Thanks all for responding. I ended up grabbing the NEC 3520a for $63 delivered
+T for going NEC. You won't be disappointed. We promise.
FWIW, I have found that with the NEC/NERO/FUJI 8x DVD-R combo I have been able to burn reliably at 12x speeds.
Have fun with the new toy and make sure that you also check out DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink.
...Kk