Digital Plextor PlexWriter 24X SATA DVD/RW Dual Layer Burner Drive Writer - Black Optical Drives PX-891SAF-PLUS (Bulk)

This is my favorite and fastest WRITER to use with EAC (Exact Audio Copy) 1.6 for ripping CDs. For most undamaged discs, I get rips in under 3 minutes in burst mode with all tracks accurately ripped and around 6 minutes in secure mode. Towards the end of the disc, rip speeds report a little higher than 44x. The drive is relatively quiet. At it's fastest spinning speed it is definitely noisier but not nearly as noisy as other drives. Playing a CD or DVD it's basically quiet. This is one of the best DVD-ROM writers on the market.Finding a CD-ROM in 2023 is impossible. Finding a DVD-ROM (reader only, not writer) is getting very hard to find. EAC typically works best ripping discs in Secure mode with readers that do not cache audio. Most writers cache audio. In Secure mode, EAC reads the data twice, compares the data and if it's the same, it moves on, if not it reads the same data more times then chooses the data that's the same the majority of the time. Nice. The only downside to Secure mode, is it takes twice as long since all data is read at least twice. But for most readers that means 24x instead of 48x and it's still only a few minutes a disk. Most DVD-ROM readers DO NOT cache audio. Most if not all DVD writers cache audio.Unfortunately if the drive caches audio data, it can interfere with EAC Secure mode and cause the drive to be unusable. EAC in Windows is able to defeat the cache, but I've found that using EAC with Wine in Linux does not and you have to use burst mode all the time. In some cases Burst mode can do a better job extracting some tracks when Secure mode can't get a good extraction due to a damaged disc.I've also had good success with the Hitachi-LG GHD3N Premium HH DVDRW.https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BJ7SHMYK?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_detailsand the HP HP 682550-001 SATA DVD-ROM 16X (ordered in September 2023 with a manufacture date of 2014)https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008L325WY?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_detailsBetween these three drives, if there is an issue extracting a track, one of them will usually succeed.--EDIT August 2024I've ripped a lot of discs with this burner and recently towards the end of the rip where the laser is toward the outside of the disc, it doesn't like reading at top speed and appears to 'lose it'. It resumes at a slower speed and starts walking up the speed until it loses it again (within 10 seconds). It still rips accurately but this slowing down and speeding up cycle takes longer than ripping at a slower speed. I've set EAC to rip at 32x versus it's default 48x and it's much quieter and still rips faster than the HP 682550-001 SATA DVD-ROM 16X with an undisclosed CD read speed. I fear that the Plex may be dying, and I've ordered another Plextor to replace it. I'll probably set it to 32x read from the beginning as I prefer the quiet over the speed.

Easy swap, no drivers needed... just reboot and go.. Old DVD reader/writer died after couple years and this was quick and easy way to fix it.. It can write all DVD/CD formats (No Blu Ray). So far no issues after couple months of usage.

Plextor is still all that! I remember 20 years ago they were the best. I think they are still on top after this purchase.

The 4X SATA DVD/RW Dual Layer Burner Drive Writer is a special high definition CD/DVD writer/player. I runs slower that the normal high speed writer but it produces a far better high fidelity result.I bought two of them and they work wonder and I am quite pleased with them. I highly recommend Plextor.BTW, the Plextor version that Amazon sells is a 'bulk' version so their is no manual and no mounting hardware.UPDATE:After only 1 month of the slightness use, BOTH Plextor drives went bad. The began making a loud grinding noise from within which made them impossible to use. The grinding noise interfered from any music. The process of warantee from Plextor is done by a third party company which puts you through hoops to get an RMA.These are the LAST Plextror drives I ever buy. They are made entirely of plastic and made without any quality in China. Just more Chinese JUNK.