I got the black friday special I/O Magic from Staples yesterday and to my dissapointment it was a BTC 1016IM,
not the BENQ 1620 that I wanted. They must have changed drives recently. I promptly returned that junk and went to Newegg.com and ordered the BENQ 1620 for $59 + $5 fex-ex. I have dealt with newegg before and they were great. It was hard to decide between the NEC and the BENQ but I chose the BENQ because of the bitsetting features not available with the NEC.

Yep found out the same thing returned mine also. I wonder how many will be disappointed this christmas.

mine was DW1620 with fw G7C9 said BenQ Corporation right on the drive itself

that sucks..... glad I did not go for it! but I did get a KDS 17" LCD for $198

I will be getting mine Tuesday as I ordered it online. For my first DVD Burner, is it that bad if I get the BTC that I should return it unopened? I just want to use this one on my wifes system for dvd+rw DATA backups!

some are and some aren't. Need to look at the specifications carefully when getting one. the benq will only be 2.4X for dual layer.

got 2 I/O magic from staples and both is benq 1620. One added extra feature is face plate came in two color: black or beige.

anyhow 1620 B7P9 can burn dual layer @ 4x

Well, I will have to wait for Tuesday and see if there is a sticker on my box that says A079, I think that means BTC.

Lucky me then, Got a BENQ 1620 and it even came with B7C9.... no need to do complicated cross flashing from G7xx....

Sigh, I got a BTC from a Staples in CA. Brought it back the same day because I don't need the hassle since I'm only here in CA for Thanksgiving and then I'm flying back. I ended up ordering one for $60 + $5 from Newegg instead and had it shipped to where I'm flying back to. Oh well.

I got the external 16x

Model Number: IDVD16DDME

Computer Name: DVD 16X

Im pretty sure its not Benq becuase it does not support bitsetting, if it did it would show up as an option in CDSPEED right, it wouldnt be gray

oh and i have a 1620, with the same Prodisc04 -R the 1620 goes at 12X the EXTERNAL IOMAGIC is 8, funny enough in a LACIE 8X(NEC 2500) it goes 4X I did some shopping today, got the external IOMAGIC and LACIE for fun, both are def going back. the LACIE doesnt even have an eject button,

I must admit the IO MAGIC Looks VERY cool. Its bulky but on top on one half left side is raise up .5 centimeter, and the wall of that is one long LED and it has all these reactions, if there was a 1620, I would def keep it!

BTW> Both of these units were compusa

If you want a retail BENQ 1620 I got mine at zipzoomfly.com (AKA googlegear)

I went to four different Staples today (MD area) and found one that have the BenQ OEM in stock (1 left), and exchanged my BTC OEM with it without any problem. My friend also exchange the Teon CMC with MCC003.

FYI, he bought the I/O Magic external with code IDVD16DDBE, 8x DVD+RW and 4x DVD+R DL, so we're sure it's not BenQ.

The latest firmware makes the BENQ 1620 4X DL.

YMMV on this. I'm glad I got a BenQ. They didn't even bother to put an IO magic sticker on the drive

Was really lucky too. I was a split second too late and some guy grabbed the last one on the table. Then while I was in the long checkout lines, I found one sitting on top of a shelf totally out of place (someone must have saw the super long lines and said forget it and dumped it there)!

zevia,
How can you tell the difference in Teon spindles of CMC & MCC003?
Thanks for your response,
dishinit

Zevia, I would like to know what is this external IO Magic,

quite funny, we may have passed each other, well prob not, I didnt go to staples, I got it at compusa Towson.

I got a drive on BF and it turned out to be a BTC, after looking at the top of the box it clearly said "F:A071". Figured I would give the drive a chance so I tried burning a few regular CDR's with it, and guess what 3 coasters! So this is going back to staples in a couple days. Does anyone know if the Benq versions of the I/O magic state on the label what the firmware is? This could be helpfull if they let me exchange it to know whether im getting a Benq or another crappy BTC because if its another BTC im just going to get my money back instead.

robx82, did you cross post?
anyway, here is what I suggested in answer to your similiar question;
see post #2:
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=116361

look on side of box under "specifications"
should be: Read (40X CD)

The Teon CMC has 3 white protective foams on the top of the spindle while the MCC003 has only 1 foams thus makes the top disk very close to the box. That's the only thing I can tell.

Sorry my friend didnot open the box yet and I'm already home now (NY).

Another way to tell seems to be the picture of the drive as well. BTC has led about 1/3 of way from left. Benq has led next to eject button. Benq also has industry stickers above eject button.

Heh, just noticed that the BTC box is a bit longer and about a third wider. The art work on the left side is centered on the BTC box but doesn't fit well on the Benq. One might surmise that the BTC is the intended drive and I/O Magic used Benq to fill a temp. shortage or get them to market before the holidays.

Talk about over-analyzing!

Yeah, it's more likely that I/O Magic just doesn't care too much about how the box art looks.