I am getting a new DVD burner that supports Dual Layer, I was surprised to see how the price on DVD burners has dropped through the floor. For about $50, you can get a new dual layer burner. I needed to be able to do 3 things with this burner. 1) Rip in existing CD's very fast. 2) Burn DVD-R's with my existing media, and 3) have future proofing by getting Dual Layer support.

I finally selected the NEC ND-3550A because of its Read (22x with EAC's secure mode) ability in combination with its ability to do high speed burns. Dual Layer DVD+R at 8x, and DVD-R at 6x.

The only review I could find was on the 3540A's. I also looked at the Pioneer, Sony, and Plextor, and found for the price performance this was the best for my needs. Also, there was no review for the 3550A's, so I based my purchase off the 3540A's.

A good article on CDFreaks.com about the 3540A's read performance

PriceGrabber - 3550A

PriceGrabber - 3540A

I eventually bought from TigerDirect... $51.99 with shipping