DVD Burners: What's the best buy today?

:?:
Toms Hardware just posted a new article about DVD writer's true speeds, but I'm still a bit confused which drive (including those not reviewed e.g. Benq, LG, etc.) have the best balance of price, performance, and features (Lightscribe, DVD RAM capabilities). I know they only average about $50 so I'm not freaking out over the decision, but I'd like to know which I will most likely be satisfied with for the next 1-2 years.

Any suggestions?

ps, any suggestions on where to find a glossary/summary of what format to use for a given task (e.g. -R if playing in a home DVD player, etc.)?

Crazy as it sounds, the best burners I've ever owned were made by Lite-On. I've had/have name brands like Pioneer and NEC- they all have compatibility issues.

So my suggestion would be Lite-On.

-mpjesse

i dont know about the liteon dvd writers themself but ive always used liteon cdrws and they are superb absolutly no problems ever so im inclined to belive the same would be for their dvd rw's but for my choice The nec one's always have top ratings i have a 3540, superb and a good price too, a little noisey although the performance makes up for it.