Fastest doesn't always equate to the best in quality or burn quality. The best are currently the Pioneer DVR-R100A, and the NEC ND-3500A also at 16x. The best and fastest is the Plextor PX-760A at 18x.
Sofar I had two Plextor 760A drives, the first one died after two months, the second one had a problem with +RW media, it would make it where the +RW disc wasnt recognised by any dvd burner I had including the 760A and stand alone dvd players, if the +RW disc cant be recognised it cant be reused. I tried 3 different brands of +RW media, Verbatim, Maxell & Sony. I had burn problems with the Maxell and the Sonys had lousy video quality when reused only a couple of times, Verbatim are the best I have used. I would be simply impressed with the drive if I could simply get one that will work for more then a couple of months and not have problems with +RW media, but I will give Plextor credit on their return policy, the first two I RMA`d with no problems from Plextor and they were quick to ship me a new replacement 760A. I also have the 716SA and never had a single problem with it.
You've gotta b careful not to get the Plextors that are actually Panasonics. The quality on those are crap. Its only the firmware updates from Plextor themselves that actually bring value to the hardware.
My first one didnt like DVD+RWs as someone mentioned above, but Plextor shipped em a brand new replacement, since then it has been fine and seems to show very little jitter on recordings etc.
How does one tell if they have a panasonic made plextor?
There's currently a dare going on over at CD Freaks for the fastest burn time. BenQ DW-1800 holds the crown with very good quality for the sub 5 minute burn. Verbatim MCC 004 was used.