LiteOn DVD Stand alone Recorders

In looking at the different sites there seems to a difference of opinion as to which models are truly better in quality and if a specific unit can be hacked or firmware gone up or down. Especially the 5005, 5006 and 5005x [ilo] units.
I know that a lot of scattered posts have addressed this issue but here again some say one thing others say not so.
Is there a valid answer?

Just as an example it is indicated on one thread that there are only two stand alone recorders that can burn a DL disk. LiteOn is not mentioned, yet the Liteon site lists a recorder that can. The
LVW-5045GDL+