Lite-ons better last a damn long time; I just bought two of them for my main rig. The LTD163 DVD and the 401248 CDRW. They are fairly noisy, but they only make the noise when RuNNIG, which they dont' the entire time the PC is on, so who cares? AS long as they don't kick the bucket in the next few years, I'll be happy. Unlike memory/CPU speed/graphics card, I don't see myself needing a faster DVD/CDRW anytime in the next few years.
The main reason I got the new CDRW was not due to speed (my old burner is a 12x and still works) It's b/c of the Burnproof, which my 12x burner doesn't have. That and the $107-shipped TCWO deal. 😀