Jim,
I've read favorable comments about the NEC ND-3500A. I believe that it's not
yet available in a retail package in the US, but it can be had in OEM form.
(
www.newegg.com has several colors.)
My own drive is old Plextor PX-708A. It's not dual layer; I bought it when
dual *format* (+/-) was less common, and 8X was rare. It is reliable enough
in burning to 4X TDK DVD+R media at 8X that I haven't bothered experimenting
with 8X certified media yet.
Plextor has announced the PX-716A, which has similar specs to the NEC
ND-3500A, including the same dual-layer speed (I don't believe they're the
same drive: Plextor lists an 8 MB buffer, while the NEC has 2 MB. I've had
no trouble with only having 2 MB in my PX-708A.) The PX-716A isn't yet
available (it's due this month, according to
www.plextor.com), but I expect
that its price will be higher than the NEC drive. Plextor claims that it'll
write at 16X on selected 8X media, which might allow you to recover some of
the price differential. (The NEC may as well. I don't know.)
As other posters have remarked, DVD+R DL media is *very* expensive at this
time. I suppose that it might make sense to buy a DL drive in the
expectation that prices will drop, to future-proof the purchase. I don't
know how future-proof it might be: the fastest drives of which I am aware
burn DL at 4X. You might suffer buyer's remorse if it goes up to 8X in four
months.
If you need a DVD burner now, the ND-3500A might be a good choice. It can be
had for less than $80 US (including shipping) from Newegg. If you end up not
having a long-term relationship with it, the pain of separation ought to be
bearable.
HTH.
Bob Knowlden
Address may be scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.
