or .cvt, or Windwflash + cvt. There are links available for everything elsewhere in this forum.

Q.

Thankyou for the English version, as you said there are links available for everything on this forum, even translation.