It's easy for me this time, as i'm a fan of NEC/Optiarc.
I've reviewed all the likely front runners in this poll and the Optiarc AD-720x series stands head and shoulders above the rest in terms of performance and writing quality across all media groups. Going by the results i've seen posted for these drives in the NEC forum, everyone seems to be very happy with these drives.

Other drives i like.
Pioneer DVR-x15 series
Samsung SH-S203B
LG GGW-H20L (Blu ray)