Best DVD Rom ?

I am looking for some advice on the BEST DVD Rom. I have an Asus E616 that is 3 months old and has gone faulty. I want a rom that will read DVD- & DVD+ media.

When I have used DVD roms in the past I have found them all to go faulty with in 6 months. Is this the norm ? I do a lot of DVD work and I need a reliable rom that will do the above formats and is 16x.

Relaiability is a biggy and I dont want to spen above £30 as I can get a wide range of different brands for around the £26 mark.

Any help or advice would be helpful.

Thanks Lee.

I'm gonna watch this thread since I still dont have a DVD drive...

Ive got an OEM Toshiba SDM-M1712 that has never given me a problem. It's over a year old now and was originally purchased from NewEgg, although that probably won't help you English chaps!

I have a phillips CD-RW/DVD drive that has never once hiccuped in the face of DVD Danger.

I had an Acer 16x that I bought back in 2000 or something. It lasted nearly 3 years before it died on me and only read regular cd's. Now I have a Buslink. And it's still truckin.

I have been reading up on the Pioneer-121 and a friend got the 120 version. He said it has been fine for over 18 months.

Liteon were good roms but I have been told they only do one format ?

With all the reviews the Asus is rated as one of the best so may have just got unlucky with rom.

The rom must be a -/+ reader for reeding reasons.

I used to recommend the Pioneer 106/S slot loaders...Then the Toshiba's...Now I like the Samsung's...They are much smoother and quieter than anything I have experience with...I even like the combo drives...Bought one for my G4 and it is slick...Might give them a look...

I got the Pioneer DVD-121 and it runs like a dream, fast quite & a good price.

I am having a lot of problems with Asus as they will not take my faulty rom back. The say it has to go back via the retailer.

The retailer is based over 50 miles away from were I live has got it at a computer fair.

When I ring the retailer the line is always engaged.

Hope they sort it for me or that will be the last item with the Asus name I will buy.

I here the Sony DVD roms are very good ? my mohering law got one but it wont read a disk my newe drive will so maybe the lazers dye quick on all dvd roms ?

Liteon 16x here. Have it for 17 months and haven't had a problem with it, but then again I haven't tried any other drive so I cannot compare it to one.