Yes, IMHO, plextor is the best, but watch out. I belive the Plextor "VALUE" series (or somting like that name) is not capabable of reading a CDG disc. Make sure you check the specs before you but, and make sure in can READ and WRITE karaoke/cdg discs. There are some that will only read the subcode.
Yes, you could buy 2 drives, but that can casue some glitcheds when ripping/writing the discs. It is best to RIP the disc first to your hard drive, the to write it back later, prevent possible buffer underuns.
I got min the chepest on NEWEGG.COM I buy a lot of my electronics from them, and they have always been the cheapest, and the BEST.
See...Cheap dosen't mean low quality.....