i am about to buy a dvd burner myself and I have been researching a bit. I am buying the Sony DRU-500AX.. It is supposed the new best thing.. Everywhere I have looked has had the same price $349.99. I found that to be the going rate, and I am willing to pay that. The cool thing for me is that it is within my town at several different electronics stores, ie; Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA.. I checked online the availability and found it nearby.. Hope this helps.
Check out www.computersonics.com. Just got a DVD R/W CD R/W in one for $289. But he has other prices too. Check him out