LG's USA website
http://us.lge.com/ has 2 models of 52x CD-ROM drives:
GCR8520BI
http://us.lge.com/Product/proddetail.do ... yId=020201
GCR8523B
http://us.lge.com/Product/proddetail.do ... yId=020201
the specs are identical.
i suspect that the only difference is that the newer model GCR8523B doesn't have the phone jack and volume knob.
i'm not 100% sure, but i think that this/these drives
do not support reading of sub-channel data. but i can't honestly remember where i read this (possibly the FAQ on LG's support website?).
the older (previous) 52x model was called CRD-8520B. and this one
could read sub-channel data. i know this for a fact, because i was told this by LG's tech-support by email (i asked them and they answered!).
anyway this model was replaced more than a year ago, you can't find it anymore. it was a crappy drive anyway IMO, inconsistent reading quality. never liked it.
if you need a drive that can read subchannel data, just use a CD-R/W drive instead of a CD-ROM drive.