Gigabyte GO-W0808A

Another returning competitor to our roundup is Gigabyte. Gigabyte's GO-W0404A was based on the same LiteOn chasis and MediaTek MT1818E chipset found in the LiteOn LDW-411S and both drives showed very similar performance.

Gigabyte GO-W0808A
Interface IDE
CD Write Speed 40X, 32X, 24X (CAV)
16X, 12X, 8X, 4X (CLV)
CD Rewrite Speed 24X, 16X (CAV)
12X, 8X, 4X (CLV)
CD Read Speed 40X Max (CAV)
DVD-R Write Speed 8X (Z-CLV)
4X, 2X (CLV)
DVD-RW Rewrite Speed 4X, 2X, 1X (CLV)
DVD+R Write Speed 8X (Z-CLV)
4X, 2X (CLV)
DVD+RW Rewrite Speed 4X, 2.4X (CLV)
DVD Read Speed 12X Max (CAV)
Supported Modes DAO / DAO-RAW 16 & 96
TAO
SAO / SAO 16 & 96
Packet Write
MultiSession
Supported Formats DVD+R (DAO, incremental, seq)
DVD+RW (random)
DVD-R (DAO, incremental, seq)
DVD-RW (random)
CD-R, CD-RW, CD-ROM, CD-DA,
CD-ROM XA, Mixed Mode, CD Extra
Photo CD, CD Text, Bootable CD, UDF
Access Time CD: 160ms
DVD: 160ms
Buffer 2MB

One thing that sets the GO-W0808A apart from the other drives in this roundup is its slightly shorter depth, under 7 inches.

There are several other drives that use the same 8X dual enabled MediaTek MT1818E chipset found in this drive. We would expect similar performance of the Gigabyte GO-W0808A with:
  • TEAC DV-W58G-A
  • LiteOn SOHW-812S
The MediaTek MT1818E has been highly reused in many other drives going all the way back to some of the original dual format burners only capable of 4X and 2X burn speeds. Updates on the analog controller seem to be the major contributor to increased performance.

NuTech DDW-082 ASUS DRW-0804P
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  • mkruer - Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - link

    Stupid question but i must ask, is there a firmware update to the Plextor 708A that allows us to burn dual layer DVD's? I remember there was quite alot of talk about the new drives supporting the feature, but that it was not enabled.
  • deadseasquirrel - Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - link

    "Why wasn't the Plextor 8x drive included in this comparison?"

    didja *read* the article??

    Page 5: "Alas, our award winning Plextor 708A, which is also based on the LC897490, is not capable of 8X DVD-R, so we could not include it in this roundup."
  • moktaw - Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - link

    Bought the NuTech 081 several months ago. Firmware upgraded to a 082(at least that's what Nero and DVDInfoPro say with B370 Firmware). This is my first DVD burner. Outstanding product, especially at $80. Burned about 25 discs so far without any coasters. I would love to find the B372 firmware upgrade talked about in the article, Checked NuTech's website this morning and couldn't find it. A typo or do I need to look elsewhere? Thanks for the great discussion. Looking forward to the 16x dual layer burners this summer.
  • Booty - Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - link

    Why wasn't the Plextor 8x drive included in this comparison?

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