16x DVD Writers Are Here!!

[BigPockets]

We are glad to announce the arrival of the Benq DW1600A 16x DVD+RW (DL) Retail Boxed DVD Writer..

we are offering this drive out at a special starter price of £89.99 :bow:

here are a list of the specs :-

Performance Max. DVD writing speed 16x (21600KBps) +R CAV
Max. DVD Re-writing speed 4x (5400KBps) +RW
Max. DVD DL writing speed 2.4X (3240KBps) +R Dual Layer
Max. CD writing speed 40x (6000KBps) CAV
Max. CD Re-writing speed 24x (3600KBps)
Max. DVD Reading speed 16x (21600KBps) CAV
Max. CD reading speed 40x (6000KBps) CAV
Seek time 120ms (DVD) / 120ms (CD)

In August 2004 BenQ will provide a free firmware upgrade which upgrades your DVD RW to:
8x (10800KBps) -R, 4x (5400KBps) -RW

Buffer Size 2MB
Interface ATA/ATAPI
IDE Mode PIO mode 0/1/2/3/4
DMA mode 0/1/2
UDMA mode 0/1/2
Disc Size 8cm/12cm
Writing Mode DVD
DVD Data and Video

CD
Disc-at-once
Track-at-once
Multi-session
Packet writing
CD Digital Audio
Direct Over write on CDRW
Simulated Writing

Disc Formats DVD

Write:
DVD+R Dual layer 8.5GB
DVD+R 4.7GB
DVD+RW 4.7GB

In August 2004 BenQ will provide a free firmware upgrade which makes your DVD RW compatible with:
DVD-R 4.7GB
DVD-RW 4.7GB (Close session)

Read:
DVD-5
DVD-9
DVD-10
DVD-18
DVD+R/-R/+RW/-RW

CD

CD-DA
CD-ROM XA (m1, m2f1/m2f2)
CD-R
CD-RW
Bootable CD
Photo CD (single & multi-session)
Video CD
Super Video CD
CD-Extra
Mixed-mode CD
CD-Text
CD-Graphics

OS Compatibility Windows 98/ ME / 2000/ XP
Power Requirement DC 5V +/- 5%, ripple 100mVpp
DC12V+/- 10%, ripple 200mVpp
System Requirement IBM PC compatible Pentium III 550MHz CPU or above
128MB DRAM, 100MB free HDD space for CD/DVD recording related software installation. 1GB free HDD space for CD Image recording


Just Follow the Link!!
www.BigPockets.co.uk (http://www.bigpockets.co.uk) :wave:

[Malabbey]

Is there 16x media available yet?

[BigPockets]

not today no... but the big guns (CMC, Ritek etc) have starting shipping their 16x disc's to uk...So should be in, in the next week or two..

[john316]

Hmm, my poor LG 8x DVD+R/4xDVD-R drive is heading towards Replacementville me thinks with drives like these appearing!

[Alastair]

Hmm, my poor LG 8x DVD+R/4xDVD-R drive is heading towards Replacementville me thinks with drives like these appearing!

I only bought a 106 (Pioneer 4x) at xmas.. fast moving technology

[pds]

Found this review looks a good drive

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=9648&PageId=0

[Gavin]

Worth waiting to make sure the -R support is okay in the firmware update I'd say....

[broona]

Tom's Hardware (http://www6.tomshardware.com/storage/20040707/index.html) have a review too, very tempting! :n0rty:

[crazyp]

Interesting...parts of the Tom's Hardware r/v suggest that 16x may be a bit of a milestone and that it'll take some newer (expensive) technology to overcome this (at least for a while I guess).

Crazyp

[BigPockets]

yeap thats right, its becuase of the speed the disc will be spinning at, if it goes went much faster the stress on the disc could cause it to shatter in to little tiny bits (like a shrapnel bomb) :eek:

for it to go any faster an new format will have to be brought forward....

[JamesThomson]

Think i'll keep my 106 until the price of DL discs drops a bit and to see if Pioneer have a new drive coming soon.

[BigPockets]

pioneer are releasing a drive but not till the end of the 4th qt this year...

[spiderman123]

bigpockets, i also only bought by 106 at xmas from you , i think you guys should treat them like cars and allows us to part ex them ;)

[BigPockets]

i don't know how to take that... :thinking:

you think of us as used cars salesmen?? :shrug:

(LOL)

we had thought of it but it is not just logistically possible for it to happen....

[Swafe]

does this write - at all until the firmware update?


also it reads dvd18, does this mean there planning on releasing quad layer DVDrs in the future?

[Emperordalek]

Argghh, Sixteen speed. I have enough trouble keeping my site up to date as it is. Oh well I guess I'll just :D and bear it!

On a sub note I haven't upgraded to DL yet as I don't feel the cost of the media makes it worthwhile and I'm sure it won't be long before Minus Dual layer is available and that will mean another new drive.

[BigPockets]

only a DVD+ drive at the moment...

DVD18....quad layer :shrug: more likley for one of the up and coming formats..

new media is always expensive to start with after a month or two it drops quicker than a brick out of a plane......... it will follow trend..

[JamesThomson]

Remember only a few months ago we were payin £1 for quality Riteks and these are now available for 30p.

[Gavin]

Isn't DVD18 double sided, dual layer discs? It's talking about reading of these, which all DVD-ROM's should do - not many of them about though, but there is some, Men In Black SE springs to mind IIRC....

[Swafe]

tbh if would be DVD9 x 2, it would be the same as a DVD9, just able to write on both sides

im pretty sure the DVD18 refers to a disk, with 18gb on one side

[AWaite]

DVD18 is simply a dual layer double sided disk.

You can't fit 18GB on one side.

[Swafe]

your right, it is infact double sided, never seen any for sale tho :(

[BigPockets]

nope dvd-18 is a double sided dvd DL disc...

[AWaite]

My T2: Ultimate Edition was a DVD18, but I think it's cheaper to produce two DVD9s.

[adam.mt]

A number of new 16x drives are due on the market very soon: Benq, Asus, AOpen etc.

However, I think the one to watch out for is the new Pioneer (A108 retail/108 oem):
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=17045
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=17071

16x speed to both + and - discs, and 4x +DL speed!!! Due in Europe about September if not slightly earlier. Only drawback is that it uses Z-CLV to achieve the 16x speed rating and unfortunately that's not as fast as P-CAV (this means that the P-CAV Plextor 12x drive actually out-performs the Pioneer 16x!).

Now we just need a company to announce a 16x (P-)CAV drive, since that's technically as fast as we will get (as mentioned, discs are subject to breaking if spun faster than that, hence why DVD readers max'ed out at 16x).

PS. As already pointed out, a "DVD-18" is simply just a double-sided "DVD-9". Wouldn't think will be that popular (if/when they make them) since "DVD-10" discs (double-sided "DVD-5") hardly sold at all, despite only costing slightly more than 2 standard discs (thus, why DVD-10s are currently hard to find).

[Swafe]

why does the drive say it can read a dvd18 then ? cos if its just a double sided dvd9, and it can read dvd9, isnt that already obvious ?

[Much]

Presumably there's a difference in overall thickness, and a difference in depth (to ensure this increased dimension isn't too excessive to fit the specs) - thus the laser will have to focus differently and the platter will have to be capable of holding and spinning the disc.
IMHO of course. :)

[RonnyJ]

I'm burning at 1x at the moment just to save money on disks :D

[euro]

Just when i was about to make a puchase.. the standard changes. Are these going to be reliable or will there be some expensive coasters on my desk if i get one...

[nmirza]

Does this mean that all the 8 speed DVD writers are going to crash in price?

[BigPockets]

they might? or they might not.. depends on how good 16x takes off..