Maganda LG, good overall performance with DVD and DL pero wala masyadong firmware updates. Kung burning lang gusto niyo and wala masyadong ibang features this'll fit the bill nicely. As for CD burning depende sa model na bibilhin, pero usually 16x lang yung speed na matino yung quality ng discs. LG ko 2.5+ years and over 350 discs burned.
Samsung is good with DVD and DL too except their 22x burners make burns that are worse than their 20x models. Kung 20x model marerecommend ko, yung 22x models hindi. Maganda din magburn CDs kahit ano sa 20x or 22x models basta hindi sagad sa speed (52x). Samsung 20x ko nasira within a year (spindle motor problem) and napapalitan agad - mga 1 year na now and 250+ discs burned.
Pioneer is really good with DVD and DL discs, problema hindi lang makahanap masyado dito sa Pinas and wag kayo bibili nung 116/216 series - sayang lang sa pera yung series na yun. CDs maganda din, pero as mentioned before at least doble siya sa price (3k-4k brand new) dahil hindi siya normally binebenta dito. Yung Pioneer kong 4x writer 3 years and 500+ discs burned. Recommended if you have the money.
LiteOn... eh. DVD decent, don't waste your time with DL discs with newer LiteOn units. Yung mga bagong 20x iHAP/iHAS hindi maganda magburn ng DL and CDs, disente nga lang sa DVDs pati. 6months LiteOn ko and I only use it for really bad DVD discs (mga no-name and CDR-King brand) at hindi ako masaya sa quality. Yung mga bagong 22x na iHAP/iHAS mas maganda, nagsisisi ako na binili ko ito. Primary use right now is for scanning and ripping discs kasi ito pinakamabilis at those tasks. 100+ discs burned. Don't even attempt to burn CDs with this, kung need magburn ng CDs 16x lang para mabasa.
Sony/Optiarc is my best DL DVD burner, kapareho ito ng chipset (NEC) with the Pioneer pero sobrang mura (OEM). Ingat lang kasi yung ibang Sony/Optiarc hindi NEC yung chipset and rebadged na LiteOn lang. Good CD burner at mid-speeds. Highly recommended pero out of stock na dito sa Pinas. Yung 24x nito maganda din, pero hindi pa lumalabas. 4months used and over 200+ discs burned. One of my favorite drives, super cheap.
ASUS nung binili ko na bago (20x) nadiskubre ko na LiteOn rebadge lang din - and since may iHAS akong hindi ako masaya pinapalitan ko agad ng iba. Dati maganda mga ASUS nung ginagamit nila Pioneer units to rebadge, pero now I can't recommend it since LiteOn na din siya. Kung makakahanap kayo nung mga lumang 16x na ASUS mga Pioneer yun, mga 20x/22x LiteOn na din. Performs the same as the LiteOn (kasi LiteOn nga siya!) so not recommended.
The best talaga yung BenQ na 16x - I still have 3 DW1640 (purchased 2004-2005) and an external Sony rebadged EW164B (2005) na mas maganda pa burns sa iba kong bagong drives now (kung gagamit ka ng magandang discs - like Verbatim). Wala pa din akong masasabi - except na sana hindi nagmerge ang BenQ sa LiteOn.
I use my BenQs now and then for high-quality DVD/DL/CD burns and scans. Wala ka nang mahahanap na ganito uli ever. 4-5 years nang buhay with an aggregate total discs burned of 3000+ (mga 600 per drive) since purchase. Sad na wala na ito, ang dami pa namang features.
Yung pangmaster ko ng discs Plextors - over sa mahal ($250) pero sobra sa rami ng features and extended controls and kakaiba ang quality sa burns. Hindi ka makakahanap nito sa Pinas, binili ko ito abroad. Ginagamit ko pa din hanggang ngayon for that very same purpose. Bumili ako kasi yung 2001 Plextor CD-writer ko hanggang ngayon gumagana pa, and mahilig ako mangalikot sa settings.
Kung kaya mo, sulit ito.
So ayan, from my varied experience of DVD writers from 2001 til now that's what I've concluded. Hope this helps.