BenQ released its first 16X recordable drive, the DW1600A. At this recording speed, a single layer 4.75GB disc can now be recorded in a little less than six minutes. The drive supports only DVD+R/+RW recording, but according to BenQ, a firmware upgrade will be available in August 2004 to allow it to support DVD-R/-RW recording. In addition, the drive features DVD+R Double Layer recording at a speed of 2.4X, nearly doubling the capacity of recordable discs. Although drive performance is an important point for all end users, writing quality should be taken under consideration as well, especially at 16X recording speed, as more 16X DVD recording capable devices will hit the market soon. So, let's get down to it...

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