BenQ DW400A DVD Writer

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BenQ DW400A

OEM:Philips-BenQ
Chipset:Philips

16xCDR CLV
10xCDRW CLV
~~DVD-R~~
~~DVD-RW~~
~~DVD-RDL~~
4xDVD+R CLV
4xDVD+RW CLV
~~DVD+RDL~~
~~DVD-RAM~~

~~BD-R~~
~~BD-RE~~
~~BD-R DL~~
~~BD-RE DL~~
~~HDDVD-R~~
~~HDDVD-RW~~
~~HDDVD-RDL~~
~~HDDVD-RWDL~~
~~HDDVD-RAM~~

40xCD
12xDVD
~~BDROM~~
~~HDDVD~~

EIDE, 8MB
BitSetting
More info

$200

8.9/10
15 votes
Read 22
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DVD Media comments for this DVD Writer (click on the link to read the comments):
1 Cicero 4xDVD+R (MEDIA ID001) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor.
1 Digital Matrix 4xDVD+R (MEDIA ID001) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor.
1 GreatAZO 4xDVD+R (VDSPMSAB001) comments, 0 good, 1 mixed, 0 poor.
1 KHypermedia 2.4xDVD+R (CMC MAG.R01) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor.
1 Memorex 4xDVD+R (RICOHJPNR01) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor.
Post your DVD Media comments here

Comments

22 comments, Showing 1 to 22 comments

I bought this in 2005 as a refurbed unit. When i tried to flash it to the latest firmware it would not allow it. I looked at the spec's reported by the computer and it showed it as an 8x burner. At the time the 822w had just came out. Apparently part of the factory refurb was to utilize the 8x firmware. I got an 8x unit advertised as a 4x unit at a bargain basement price ($34.00). I immediately bought another and put it into storage. Works great !

Comments posted by gerald butler from United States, January 29, 2006. Rated this writer No rating.

I did not see the Bit Setting utility on the web site. There was a utility liste for the DW800. Is this the same utility? Will this program work on the DW400?

Comments posted by jrzguy from United States, August 23, 2004. Rated this writer No rating.

i have been using this dvdrw and have had no problems!! i bought it from tiger direct for only 39.95 after mail-in-rebate ... it is definitely worth a lot more!!!

Comments posted by rainydaysofjune from United States, June 24, 2004. Rated this writer 10 of 10.

The Bit setting (book type) utility is now available on the
BenQ North American site as well as the Global site, a word
of warning though, this utility has a bug in it, when pointed
to your BenQ drive it says drive not supported, when you point
it to another DVD drive it will actually be pointing to the BenQ
drive, at least that was the case for me and at least one other
fellow that I know of.
It will change the bit setting (book type) of your drive from
DVD+R to DVD-ROM and allow your backups to be played in even the
finicky players like the Toshiba SD2700, it can also change the
DVD+RW to DVD-ROM as well as change the book type on +RW media.
I have informed BenQ tech support of the bug, not sure when it
will be addressed, but even with the bug in it the program will
function provide you don't choose the BenQ drive.

Comments posted by walter from Other, February 07, 2004. Rated this writer 10 of 10.

Curious as to what program to use to set bit setting on this drive.
Notice that one user, Tester I believe said he changed the bit setting but didn't mention the program he used.
I have the nero express that came with the drive (5.5.10.26)
and Dvdinfo Pro 2.20, they both say you need a ricoh type drive
to change the bit settings, I haven't tried either program for fear
of hosing something up (at least until I can get more blanks).
Well anyways, I just got this drive and burned a movie onto the
included DVD+RW media (says Philips 041 using DVDinfo) using the
Nero express at 4X speed and the disc is playable in my cheaper
Digix HT 1056A and Mintek (can't remember model number) stand alones
but says check disk on my Toshiba SD2700.
I'm thinking that changing the bit setting (book type?) to dvd rom
will allow this +RW to play in my Toshiba SD2700 player.

Comments posted by Walter from Other, February 07, 2004. Rated this writer 10 of 10.

I've just buyed an BenQ DW400A and the supported formats are:
DVD-5 DVD-9 DVD-10 DVD+RW4.7GB DVD+R4.7GB DVD-RW4.7GB DVD-R4.7GB.

Comments posted by Limax from Other, December 31, 2003. Rated this writer 10 of 10.

The nec nd 1300a dvd writer in my opinion is the best value burner on the marketat at this present time £86 from scan international. (oem) had it 3 weeks not a single coaster using ritek grade a media and mirror platinum.install was easy just make sure you set drive to slave and not master.i am using tmpgenc dvd author which has it's own writing tool and nero 6.latest firmware available from scan international under products-media-dvd media-mirror platinum.just click download latest firmware.one last thing a tip for the beginners,if your using win xp make sure you use ntfs file system and not fat 32. with fat 32 file system you can't go above 4gb

Comments posted by craig from Other, November 09, 2003. Rated this writer 10 of 10.

There is another firmware update that helps with compatibilty,also go to the BenQ global site and get the book type app.
http://global.benq.com/asp/Front/BenqMain.asp?MenuHead=125&MenuLeft1=&MenuLeft2=&MenuLeft3=&ShowType=class&ClassName=MDrivers&ClassKind=1&DataID=10199&GenMenu=&ParentId=0

Comments posted by Skillz from Other, November 06, 2003. Rated this writer No rating.

Comments posted by Walter from Other, November 03, 2003. Rated this writer 10 of 10.

New firmware at BenQ Global.

Comments posted by skillnc from Other, October 29, 2003. Rated this writer 10 of 10.

After update the firmware, this driver works well and can write +R and +rw @4X. Good driver for the price(less than $100 now!)

Comments posted by gooddriver from Other, October 19, 2003. Rated this writer 10 of 10.

Fast writer for +R/RW format. It work well using Memorex +R.

Comments posted by k from Other, October 19, 2003. Rated this writer 9 of 10.

I would like to correct my comment below. The problem I reported is due to Nero. I removed nero and reinstalled it, DW400A then perform well and all other DVD player and DVD ROM can see DVD it burn. Everything seems OK. It take about 13 minute to burn one DVD, about one minute faster than LG 4040B or Sony 510 which need about 14 minutes.It does 4X on +RW too!

Good driver to buy if you just need +R/RW format.

Comments posted by tester from Other, October 19, 2003. Rated this writer No rating.

I got the bunner and try burn a video DVD using Memorex +R. No problem with burnning,but the drive itself had difficult to read the DVD and other DVD player can't read it. I used Nero 6 @4X speed to burn.Burn in the same way but a LG 4040B and everything works.

Return it right away before more it kills more DVD disc.

Comments posted by Tester from Other, October 12, 2003. Rated this writer No rating.

Have this for a month now. Have burned memorex 4x and tdk 4x which are ricoch. Also burned philips 2.4x which is cmc with no problem so far. Burned dvd-rw by infodis is also very smooth. I have also updated the firmware so that I can use the bit setting capability. That's what I like most about this drive, bit setting. My old old ...old Toshiba sd2109 can read dvd+r when I set the bit to dvd-rom. That's just awesome. One small problem, the eject button is not responsive. I have to press it in a certain way in order for it to eject. Also, firmware is not too compatible with dvdinfo. Checking philips 2.4x dvd+r will not show media id. I have to run dvdinfo on my toshiba dvd-rom/ram drive to figure out the media id of philips 2.4x. I highly recommend using the bit setting option. It may help to solve compatiblity issue.

Comments posted by ktton from Other, October 10, 2003. Rated this writer 9 of 10.

I have had this drive 2weeks,can burn disk and can only be seen on the BenQ, doesn't matter what media I use verbatim, fuji, memorex all the same result disc error when I put disc in the players.

Comments posted by Skillz from Other, October 08, 2003. Rated this writer 2 of 10.

Have finally sorted out the DMA problem.... It wasnt the Writer it was Windows XP that was the problem. Deleted IDE Channel 2 in device manager to force Win XP to recognise drives again and all working OK.

This drive works well, especially with its 8MB buffer. Works well with RITEK or DATASAFE discs.

Comments posted by Steve Rosetti from Other, October 08, 2003. Rated this writer No rating.

Have this writer a couple of weeks.
It burns DVD+R/RW using 2.4x speed without problems. Burning the same video project on the same Media (Philips 1-4x DVD+RW) with the max speed of 4x the Disks can't be read by other drives. I'm wondering why others doesn't have these problems (my firmware b1hy without update).

The enclosed software (Nero Express, Nero INCD?, WinDVD 4.0, WinDVD Creator) is ok.

Comments posted by Mac Laine from Other, October 08, 2003. Rated this writer 6 of 10.

Have had this writer for a few days. After flashing to the latest firmware B1HY. DMA no longer available. Also does not like Bulkpaq media.

Comments posted by Steve from Other, September 30, 2003. Rated this writer No rating.

Burned over a dozen DVD+R's and never had a problem. Used my Verbaitm and Imation DVD+RW's many times and they work great too. I have had problems burning two brands of CDRW's but they are a few years old. CD-R's burn fine. I'm using a rebadged ULTRA purchased from TigerDirect.com for $100. Very happy with this writer.

Comments posted by Alan from Other, September 27, 2003. Rated this writer 10 of 10.

HOLA!!! . yo también me compré uno!!! y me funciona suuper bien!!
también hice un update al firmware antes de grabar jejejejeje

y pro el precio es suuper bueno!!!!
me gustó....!

No se cuantas "copias" soporta ( vida util)..
y no sé como compilar mis mp3s en el DVD.. quizás sea incompatibilidad de mi DVD player (marca RECCO). mmm bueno seguiré jugando con este productito! :P

Comments posted by GAbo__ from Other, September 11, 2003. Rated this writer 9 of 10.

I have had this writer for a week now and i am very happy with it. It burns everthing I want it to from VCD's to DVD's. Before I even used it I updated the firmware from BenQ. It has worked flawlessly since. The only drawback is that it doesn't burn DVD-R, DVD-RW, or DVD-RAM. But for the price it is a great value. I should note that it was sold under the brand name of I/O Magic model #IDVDRW4. I paid $160 Cdn. for it at Best Buy. Excellent value!!

Comments posted by Travis from Other, August 27, 2003. Rated this writer 8 of 10.

22 comments, Showing 1 to 22 comments

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OEM
Original Equipment Manufacturer.

Chipset
The manufacturer of the main chipset the DVD writer/recorder is based on.

Write support / Read support
DVD-R = Works
~~DVD-R~~ = Is not supported
DVD-R? = Not tested

Single Layer(4.7GB) write speeds
1x (CLV) = about 58 minutes
2x (CLV) = about 29 minutes
2.4x (CLV) = about 24 minutes
4x (CLV) = about 14.5 minutes
6x (CLV/ZCLV) = about 10-12 minutes
8x (PCAV/ZCLV) = about 8-10 minutes
12x (PCAV/ZCLV) = about 6.5-7.5 minutes
16x (CAV/ZCLV) = about 6-7 minutes

Dual/Double Layer(8.5GB) write speeds
1x CLV = about 105 minutes
2.4x CLV = about 44 minutes
4x CLV = about 27 minutes

Single Layer (4.7GB) read speeds
1x read speed is 1.321MB/s = ~56 minutes
6x CAV (avg. ~4x) read speed is max 7.93MB/s = ~14 minutes
8x CAV (avg. ~6x) read speed is max 10.57MB/s = ~10 minutes
12x CAV (avg. ~8x) read speed is max 15.85MB/s = ~7 minutes
16x CAV (avg. ~12x) read speed is max 21.13MB/s = ~5 minutes

DVD Write types
CAV = Constant Angular Velocity, the DVD is written at a constantly increasing speed.
CLV = Constant Linear Velocity, the DVD is written at a constant speed.
ZCLV = Zone Constant Linear Velocity, the DVD is divided into zones. After each zone the write speed is increased.
PCAV = Partial Constant Angular Velocity, the DVD is being written at an increasing speed until a certain speed. After this speed it will not increase anymore.

Connection
Desktop = Standalone desktop DVD Recorder
EIDE = Computer DVD Writer with EIDE/IDE connection
SCSI = Computer DVD Writer with SCSI connection
USB = Computer desktop DVD Writer with USB 2.0 or/and 1.1 connection
FireWire = Computer desktop DVD Writer with IEEE 1394/FireWire/i.Link connection (some standalone desktop dvd recorder supports this also but then it is usually to connect your DV camera to the recorder)

Rating
The first rating is based on a weighted rank (the true Bayesian), it requires at least 5 votes to get a weighted rating.
The second rating between the ( ) is a normal average rating.

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Write and minimum writespeed: x CD-R x CD-RW x DVD-R x DVD-RW x DVD-R DL x DVD+R x DVD+RW x DVD+R DL x DVD-RAM	Write and minimum writespeed: x BD-R (Blu-ray Disc) x BD-RE (REwritable) x BD-R DL (Dual Layer) x BD-RE DL x BD-XL (Triple & Quadruple layer) x HDDVD-R x HDDVD-RW x HDDVD-R DL x HDDVD-RW DL x HDDVD-RAM	Features: BookType/BitSetting Slim size/Notebook Standard / half height 5.25" External(USB2, FireWire) LightScribe,LabelFlash Slot-In Buffer Size: Read Speeds x CDROM x DVDROM x BDROM x HDDVDROM
Internal connection: EIDE/ATAPI SATA SCSI	External connection: USB 2.0 FireWire/i.Link/IEEE1394 PCMCIA eSATA
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