Hey all :)

I plan on buying the new Sony DRU-500A, (specs can be found ->Here (http://www.cdr-info.com/Sections/News/Details.asp?RelatedID=2729#)<-). The CD-R writing seems to be fast enough, agree?
The DVD-ROM Read is 8x.
Would you buy a separate DVD-ROM for movies? If so, how important is the speed and do you need to check the buffer size also when buying?

The above is my main question. If you feel venturesome, try to dive in, and help me figure out my other dilemma.

After looking at the above speeds, I remembered reading CDRLabs.com's reviews of the LG GCC-4320B 32/10/40/16 CD-RW/DVD-ROM and the Samsung SM-332B 32/10/40/12 CD-RW/DVD-ROM.
They say these newer "Combo Drives" are now up to snuff. They look sweet with 40x CDR Write & 16x DVD-ROM Read.
They seem to be just what I was looking for. CDRLabs seems to do thorough testing.

Can anyone give a :tup: to either of these drives? Also, would they make a good combo with the Sony DRU-500A? You can browse the conclusion of both below. Thank you for helping. :)

The LG can be found -> Here (http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.php?reviewid=145)
The Samsung can be found -> Here (http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.php?reviewid=141)

All DVD-ROMs play DVDs at 1x, the 8x means it can read (ie rip) DVDs at up to 8x. So the read speed only really becomes an issue when you want to rip/copy a DVD. Buffer size doesn't really matter if the burner has 'burnproof', 'justlink' etc.

For opinions on what drive to get check the consumer opinion forum.

Moving this now.