application for power-users, called QSuite. This program enables you to
set the default “book type” of your recordable DVD media to increase
compatibility with set-top players, and it will even test your media for quality.
It’s tragic that the DVD
ReWriter doesn’t permit
overspeeding—that’s a serious
omission. But you can table the
labels and leave the Sharpies
to the harpies—the LightScribe
technology is a tremendous
success.
—LOGAN DECKERBenQ LightScribe DVD ReWriter
Burn, flip, burn. Hip!
Reviews
MAY 200 5 MA XIMUMPC
T
he death certificate for Yamaha’s ill-fated Disc T@2 technology, which
let you burn text or images onto the recordable side of an optical disc,
attributed its demise to two factors: the shame of its absurd moniker,
and the fact that the process consumed recordable space. But the worthy
idea lives on in BenQ’s DVD ReWriter.
Using superior technology—dubbed LightScribe—licensed from HP, the
ReWriter modulates the strength of the burning laser to etch a gray-scale
image onto a special dye coating on the label side of the disc (you must,
however, use special LightScribe discs, which at press time were running
about 80 cents apiece for 52x CD-Rs, and 8x single-layer DVD media for
about a dollar more than that).
Burning a complex image at maximum quality consumed a little more
than 40 minutes; that’s a long time, but check out Mr. Pickles on our disc to
the right! You can even see his whiskers, and 10-point italicized white type
came out easily legible. Simple projects go much faster. We put in a mix CD
that we burned ourselves, and the LightScribe software that’s integrated
in the bundled Nero Express pulled the track listing from the CD-Text
embedded on the disc and burned the titles in 3:15 (min:sec).
The drive isn’t just about LightScribe, though. BenQ set a record burning
4.25GB to a 16x single-layer recordable DVD+R with a time of 5:41. That’s
breathtaking; however, burning to double-layer media was less impressive.
BenQ doesn’t support “overspeeding,” or burning to media at faster than
the rated speed, so its double-layer performance came in at 44:09, which is
about 18 minutes slower than Plextor’s PX-716A.
In addition to the bundled Nero Express , BenQ busts out a home-brew
Lab-tested, Mr. Pickles’-approved: BenQ’s LightScribe
DVD burner treats both sides of your discs right.Ultrasone Proline 750
Nothing comes between me and my audio
up and down. This left us wondering if during the mastering process, the
engineers had said “Ah, don’t worry about it. They’ll never pick up on that.”
The absence of a boom mic renders the Proline 750s unsuitable for games
that support team chat. And since these are purely stereo headphones, you
won’t reap all the benefits from game and movie soundtracks recorded in
surround sound. But we highly recommend them for any other application.
The only reason we’re not
bestowing a Kick Ass award
on these otherwise excellent
headphones is because they’re
not ideal for gaming. They’re
extremely accurate as reference
monitors, but as such, they don’t
produce the booming bass you’d
want for games.
—MICHAEL BROWNI
f you’re an audio purist—the type of aficionado who doesn’t want any
component in the audio chain to color what the artist recorded—whether it
be a Miles Davis riff or the eerie moan of a Half-Life 2 strider as it crumples
to the ground—then you should be listening to Ultrasone’s Proline 750
headphones.
These headphones deliver more than just ultra-clear, ultra-crisp audio.
The unique design of the headphones themselves delivers a pseudo
surround-sound effect without relying on a digital signal processor or any
other electronic trickery to manipulate the audio signal.
If you look at the transducer (the device that converts an audio signal’s
voltage into acoustic pressure, or audible sound) inside most headphones,
you’ll see it’s located directly in the center of the ear cup. This creates a
strong stereo image inside your head, with the left and right channels sharply
delineated. This is all well and good, but it doesn’t deliver realistic sound
because the audio events—whether they be musical notes or sound effects—
are firmly positioned as originating from polar opposite sides of your head.
The transducers inside the Proline 750s are offset, so instead of the
audio signals traveling directly down your auditory canal, they bounce
and reflect off each of your ears’ pinnae (the folds that make up your outer
ear). This naturally delays some of the frequencies from reaching your
ear drum, thus more closely duplicating the way you hear sound without
headphones. It’s almost as though the headphones were custom-made for
your ears. As a result, your brain perceives the sound as originating from
all around your head.
Listening to the soundtracks in familiar games and music with the Proline
750 set revealed audio elements we’d never noticed before. Listening to the
piano version of Sarah MacLachlan’s “Possession” (from Fumbling Towards
Ecstasy ), for instance, we could actually hear the piano’s sustain pedal moving
MA XIMUMPCVERDICT 9
MA XIMUMPCVERDICT 8
ETCHINGRETCHINGLightScribe results are almost as good as silk-
screening; fast DVD+R burns.Doesn’t support disc overspeeding; double-layer
burn speeds are way below par.
$120, http://www.benq.comThe folding design,
detachable cord, and handy
travel bag make it easy
to take the Proline 750
headphones on the road.PINNAPIÑATA
No boom mic, expensive.Unique design makes them sound as if they were
custom-designed for your ears.$400, http://www.ultrasoneusa.com