"If you are a person looking to do casual burns of your files for backup, this drive is overkill. If you are a power user looking to upgrade your system to a very good but not quite SCSI ready system, go for this drive. If you're a person looking for the best technology but dont want to go through the hassles and the headaches of SCSI, this burner is for you. Most definitely, if you are looking for bragging rights, this drive is for you. The speed, software bundle, and most importantly, the reliability of this drive make it one of the best on the market and one of the best for the price, currently $228.95 at Buy.com. Most other 12X drives out there are repackaged Plextors anyway so why not opt for the real thing."