The most problem with exploding cd's are not always any problem with the reader its often lousy written drivers who makes the cd to spin to fast (or not slows the drive in time). It can also be a combination with lousy disc quality (noname cd-r's for example).

Diablo2 was a good example since it do heavy reading all the time from the cd during gameplay, many of my friends had to buy new readers after playing diablo, not me though who still uses an old 34x drive .