SAMSUNG Black 18X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 18X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache E-IDE/ATAPI DVD Burner - OEM

Pros: Sleek black faceplate, QUIET, amazing burn speeds, fantastic price for what this thing does!

Cons: Absolutely none.

Overall Review: The fact that this burner is so cheap may make some people shy away from it, thinking that the price reflects the quality. Well, I'm here to tell you NOT TO PASS THIS DEAL UP! Bundled with Nero Express, this burner is the absolute best deal you will find out there. This burned an iTunes CD (20 tracks) in 1 minute. A MINUTE. It burned a small disc image I created in 3 seconds. This burner alone merits the price, but the fact that it is bundled with a burning suite makes it all the better. I will be putting this in every system I create now! 5 eggs for Samsung!

Pros: Fast (18x), cheap, DVD RAM, quiet (but with reduced speed)

Cons: Did not work with Phillips 8X +R discs, quiet mode is default

Overall Review: When I tested this for the first time it only burned at a painfully slow 1x. I couldn't figure out what the problem was. I checked the cable, firmware, etc. It turns out that when this drive doesn't recognize a disk it (and some information on the blank disk is missing) it burns at 1X. But my old drive (external Plextor) could burn the same disks at 8x most of the time. I bought some Verbatim 16x disks and they work perfectly at 18x. It will also burn Optodisc +RW disks (garbage, btw) that my old drive couldn't.

I'm using firmware version 4. Be sure to use the Magicspeed utility to unlock normal read speeds.

I've learned my lesson about using cheap media.