Actually, it's about US$6 now for the Riteks based on quotes from online sellers. Is it worth the extra expense? Depends.
DVD backup tools have evolved significantly in the last 12 months. IMHO, unless you have a really large screen, the differences are minimal. And today's faster PCs can spit out transcoded DVDs in 15 minutes and reencoded DVDs in 3 hours.
Also, single layer media is getting cheaper everyday. Taiyo Yudens 4X DVD-Rs can be ordered online for P15/pc while Verbatim 8X DVD-Rs are going for about P18/pc. Here in Manila, the Iomega's are doing P22 and P28 for the 4X and 8X discs respectively.