gas path
Speed is definitely worth it but the relative value of the freebies is:
Discs (700mb/80 min) - about £25 for 100.
Easy CD Creator 5 Platinum - about £40.
The software I think you saw is roxio who appear to be the same lot as Adaptec. If you get one with their Easy CD Creator, get at least version 4 deluxe. It does music, MP3 to CD audio, records from any source, retouches scratchy stuff, photo albums, video postcards and VCDs.