The Toshiba has a 200ms access time, the NEC has a 280ms access
time, right around the Sony/Apple. Access time is, of course,
somewhat important, but not as vital in the case of CDs as data
transfer rate.

All the drives are double-speed drives with maximum data transfer
rates of 300K/second. Any is a good choice. Apple's is very cheap
when included with new Macs and I agree with Christian's comment
about drivers.

Plus, Apple's is bootable on the Centris and Quadra 800. A very nice
feature if you need to install System software. I don't know if the
NEC or Toshiba are bootable on those machines.