SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model SH-S203N LightScribe Support - OEM

Pros: Burns cleanly, has LightScribe (not Litescribe, not Light-scribe...), SATA interface, no useless audio connectors, jumpers, or 40-pin connectors hogging space, and NO riplock (see below)!

Cons: Had an issue with LightScribe practically locking up my computer (by hogging the SATA controller) while burning a label, but that seems to be fixed after switching my ICH9 controller to AHCI mode instead of IDE-compatible mode. Now EVERYTHING is faster! Check your BIOS (but put your boot drive on another controller first!)!

Overall Review: This drive is great. It has no Riplock, meaning it can read pressed CDs and DVDs at full speed - perfect for, uh, "backing up" DVDs. Other drives, like LG, need a firmware hack (MediaCodeSpeedEdit - MCSE) to remove the limitation. Not needed here, it doesn't exist! Clean burns, too... I don't care for speed since slower burns are better (and I use 8x Taiyo Yuden media). Get this drive for the win! :)

Pros: eniv_rx7 go to lightscribe.com and download the software, its FREE. The software will work with Nero or Roxio. It downloads in less then a minute on dsl.

Cons: You must download the software. I downloaded the software after I bought the drive before it was dlivered. Had the software setup before the drive was installed or delivered.

Overall Review: You Knew it was OEM.

Pros: *Excellent write speed on all media (have not tested +/-DL media) * Low error rate when scan with Nero tool on discs of all type *Bar none the fastest DVD movie ripping drive made making archiving a *much* faster process. *better overall write quality at any speed on any type of disc versus Liteon LH-20a1L-6 drive which I purchased from newegg as well *Less vibration induced into the system chassis versus Lite on LH-20a1L-6

Cons: *Slower than Liteon LH-20a1L-6 when making lightscribe label of any quality *Less contrast on first pass when writing Lightscribe label, more circular banding after second pass versus Liteon LH-20a1L-06 *Higher pitched drive noise versus LH-20a1L-6 when disc is spun up

Overall Review: If you are only going to buy one optical writer for your computer make it this one. The liteon has accetable quality performance and have rarely run into playback problems with standalone home dvd player save for the dirt cheapest models, but when absolute disc quality and total compatibility count is a consideration at all I write the data with this drive. Lightscribe output is sad versus Liteon LH-20a1L-6

Pros: Relatively inexpensive, fast, fairly quite, LightScribe, SATA

Cons: So far, none I can find.

Overall Review: Although not silent, I was surprised how quite it actually is. It's close to my Plextor PX 716 and far quieter than my AO and LG burners. It also rips DVD's faster than any of my other burners and burns' em fast too. SATA may have nothing to do with the speed, but it makes installation a breeze, cleans up wiring and aids airflow. It came with Nero, but I did not install the programs, preferring to use my own. I am using LightScribe Template Labeler from the LightScribe site and recommend it highly. The quality of the burns and labeling are great. I'm very pleased. Also, any electronic device can fail. I did a lot of checking and it seems these have a lower failure rate than many other burners I was looking at.

Pros: works well reading/writing. Lightscribe burn is much faster and less noisy than on my old lg.

Cons: N/A

Overall Review: Remember to buy a sata cable unless you are replacing an existing sata drive.

Pros: This is a fast burner although I have never seen it burn at 20X. I really like it. I am happy with the CD and DVD burning capabilities.

Cons: The lightscribe seems to take a long time.... I have done alot of labeling with it and I usually have to wait about 15 to 20 minutes for the regualar text labels to burn.

Overall Review: If you are buying a burner this one works great. If you want to burn lightscribe labels fast I might like to see what some of the other units can do.

Pros: Easy install and worked great when burning a few cds and dvds. I upgraded from an old 4x dvd burner, so this one also seems ridiculously fast to me.

Cons: none so far.

Overall Review: I was a little hesitant to get a SATA dvd-drive since I have never owned one and I wasn't sure if the drivers would easily install. Turns out there were no driver issues and it was an incredibly easy install.

Pros: Works. Except for the stuck region 2 DVD setting... see below. Took two stars off for that problem, which cost me a few hours of trouble.

Cons: DVD play is stuck on Region 2 (UK). It cannot be changed by XP or Vista using the usual Device Manager properties selection process -- player just gives an error on attempts to change region. Google search indicates several others buying this drive from Newegg have had the same problem. Updating the Firmware from Samsung did not help. I had to hassle around for a few hours, downloading utilities, patching and the burning my region-free patched firmware. If you do not know how to do this, take caution. Check your region setting when it arrives. Windows Media Player and the OSX DVD player (using my hacked Mac OSX 10.5.2) will not permit playing a region 1 (USA) disk until you reset the firmware region code. And flashing the Firmware with a patched BIOS does void the warranty, so they say.