- CD-R Format

The drive supports 8X, 16X, 24X, 32X, 40X and 48X (CAV) writing speeds.

According to Nero CDSpeed, the drive clocked in an average speed of 36.29x, which is slightly slower than the NEC ND-3540A that reports 36.40x.

- CD-R Recording Times

We created an 80min data compilation with Nero Burning Rom and recorded it on a 700MB disc. The writing performance varies according to the inserted media. Below is a chart depicting all recording times with various media.

Most media were recorded at 48x, but there was some exceptions, like RiDisc and Intenso media that were recorded at 40X. Best performance came with Verbatim 52x media.

- Other features

- CD-RW Format

The BenQ DW1640 supports 4x, 10x, 16x, 24x and 32x rewriting speeds, with Ultra Speed Rewritable Media (US-RW).

Below you can see the Nero CD-DVD Speed writing simulation test with blank 32x US-RW media from Mitsubishi Chemicals. Average reported speed was 30.50x, which is one of the highest speeds we've had compared to other 32x capable burners.

- CD-RW Mount Rainier

The BenQ DW1640 does not support the Mount Rainier feature.