pros:

-1080p FTW
-very cheap to play both blu-ray and hd-dvd
-burns dvds and cds
-looks nice
-quiet while playing
-quiet while burning
-very fast reading of all disc formats
-4MB buffer, as opposed to 2MB you see on other drives
-SATA, so you can finally chuck that enraging IDE cable you have
-includes powerDVD, which is one of the FEW programs that plays back blu-ray and hd-dvd perfectly
-also comes with a firmware updater, which is nice so you could potentially hack your own firmware and put yours on it
-even though mine was OEM (just the bare drive, no manual or box), it still came with the utilities cd, a sata cable, a 4 pin molex cable to sata, and the manual!
-lightscribe enabled

cons:

-you need a decent computer (core 2 duo and 2GB of ram at the least)
-you need a monitor and video card that supports HDCP (over digital), which adds up into spending more money…unless you are using an analog connection (okay, you can get anyDVD HD which eliminates this con – the hdcp, but…whatever haha)
-blu-ray is still a bit more expensive than dvds
-why not make a beige or silver bezel for those geeks who have a beige/silver case?
-this model is being phased out, and LG is bringing out a blu-ray only reader (no HD-DVD)
-HD-DVD is dead, so the HD-DVD functionality and play-back is basically useless (see point above)

if you need a VERY inexpensive all-in-one reader for your HTPC or computer, this drive is definitely the one to get. it reads blu-ray, hd-dvd, dvds, and cds perfectly, and also can burn dvds and cds (burning blu-ray costs too much right now, especially for the higher LG models that support it). for less than $100, you cant go wrong with this drive. if anyone is building a computer and wants to playback HD movies, this is the drive for you. highly recommended.

rating: 9.5/10