You can visit sites like cdfreaks.com or cdrinfo.com and see
if they have any reviews of recent devices available.
Or, you can read the reviews on Newegg (and shop anywhere for
the items that have a good rating).
This one has the top rating, but the first review reports an early death.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030
There are a number of different versions of GH22 drives around.
This is one example. I have a GH22 next to me, and it still works...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136168
One reason I bought the GH22 (in "retail" box with CD software disc),
is because of the included software. It has a "lite" version of
Nero, so I knew I'd have something to burn data discs with. I
bought it locally, because it was on sale at the time.
Optical drives like this are cheap enough, that you can always
replace them. What you'll find is, you'll spend more on sample packs of
media, and doing burn tests, than you'll spend on the actual
drive. I like to "calibrate" a drive first, before buying a
spindle of media. Not all media works equally well.
Blu-ray burners, on the other hand, are a whole lot more
expensive. So for those, being careful pays off.
But for the $30 burners, you know they'll wear out soon
enough, so you'll likely be shopping for one two years
from now.
Paul