I have two Lightscribe drives. I've never used the feature on either one. Aside from the fact that the discs are more expensive than regular blanks, I just don't see any particular benefit over just using a Sharpie. On the other hand, I buy my CDs and DVDs in 100-packs and I buy them fairly often, so taking the time to Lightscribe any of them is just not part of my gig.
I'll agree its easier to use a sharpie and is cheaper but a cd full of your daughters pictures is fa more liked by the spousal unit when light scribed rather then sharpied. for the record I don't use that feature regularly we just used the discs that came with the computer.