Alright, I've created a list of the optical drives available in India, their prices and their comparision, vis-a-vis their performance.

Optical drives are basically of 5 types ->

A)CD-ROM drives.
B)DVD-ROM drives.
C)CD-RW drives.
D)CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive, popularly known as "Combo" drives.
E)DVDR/RW drives.

A)CD-ROM drives

Mostly out of fashion now, as the price delta between CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives has come down considerably. Run about Rs. 750-800 per piece. Brands available include Asus, Lite-On, LG and Samsung. I am partial to the Lite-On 526 and Asus QuietTrack models, although the LG/Samsung 52X and 56X models are equally good.

Recommendation : Asus 52x QuietTrack CD-ROM : Rs. 800 or so.

B)DVD-ROM drives

Very popular category right now. Drives available again from the usual suspects, Lite-On, Asus, LG and Samsung. Pioneer make their own drives too. Price range is Rs. 1700-1800 or so, with popular models being the Lite-On 165/166, Asus E616, Samsung SD616. Again, I'm partial to the Lite-On 165/166 series, which are excellent, fast DVD rippers with good error correction. Avoid the new 167 drive, it appears to remove DVD-RAM reading support, and is slightly slower than the 166. Sony DDU-1611/1612 are OEMs of the Lite-On 165/166.

Recommendation: Lite-On 165/166 or Sony DDU1611/1612 - Rs. 1700

C)CD-RW drives

Hottest market segment right now.Speeds have levelled out to about 52X, with quite good write quality.

Lite-On are popular here, with prices running about Rs.1400 or so.Model numbers are the 52327S and 5238S.

LG has good drives in the shape of the GCC8523/8525B, very quiet as well. Asus have launched a QuietTrack version of their 52X writer, which is very quiet as well. One advantage of Lite-On CD burners are the variety of aftermarket tools like KProbe and the CodeGuys' collection (http://codeguys.rpc1.org) of software. Again, the Sony CRX225 and 230 are OEMs of the L-O 52327S, while the CRX230ED is an OEM of the 5238S.

Avoid Benq and Samsung in this market segment, reports as to their reliability vary.

Recommendation : Lite-On 52327S or 5238S/Sony OEM or Asus QuietTrack 52X.

D)Combo Drives

Preferred by some people as a single-shot solution for all their burning and DVD-Reading needs. Again Lite-On (stuck record, anyone ) make excellent combo drives, the 48161 and 5232K. They run about 2500-2700 rupees or so,fast rippers, excellent CD-writers. LG are pretty much the only other player here, with good 48X and 52X combo drives. The Samsung SM-348 and SM-352 are good, but overall, the L-O drives are better. Again, Sony CRX300 is the OEM version of the L-O 48161 and the Sony CRX320 is the OEM of the 5232K.

Recommendation: Lite-On 5232K, about 2600-2700 rupees.

E)DVD-Writers :

New category, most popular speeds are 8X (full DVD in about 8 minutes) and 16X (full DVD in about 5:30 minutes, depending on the write strategy used).

1)Lite-On : 8X burners ->851S and 812S/832S. They are mostly the same, except that the 851S cannot burn -R @ 8X. Both the 851S and 812S can be flashed to the 832S, enabling 2.4X +R DL burning. Good drives overall, the 812S is about 3500-3700 rupees here.

16X -> 1633S/1653S ->Not very good drives, rushed out to market. They burn well up to 8X, but 12X and 16X burns are crap. Not recommended. Cost : around 4200 for the 1633S.

2)Pioneer : 8X burner ->107D. Nice drive, hacked firmwares available for burning ALL media @ 8X. http://pioneerdvd.rpc1.org Runs about 4000 at Lamington Road. Pretty decent for the price

16X burner : 109D. Excellent drive, does 16X for +R and -R discs. Also does 6X +R DL burns, on Mitsubishi +R DL media. Hacked firmwares as above.Rs 5000 at Lamington Road

3)LG 12X and 16X burners ->LG-4120B and 4160B, write to DVD-RAM media as well. 12X burner can be flashed into the 16X drive using tools available@ rpc1.org. Slightly slow writing speed, but excellent writing quality. No idea about the price, never inquired :p

3a)New LG 16X burner ->4163B. New drive, MUCH better than the 4120B/4160. Traditionally conservative LG firmware means that not many discs can be oversped, but DVD-RAM capability is a plus for some.

4)Benq 16X burner ->Benq 1600/1620 ->Same drive, can be flashed into the 1620, officially using a Benq sanctioned firmware.Superb reviews out @ CDRLabs and CDFreaks, indicate this is "THE" drive to own. Rs. 3900 at Lamington Road.

Sony DRU700 is an OEM of the Lite-On 832S, while the 710 is an OEM of the Lite-On 1633/1653.The Sony 720 is an OEM of the newer 1673S, which has 8X +RW and 6X -RW capability.

Recommendation : Benq 1620 and LG4163B for DVD-RAM.


Useful links:
www.cdrlabs.com
www.cdfreaks.com
http://club.cdfreaks.com
www.rpc1.org
http://codeguys.rpc1.org