Does anyone have the BenQ version of this IO Magic drive? I do and for some reason the discs I burn won't play. I keep getting a "Check Region Code" error message on my Aiwa DVD player. I got mine at the Staples BF sale. Sometimes it won't even recognize its own burned disc.

I also have an Emprex 8x and an IO Magic 8x with 7 in 1 card reader (both BTC/Top G drives) and at least some of the discs burned will play (depending on which media I use). However, both those Top G drives don't burn reliably at 8x like the BenQ.

From the drive sticker it says it was made in Malaysia in August of 2004. Model number is 1620.OC1 or something like that.

i dunno if im answering it correctly, but, can u you make sure your aiwa dvd player plays that certain region of the dvd? (or if its region-free)

My BenQ is set to Region 1 and I use DVDShrink with the Region Free option checked. The Aiwa is a Region 1 player, bought at a local store back in 2000.

Do the discs burned in the 1620 playback in any of your PC's DVD drives ? also can you test a disc in a friends DVD player also.

If both work it could be something to do with the Aiwa player itself though I'm not sure exactly what.

I regularly use DVD Shrink without problem but try another program just to see what happens like Clone DVD 2
http://www.elby.ch/products/clone_dvd/index.html

Also what firmware you running on that drive ?

Which software are you using to create the DVD? Since the Aiwa will read some media and not others, I would suggest that you try quality Made in Japan media from TDK, FUJI, Maxell, and Sony.

I use DVDShrink. It burns automatically after encoding, but I was told that it's just actually incorporating Nero's DVD burning capabilities. I'm using the Nero that came with one of my drives.

Anyways, the media I've used are

Memorex 8x + and -
Fuji 8x -
GQ 4x and 8x +
Dynex 8x +
TDK 8x +
Verbatim Digital Movie 4x -

Any of those brands burned in the IOMagic/Benq will not work. They all bring up the "Check Region" error message on the Aiwa. Any of those brands burned on my Emprex/BTC 8x or my IOMagic/BTC 8X or my brother's HiVal (supposedly Optorite) 4x work fine, with the HiVal doing the most reliable burns (least amount of errors if any among the four drives).

Just maybe your player has to have the region set to region1. Change the region free setting in Shrink to region 1. Let us know if that works.

I burned a backup of Red Planet. On the DVDShrink options, I unchecked the Region Free option and instead checked the Region 1 option.

My player still displays "Check Regional Code" error message.

Maybe I can send a burned DVD to someone here to see if it works for them and in turn they can send a burned DVD to me to see if it works in my Aiwa player.

I saw an Apex 1200 for $29.99 the other day. I heard those play just about anything. I'm thinking of getting that and giving the Aiwa to my mom...

are you sure your operating system is regionfree? you would need to have your operating system region free as well. download DVD REGION KILLER. it's a freeware.
http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/downloads/dvdrk.html
use mirror 3 to download it.

Operating system as in WinXP? If so, how can I tell? Also, the problem persists even when I put the IO Magic/Benq drive in my mom's P3 933mhz Gateway computer for a few days.

The discs did work in my coworker's PS2, though it did take longer to load up.

You should uncheck all region setting (default) in DVDShrink, this makes it region free; then the burned DVD should be able to play on any DVD player.