Drives > CD-RW Drives > 2x

Advantages: Reliable and great quality read on anything copies
Disadvantages: had to flash firmware to get 80min CDR support

...say. I bought this cheap HP writer for about £100. It features 24x reading, 2x writing and 2x rewriting. Its a Sony based drive underneath and this shows because build quality is very good and the HP restyle of the front is very pleasant. I had no problem configuring the drive and the software supplied is superb. Very nicely done by HP indeed. For all normal copying I've had no problems and I've now had it over a year with no reliability problems ...
...this. I sought a solution. HP weren't helpful it has to be said. They said it was compatible even though it wasn't. I then found out that if I flashed it with a Sony firmware it would solve the problem. I managed to find a special 8100 firmware that was ideal for my writer not only did it make my writer 80min compatible but it also enabled 4x writing on CDRs!!!!!!!!!!!! Which works well! Their is one downer with this drive its unable to write raw ... Read review

Advantages: Reliable, good software
Disadvantages: BS customer service, not all advertised material included

...better. I had to ring Yamaha for the manual, when it came it was 12 A4 sheets bound with a piece of plastic and no apology at all. There are two lessons here: one buy the best, it really is worth it. Secondly, never buy from TECH DIRECT. the service is rubbish, and i will never deal with them again. I am sorry if i sound harsh, but that is my opinion, and this is what ciao.com is all about. Thanks ... Read review

Advantages: Good value, seems solid, quick enough, 2MB Buffer
Disadvantages: The Black & Gold finish looks odd on a beige tower!

...Update: in response to kfingleton's comment. I've only made 1 coaster. I'm running the philips drive (it's a 4x4x32 drive) on a k6-3 400 machine with a udma 33 HDD, 64 MB RAM, and a 40x cd reader. I only ever burn at 4x, and it's proving very successful. ... Read review

Advantages: Read/Write/Erase-CD-R/CD-RW/DVD+R/DVD+RW
Disadvantages: None

The LG GSA 4167B Super-Multi is very good because it can read,write and erase data on all media formats.I own one and I don't have problems with it.Mine is three years old and but still works very good.The first years after I bought it the CD's/DVD's inserted in the LG drive were written and read with no scratch on the CD's/DVD's.Now,when it's three years old it leaves a few scratches in comparison to other products.It's easy to install and the product ... Read review

Advantages: Great at its job, quick, easy to use, easy to install
Disadvantages: Not fully reliable, not easy to fix

Ahh, i have a very mixed opinion on this product. This drive came pre installed on my desktop and was very faithful to me! It always worked and got the job done very well when i needed it! It burnt DVD's with ease and CD's even quicker! However i had one fateful day when i had to recover my PC and completely reset it! I re-installed all the drivers for all of my hardware and everything worked except... Lite-On SOHW-832S DVD/RW Combo drive i tried ...
...but it wasn't!!! It didn't recognise when a DVD or a CD was inserted and it would no longer burn! I uninstalled it and re-installed it countless times but nope! Nothing worked, so now my main desktop computer is without a CD Writing drive! I do not wish to put others off buying it though as when it worked it was very good! I'm sure mine is just a one off! ... Read review