Well, I disagree with the Plextor detractors regarding quality, though not the price premium. They are spendy but first rate drives. Quality is top notch, which is why many professional duplication units use Plextors. They are great drives, but certainly not the cheapest. If you live near a Circuit City, Best Buy, or Fry's Electronics, though I would go for the $60 24x TDK mentioned above. If you don't, perhaps you can price match one of the ads at a Staples or with your American Express Blue credit card (these ads & prices can be found online, if you don't get the paper). The TDK also comes with Nero burning software which is better than the more common Adaptec software in some ways.