Cendyne vs KHypermedia at Office Max??

[Intimidator]

I was just at Office Max and picked up both the Cendyne 48/12/48 and KHpermedia 48/24/48. I am looking for one of these to be a Lite-ON 48x drive.

Of note both companies have changed their model numbers and labels on the drive now you cannot tell if the box contains a Lite-On drive.

On the back of the Cendyne box:

"Drive Model 4816A"

On the top of the KHypermedia label:

"Model # KHCRW482448"

How can you tell the manufacture of the drive? What details should I be looking at?

Also can you flash the cendyne 48/12/48 to 48/24/48? Is that a safe process to do?

I spoke with a guy there who seemed very knowledgable about the subject and he stated the KHypermedia uses one of 3 drives: Benq, Plextor, and Lite-On.

Now I am not sure why Plextor would be included in this group since they are in their own league.

Thanks in advance! Hopefully one of these is a Lite-On.

[David]

The cendyne 4816A is a Benq drive.
To my knowlege all Khypermedia drives are made by Benq. The drive model number KHCRW482448 is a 4824W where if the box lable had 4824P on it that's the drive model that is in the box.

[Intimidator]

David:

Thanks for the reply!

I just looked on the side of the box and there is a Stock #: 4824P-052

Does that mean this is a Benq 4824P?

The drive model number which is found on the label on the dirve istelf is KHCRW482448. However the label says that stock # I mentioned above. So which drive is it?

Are both the KHypermedia and Cendyne the EXACT same BENQ drives other than the RE-WRITE speed?

I have never heard of Benq drives. Ian has not reviewed this model number. Any thoughts? Do Benq drives allow for flashing as well? Where would you find these flashes?

Thanks

[Intimidator]

I went to benQ website and I only see the 4816P model and not 4816A model.

If the Cendyne 48/12/48 drive has a re-write speed of 12x and if this is really a benQ drive then I cannot find the 12x model.

BenQ only has the 4816A and 4816P models which are 16x not 12x as the Cendyne box states.

Under the model number for the Cendyne 48/12/48 lists the model number 4816A.

How can this be???

[David]

Go by the label on the side of the box for the drive model number. Also check to see if the firmware version is listed on it.
The 4824P firmware naming method is D.xC where x is a leter symbolizing the firmware version.
The 4824W firmware is C.xC.
There seems to be a thread going on at cdrinfo on Khypermedia drive you can find it here.

Cendyne buys drives the buy whatever they can get at the lowest price. I personlay have not seen a Lite-On 48x12x48 since Chrismas in a Cendyne box.

[Intimidator]

David:

The only thing that I find on the label which is on the BACK of the Cendyne box is 4816A.

Where else should I be looking?

[David]

That drive is a Benq drive if you look at the serial number has 29 characters, the 1st character is 9 it's a Benq drive.
In my prevous post I was refering to the Khypermedia drive.

[Intimidator]

David:

I know now that it is a BenQ drive. But I am not sure what the 4816A means? Afterall the Cendyne box said it is a 12x re-write?

How can I tell that firmware I have without using the NERO info tool?

So is this the BenQ 48/16/48 drive?

This is all very confusing.

What is the latest firmware for BOTH the Cendyne 48/12/48 and KHypermedia 48/24/48?

Which is a better drive? It looks like you have several drives yoursefl.

Thanks

[Intimidator]

David:

So if the Stock # on the label found on the side of the box is 4824P-052 then does that mean I have the 4824P drive?

Thanks!

[David]

So if the Stock # on the label found on the side of the box is 4824P-052 then does that mean I have the 4824P drive?

Yes it should be just look on the lable for D.xC where x is a leter symbolizing the firmware version if it is there it is a Benq 4824p the most recent version is D.UC which adder MRW support.
LiteOnGuy purchaced one earlier this year and just flashed his with the new firmware from Benq's site. Khypermedia dose not have any firmware posted.

My 4824P Benq drive is a rebaged drive which came out of a Cendyne box. Which I am currently using the Benq firmware instead of the firmware Cendyne has posted.

The latest firmware for the cendyne drive which is on their site all depends on which of the mayn drives you got. as you can see here the cendyne model number is CDICD00118 then you have to go by their description for selecting the proper firmware for the drive which is in the box.

This is all very confusing.

It wouldn't be if they would stick with one drive manufacture instead of picking a different one every month.

Personaly I would go with the Khypermedia 4824P In my use it seems to be a good drive.

[Intimidator]

Here is the info:

KHypermedia 48/24/28

Model #: KHCRW482448
Manufacture Date: Feb 2003
Oringinal Firmware D.LC

I know from reading previous posts that the D.xC firmware cannot be flashed. So does that mean I should get the C.xZ original firmware?

Is the reason it cannot be flashed because they use different chipsets?

Which chipset Ricoh or Mediatek is better to use and why? Is one more stable than another?

Thanks for all the info!

I also bought a Cendyne 48/12/48 the is a BenQ 4816A drive? Does anyone know much about this drive? What is the highest it can be flashed? It is ironic that the Cendyne box says 12x re-write but the drive from BenQ is actually a 16x re-write. As far aa I know BenQ never made a 12x re-write.

[David]

I know from reading previous posts that the D.xC firmware cannot be flashed.

You can flash it you need to use the Benq firmware for the drive which you can get here as long as your not planing on overclocking it.

Personaly I would't over clock it since it's not worth the chance of a bad flash and ending up with a drive which dosn't work just for a few seconds faster burn time.

[Intimidator]

David:

I am with you on the OC issue. The drive is not meant to run at that speed but people push these things to the limit. By OC'ing this will decrease the MTBF rates and the drive will not last as long.

Same thing with all these people OC'ing their CPU's. If you want a faster CPU then buy it. You are only hurting your MB and burning up your CPU and dramatically decrease the life-span of the CPU and maybe MB with a little extra speed. This can be benched marked at these higher speeds but most people cannot tell the increase in speed.

By the way you also increase the chance of a fire in your case which will cost you more in the long run. From my research I have found many systems that have caught fire due to OC'ing.

Thanks again David!

[David]

Here are some results from the 4824P with D.UC firmware.
Scaned with LTR-52246s at 16x.

Verbatim DLP burned at 48x.


Unbranded (Ritek) burned at 40x.


I'll post some more results later.

[Intimidator]

David:

Thanks for the reply! COuld you please explain what these results mean in detail so I can follow your logic.

Thanks!

[David]

I did the graphs from K-probe and now a chart just so you can get an idea of the media compatability with the drive.

C1 errors are errors which the drive can correct.
C2 errors are errors which the drive might be able to correct or it might not be able to correct.

The idea is to have a low C1 count with no C2 errors.
If any of the information on C1/C2 errors is wrong please correct me.

Here is a chart with additional media.

[Intimidator]

David:

Thanks for the detail. So what is your conclusion from all your data and research? I have a scientific background and so far you have given me some data and results. Now what are the conclusions and discussion for your experiment.

Thanks

[David]

The idea behind the media scans was to general give you an idea of the media write quality of the drive to other drives so you can decide to keep it or not.

The results:
To me the drive has good compatability with the media which it was tested with. You might want to look at results from Ian's reviews to geet an idea how it compares to other drives.

[Intimidator]

David:

Thanks for the info! Ian has not reviewed the BenQ drives in great detail especially the 48/24/48 or 48/12/48. It is my understanding the KHypermedia uses ALL BenQ drives well at least that is according to KHypermideia.

Is you 48/24/48 a KHypermedia drive? What firmware was your original firmware? When you upgraded to D.UC did that make your drive both 52/24 and Mount Rainer Compliant? What is the better firmware to start with C.xZ or D.xC?

So the conclusion that I can see from your tests is that TY is the best media to use for this drive becasue of the low C1 errors.

How low should the C1 errors be?

Thanks for all your help!

[David]

The idea of comparing the burn quality to other drives from different manufactures to get an idea of how it compares to them.

My 4824P came from a cendyne box, It is not an over clocked to 52x24x52, original firmware D.IC all upgrading to D.UC dose is add MRW support to the drice it dosn't change the drives burn speed. the 4824P can only use the D.xC firmware since the C.xZ firmware is ment for ues only with the 4824W drive since the two drives use different chips.

I would consider a spike of no more than 20 max with a total count of under 8,000 to be fine. Ty cdr's are probably the best media on the market and most drives have good results with it the other madia results which is posted is perfectly fine except in my opion the unbranded Ritek.
How low should C1 errors be it's a matter of opion what might be acceptable level to one person might be fine to another.