I have the "Cendyne" DVD-R and it's really a Pioneer 105. It works flawlessly, and has burned hundreds of disks. I am able to flash it with Pioneer firmware, too.
So, I upgraded the firmware to where it's no longer "Crippled" I.E. The drives can rip at 12X, but are artificially limited to 2X for movies and store bought DVD's. The firmware flash corrects this problem, and allows the drive to rip at it's "advertised" speed.
And it makes the disks "Region Free" so, they'll play anywhere in the world, etc... In order to do this, you will need the "Modified" firmware. Orginal Pioneer firmware doesn't support these upgrades due to the MPA/RIAA
Peace,
Spinman