Hi Guys,
Its time for me to upgrade; I've used my old HP CDRW in two systems throughout the last three years & I am ready for a faster unit with better features.
I intend on purchasing a new CDRW as soon as possible(today)& desperately need your advice/help on determining the best unit to fit my needs.
I originally had intended to buy the 16x10x40 Plextor because of all of the great reviews & the recent price drops as well as the rebate offer (which will end in one day). I've been planning this for a while but have been procrastinating.
I found the 16x in a retail box on pricewatch for $163 shipped, but then, out of curiosity, I looked up the new 24x & found it in a retail box for only $12usd more! I was intrigued.
The only user info I have been able to get on this unit, however, has been from the main site here & on the forum. Understandibly, the posts here have mostly been about problems with the Plextox 24x10x40 burner (as well as the others). Afterall, if there were no problems whatsoever, then this forum would probably be dead for the mostpart.
I am concerned about the apparant pickyness of the unit in regards to various brands of CDR media - I generally tend to use the cheep stuff for my backups & copies.
But after reading the reviews on the main site, it has also sparked interest for me in the LiteOn 24x burner. I am attracted by the price ($110 shipped) & the report of no coasters created. But I am concerned about LiteOn's tech support or lack there of, and the problems reported by some with VIA chipset based Mobo's - which I have.
The last thing I want is a problem; my old unit works well for the most part aside from the slowness & the intermittent hanging & having to reboot before the system will shut off - I can deal with this you see because its paid for.
What I don't want is a unit that can't do what it is advertised as being capable of, work work with my system that I've just spent lots of $$ putting together, will only allow me to burn with certain media, or makes coasters.
What I do want is a super fast, consistent, reliable burner, capable of overcoming the latest encryption, that will work with the CDR media that I buy (whatever is on sale) & won't be a headache. I hope that's not too much too ask. !-)~

My questions to you Guys & Gals are:
Should I go for the Plextor 24x, or the LiteOn 24x or just go with the Plexi 16x due to reliability???
Should I think about a different burner all togther?
Is anyone with a system similar in specs to mine(see below) 100% satisfied with his/her 24x burner?

Thanks in advance & sorry for the long post
Z

SYS info:1.1Ghz Athlon w/ ASUS A7V, 512Mb Ram, Geforce2 MX, SB Live Digital ,ASUS DVD,HP CDRW, 45GB Maxtor, 13GB Maxtor, NIC, Win 98SE