It's a VST 4420 (4x write, 4x re-write, 20x read).
Can't tell you if it's a good drive or not, but my heartfelt advice to you would be to
get a faster drive!
Just got myself a Que! 241040, and let me tell you, the extra speed is worth every penny (hell, this thing replaced a 4416 Yamaha, and the difference is like night and day!).
Really - 4x burn will toast an 80-min CD in 20 minutes; 16x will do it in 5. When it comes time to actually burn a bunch of disks, you'll praise the day you got the faster drive! With 32x drives just introduced, you should be able to pick up a 16x for not much more than the VST.
If iTunes compatibility & Finder burning is significant to you, check out Apple's liner notes page (
http://www.apple.com/itunes/notes.html ) for information on compatible drive mechanisms.
Hope this helps!