I had originally purchased a SONY NEC 7170A DVDRW drive, but an NEC ND-3550A dvd drive that I had for a little over a year died and I decided to return the new NEC drive and got a Pioneer.
The Pioneer DVR-112D is much quieter running, almost silent. The drive tray opening and closing is also super quiet.
They both work with Toast and boot OS X and speed seems comparable.
Hopefully the Pioneer will last longer!