LG Electronics WH12LS39K M-Disc 12X Blu-Ray Disc Rewriter and HD DVD-ROM Drive - Bulk Packaging Failed with 4 weeks

Failed with 4 weeks, (What's this?) I bought this drive primarily for it's M-Disc burning capability. Purchased Nov 19th 2011, I received and installed it in good working order that week. I burned 2 milleninata disks without problems and an archival grade MAM-A gold disk within the first day. Took a break during the holidays and drive sat for 4 weeks until today. The drive appears to have failed as of Jan 5th 2012 and will be returning it. Hopefully return process will go well and any replacement will last longer.
Blu Ray Newbie, (What's this?) I've been burning cds and dvds for years and decided to jump into the blu ray burning world without knowing much about blu ray burning. I did some scouting around on Amazon and other sites, trying to take advantage of reviews and try and get a feel for the best burner and media so that I don't jump into something that turns into a headache quickly. You can read some real nightmares of people who have had very bad experiences out there!

I bought this Internal LG burner LG Electronics WH12LS39K M-Disc 12X Blu-Ray Disc Rewriter and HD DVD-ROM Drive - Bulk Packaging with the M-Disc capabilities (have not tested the M-disc capabilities) without having read any reviews (because no one has reviewed it on Amazon). I decided to purchase it because the previous models of this drive got pretty decent reviews.

Now for the tricky part! Which media do I buy? I decided to try cheap media at first and I'm glad I did! I bought a 25 pack of the Optical Quantum 25GB 4X BD-R Logo Top Spindle - 25 pcs found also here on Amazon and so far I have yet to burn a bad disc! Out of the 25 pack I still have 14 left. I know that once I finish the 25 that I'll purchase a 50 pack spindle next...

Part of my success may be that I also have a LGBD550 player and so my drive and player are both LG? Part of my recipe is that I use the application Imgburn exclusively for burning the discs and I never go over 2x speed even though the discs state they can go faster. Sure it takes longer but so far no coasters!

Also, this burner came with software for viewing blu rays on the pc, a sata power cord and data cord.

The M-DISC and the LG Super Multi Drive has been designed and optimized to work as one to etch data into the permanent synthetic stone layers within the M-Disc.

The M-DISC uses a patented rock-like recording surface instead of organic dye to etch your records. The unique materials used in the M-DISC require a new disc drive technology to engrave data on the surface.

Good for any situation when storing data for a lifetime is a necessity. It's also backwards compatible with most DVD and Blu-Ray drives.

LG Super Multi Drive is the one and only drive for burning the M-DISC and offers the best archival data storage solution.

The M-DISC and the LG Super Multi Drive has been designed and optimized to work as one to etch data into the permanent synthetic stone layers within the M-Disc..The M-DISC uses a patented rock-like recording surface instead of organic dye to etch your records. The unique materials used in the M-DISC require a new disc drive technology to engrave data on the surface..Good for any situation when storing data for a lifetime is a necessity. It's also backwards compatible with most DVD and Blu-Ray drives..LG Super Multi Drive is the one and only drive for burning the M-DISC and offers the best archival data storage solution...