I've owned many optical drives over the years with no issues, but they do get tired of course. I had this old Pioneer IDE drive in a factory USB 2.0 enclosure that was my go-to for reading troubled or damaged discs that my little USB (bus powered) Samsung BD-R writer (which is not a great unit) or HL-DT-ST DVD writer (out of a 2012 MacBook and in a slim USB enclosure -- is usually pretty good but also getting tired) wouldn't play nice with, but it no longer functions properly.
I primarily write audio CD-R's. but more importantly I care about making very precise backups of aging optical media, both audio and data discs, for some of my day-to-day work. I am often working with discs from the late 90s or early 2000s with various degrees of functionality.
Do good, heavy duty drives still exist? Are there any "new old stock" options that are worth pursuing?
Also, I know that SATA / internal PC tower drives at least USED to be considered better than bus powered USB "slim" drives, but is that still the case?