DVDRW's are a mature technology now. I bought this drive to replace an old IDE ND-3559A [NEC] which had stopped reading some DVDs.
My expectation was for a basic drive, and sure enough, there is nothing else in the package - but - it is quicker, quieter and shorter [may suit smaller cases] than the drive it replaced.
Since black suits my case I am more than happy with this drive; I can happily confirm that I don't see any major justification for spending more on a DVDRW [especially considering the free p+p!]