I've used nothing but pioneer burners and never had any problems. My brothers use NEC burners. I recommend:
- Pioneer DVR-110D (or the 111) - NEC ND-3550 (or the 3551, 4570)
EDIT: If bit setting/book type is important to you, the pioneer can't change it. But I think NEC burners can but I don't know much about it since I only used pioneers .