Just save some money and get either a 16X or a 20X or so... they still write CD's at mind numbing speeds, are perfectly reliable whereas the faster ones will no doubt not be perfect, and the media for the slower ones is alot more common and maybe cheaper cause you don't have to have high speed media. I have an LG 16X which I just love and it writes CD's in 5-6 mins no problem... never a problem, and is so far running with a 100% success rate, with no coasters at all, and it has hardware induced buffer underrun.. GOOD STUFF.