Can a good DVD burner be
produced using inexpensive production from China? These drives were all
manufactured there. Tom's Hardware takes a comparative look at the: Asus
DRW-0402 P/D, Gigabyte GO-W0404A, MSI DR4-A and the MSI DR8-A.
 All four
candidates perform well compared to the drives from traditional makers,
proving that they need not fear established names like Pioneer, Sony and
Teac.
The Asus burner had no
surprises in store, since it copied the proven hardware design from
Pioneer. Its performance is solidly middle of the road except with CDs,
where other devices are faster. Asus provides all the needed installation
material standard - that should be the case with all manufacturers. 
Once again, Gigabyte came through the rematch with its
W0404A without raising any eyebrows. While the unit has no marked
deficiencies, it doesn't have any marked strengths, either. Its CD reading
performance is the only thing that lets it stand out somewhat. 
 MSI can
only take the midfield with its DR4-A, too, although the device has decent
extracting and ripping features. Better to go with the MSI DR8-A. Not
because it can write DVD+Rs at 8x speed, but because its performance data
looks good all around. The only thing missing in the retail bundle is the
requisite installation
material.
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You can visit over at Tom's Hardware to see the comparison in full
detail. Be sure to visit our Recording Hardware Forums to discuss this
review.
Source: Tom's Hardware
