On this forum you see more questions about plextor than you do about Yamaha. I've got Yamaha and took the decision consciously after reading the CloneCD notes on which drives needed special care with the speed settings.

As to your earlier question, I use the OrigaChip which is half way between NEO4 and Messiah. If you can't wait for Messiah, I'd advise anything but NEO4, which, for its 33 or 44 wires is basically only good for booting backups without a swap. Not worth the potential hassle and extra price.

NEO2.2 is only 8 wires and boots everything (except import originals) with a swap (using DVD Region X or AR2). If you want to boot import originals NOW, Origachip; if you can wait, Messiah.