Plexwriter 1210S is a fine burner. In fact all Plexwriters have this kind of strength. I wrote about 80-90 discs one after another with my 24x Plex with a 6 minutes brake. And the next day I burned about 35 bulk crap discs without any problems either. Perhaps the Ricoh was a defective one. But there are many issues with Ricoh writers my friends use. But in general Ricohs are good writers as well. The minor points are that they cost the same as Plextors and the do not do correct EFM. So many people would turn to alternatives for Ricoh that may provide more (concerning price and functions).