BenQ appeared on the market about a year ago offering a range of products that wound up in mobile phones and LCD screens; they took in DVD recorders along the way. After launching the first 16X recorder last summer, the Taiwanese manufacturer launched a new version powered by the Nexperia PNX7860E component range from Philips.

With a very conventional appearance, performance isn't out of the ordinary either. DVD+R recording takes about 6 minutes 6 seconds, and a DVD+RW recorded in 14 minutes 28 seconds. double layer recording is among the slowest of the lot, with a speed of 2.4X and a recording time of a little more than 46 minutes.

However, BenQ achieved excellent results during media recognition tests. In fact, all DVDs operated at their manufacturers' quoted speeds, and seven of the media tested were able to be recorded beyond their specifications.

To increase recording quality, BenQ is equipped with WOPC (Walking Optimal Power Calibration). Thanks to WOPC, the DW-1625 optimizes recording quality throughout the recording process by adjusting laser power. It also avoids all the problems of empty buffer space, by virtue of Seamless Link technology (see the Philips review below).

A level three silk-screen takes a bit less than 28 minutes. On the software side, the DW-1625 comes bundled with Nero 6 Suite, Nero LightScribe, InCD, QVideo 2 and QSuite.