Burner - BenQ DW-800A fw ver B2J7
Media - Verbatim Data Life Plus +R 1x-4x (made in Singapore)
Burn speed 8x

Media Information
Disc Regions are 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
Media code/Manufacturer ID MCC 002
Format Type UDF 1.02
Volume Name SPY_KIDS_3_3D
Application id Prassi
Implementation id Prassi
Recording Date/Time (mm/dd/yyyy) 3/27/2004 19:59:38
Format Capacity 4.36GB(4.68GB)
Book Type DVD+R
Media Type DVD+R
Media Id Code Speed 4.0x 5540KBps
Data area starting sector 30000h
Data area end sector 22E12Fh
Linear Density 0.267um/bit
Track Density 0.74um/track
Number of Layers 1

00000000 08 02 00 00 A1 0F 02 00 00 03 00 00 00 25 E1 2F .............%./
00000010 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 4D 43 43 00 00 00 00 00 30 .......MCC.....0
00000020 30 32 00 38 23 54 37 13 02 4A 71 02 90 66 16 16 02.8#T7..Jq..f..
00000030 0B 0B 0A 0A 01 1C 1E 0B 0C 12 12 01 00 00 00 00 ................


The PI spike of 18 and the PO spike of 4 is where the speed change from 6x to 8x occurs.

I paid $71.99 for this burner at CompUSA last week...

My LDW-451s@851s unbolted itself from the drive bay and threw itself into the dumpster...

Yes the BenQ is a wonderful burner. 8x quality surpasses every drive I have at 4x.

Burner - BenQ DW-800A fw ver B2J7
Media - Maxell +R 1x-4x (10 pak Jewel case)
Burn speed 8x

Media Information
Disc Regions are 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
Media code/Manufacturer ID RICOHJPNR01
Format Type UDF 1.02
Volume Name THE_MISSING
Application id Prassi
Implementation id Prassi
Recording Date/Time (mm/dd/yyyy) 3/28/2004 8:04:24
Format Capacity 4.36GB(4.68GB)
Book Type DVD+R
Media Type DVD+R
Media Id Code Speed 4.0x 5540KBps
Available Write Descriptor CLV 8.0x 11080KBps
Available Write Descriptor CLV 6.0x 8310KBps
Available Write Descriptor CLV 4.0x 5540KBps
Available Write Descriptor CLV 2.4x 3324KBps
Data area starting sector 30000h
Data area end sector 22E12Fh
Linear Density 0.267um/bit
Track Density 0.74um/track
Number of Layers 1

00000000 08 02 00 00 A1 0F 02 00 00 03 00 00 00 25 E1 2F .............%./
00000010 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 52 49 43 4F 48 4A 50 4E 52 .......RICOHJPNR
00000020 30 31 02 38 23 54 37 09 00 3C 67 00 AC 62 16 18 01.8#T7.. 00000030 0B 0B 0A 0B 01 19 1B 0B 0B 0E 0F 01 00 00 00 00 ................

Makes you wonder what their upcoming DW830A with their 2nd generation OPC mechanism will do.

This is good - but not the best I've seen Both my NEC ND-2500A and NU DDW-081 is about as good or better than this - especially the NU.

If I had the stack of burners that you do, I may have seen better by now... but in comparison to what my LDW-451s@851s can do this is "top shelf".
I also have an Optorite DD0203 that gives me very good burns (unlike many other people) and use it for my -R media.
My Liteon has been reduced to a kprobe machine...

I have the Cyberdrive 082D that is based on the same chipset (Phillips) and it burns exceptionally well. It is only a + format, but sets the booktype to DVD-ROM by default and produces the most compatable disks I have made. I have the following burners to compare to:

Pioneeer 105
BTC 1004IM
NEC 1300A
Pioneer 106(at work)

The only one that comes close is the 105 with decent media, the rest can't hold a candle to the Cyberdrive. I got the Cyberdrive about 6 weeks ago for ~$70.00.

Heres one of mine.

Arita ( RicohJPNR01)
Burned at 8x with the BenQ 800

...Isn't the BenQ similar to Philips 824k?

cya

Yes, it is.

BenQ's DW800 is a Result of a Joint Venture between Philips and
BenQ.

Just wondering if anyone here has tried the dual format firmware on their DW800A and if so what are your impressions and results?

DVD-R quailty was very good at 2.4X. The 4x quality seemed to need some improvement. That was only a test firmware though. Hopefully they are improving that also.

DMagic1
Has the dual format firmware affected (better or worse) the +R capabilities of the drive at all or is it essentially the same?
I don't mind testing but I don't want to give up the excellent write quality on +R that this drive has just to be able to do -R.

If the dual format firmware didn't require a fee then this wouldn't matter as I could just go back.
But apparently if you go back you would need to re-purchase again to get dual format again...
Am I right or mis-informed?

I will gladly purchase if the +R side is unaffected by the "upgrade".

DVD+R doesn't seem affected.

Yes, if you flash back to DVD+RW only you would have to pay again to go back to DVD+-RW. Not a policy I like at all.

Maybe I can give you a little more info.

to DMagic1:
you said:
"Yes, if you flash back to DVD+RW only you would have to pay again to go back to DVD+-RW"

How can I flash back to DVD+R/RW only??? I have bad experience with B3C7. And when i start the B2J7 updater it tells me:
"This firmware version can not be upgrade"...
Can you help to go back to single + format???

I prefer B3B7 over B3C7. Just seemed a bit better to me.

On BenQ's site is the B2J7+FW firmware that allows you to go back to B2x7 series.

Has anyone given B3D7 a decent workout?
Was it's -R performance "horrific" or was it just not as "clean" as the +R? (Hard to beat the +R capabilities...)
They pulled it from the download site for some reason other than "this was only a test" as the others still exist.

Does anyone have info on what BenQ originaly stated on the "dual format" firmware?
Will this be a supported firmware?
Is their intent to get it to 4x on -R or will they be satisfied at 2x?

I would hope they update with a new one soon.

It was to my understanding that they planned on making 4x dvd-r. They said that at the same time as the 2.4x dvd-r release.

I guess I haven't given the 4x dvd-r a real workout. The only dvd-r I have now are some ritek g04. My kprobes on these were much higher at 4x than what I was getting at 2.4x. It was still acceptable but I would like to see better. To really test I need a few more brands of different quality.

The C't article analyze the B3B7 on 3 - brands and they rated very high in quality at a low speed though 2.4x.

DVD-R .............. DVD-R ................ DVD-R
Maxell ......... Taiyo Yuden ............ Verbatim
.............................. (Fuji/TDK) ......... (MCC)

BenQ B3B7 2.4 2.4 2.4
DW-800A 74 / + 87 / ++ 87 / ++

NEC 1.06 8 8 8
ND-2500A 57 / + 58 / + 54 / +
4 4 4
82 / ++ 88 / ++ 85 / ++

Pioneer 1.05 4 4 4
DVR-107D 77 / ++ 76 / ++ 43 / O

that table may not line up right. Score of 100 is perfect. ++ is best also.

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtop...=13405&start=0

any kprobe scans of dvd MINUS rs burned with BenQ DW-800A ?

Here's one I did yesterday.
Started burning at 4x then dropped to 2.4x for the rest of the burn??? This is with B3D7 firmware.
This is a jewel case Maxell 1x-4x -R (made in japan)

Media Information
Disc Regions are 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
Media code/Manufacturer ID MXL RG02
Format Type UDF 1.02
Volume Name LEAGUE_OF_GENTLEMEN
Application id Prassi
Implementation id Prassi
Recording Date/Time (mm/dd/yyyy) 4/10/2004 23:20:40
Format Capacity 4.38GB(4.71GB)
Book Type DVD-R
Media Type DVD-R
Media Id Code Speed 4.0x 5540KBps
Available Write Descriptor CLV 4.0x 5540KBps
Available Write Descriptor CLV 2.4x 3324KBps
Write Strategy Speed 4.0x 5540KBps
2x Speed OPC beta 0A
2x Speed OPC power 0E
2x Write Strategy field 1 15 87 78 90
2x Write Strategy field 2 88 80 00 00 00 00
4x Speed OPC beta 05
4x Speed OPC power 16
4x Write Strategy field 1 0D 0F 0B 08
4x Write Strategy field 2 97 07 0E 0B
4x Write Strategy field 3 A4 00 24 00
4x Speed OPC beta multi-pulse 05
4x Speed OPC power multi-pulse 19
4x Write Strategy field 4 17 A8 89 75
4x Write Strategy field 5 C6 89 88 80 00 00
4x Write Strategy field 6 00 00 D0 00 00
Data area starting sector 30000h
Data area end sector 23101Fh
Linear Density 0.267um/bit
Track Density 0.74um/track
Number of Layers 1

00000000 00 6C 00 00 01 40 C1 FD 9E D8 52 00 02 86 0E 11 .l...@....R.....
00000010 87 89 80 00 03 4D 58 4C 20 52 47 00 04 30 32 00 .....MXL RG..02.
00000020 00 00 00 00 05 88 80 00 00 00 02 00 06 0A 0E 15 ................

Here's another.
This one made it all the way at 4x, burned iso with DVD Decrypter.
This is with B3D7 firmware.
This is a jewel case Maxell 1x-4x -R (made in japan)

I 19:04:41 Operation Started!
I 19:04:41 Source File: C:\Documents and Settings\paul\My Documents\DVD_RIP\xtra_gentlemen.iso
I 19:04:41 Source File Sectors: 2,285,596 (MODE1/2048)
I 19:04:41 Source File Size: 4,680,900,608 bytes
I 19:04:41 Destination Device: [1:1:0] ATAPI DVD DUAL 8X4X12 B3D7
I 19:04:41 Destination Media Type: DVD-R (Disc ID: MXL RG02) (Speeds: 2.4x, 4x)
I 19:04:41 Destination Media Sectors: 2,297,888
I 19:04:41 Write Mode: DVD
I 19:04:41 Write Speed: 4x
I 19:04:41 Test Mode: No
I 19:04:41 BURN-Proof: Enabled
I 19:04:41 Filling Buffer...
I 19:04:42 Writing LeadIn...
I 19:05:08 Writing Image...
I 19:19:14 Synchronising Cache...
I 19:20:44 Operation Successfully Completed! - Duration: 00:16:03
I 19:20:44 Average Write Rate: 5,409 KB/s (3.9x) - Maximum Write Rate: 5,561 KB/s (4.0x)

very good results

Hello,

Is anyone willing to sent me the Benq DW800a ''test'' firmware B3D7 ?
Or if anyone knows a download source it would be okay too.
(it is still not online again at the Benq site)

At this moment i'm still using B3C7.

CDpower