CD/DVD Duplication Services versus Home-Use Duplicators

A guide to which DVD mass-production option works best for you.

You've burned a master disc of your pièce de résistance and are ready to ship it all over. Just one problem: you have only one disc, and burning hundreds by yourself isn't feasible. Or is it?

Both duplication services and home-use duplicators create the same outcome, so which one should you go with? This article will arm you with the information you need to choose the option that works best for you, so you can tackle your next big project with ease.

Duplication

The duplicator works just like a photocopier, except this process uses a laser to burn pits into the dye of the recordable area of the disc. You'll end up creating a carbon copy of your original. And unlike photocopies, which can be hard to read if ink is low, your discs will end up identical every time. If there is a problem with any disc, the duplicator will reject it.

Now that we have a better understanding of what duplication is, let's delve a little deeper into the subject matter and explore the difference between duplication services and home-use duplicators.

CD/DVD Duplication Services

If you have occasional orders for more discs than you can reasonably burn yourself, you'll find that a duplication service company can be very helpful. You don't have to have a job with hundreds of discs; the duplication service can provide you with varying numbers of duplicates.

Duplication services can be convenient when you don't have time to fuss with doing it yourself. All you have to do is supply them with your master disc. They save you time and the hassle of doing it yourself.

Regardless of the number of discs you choose to duplicate, your order can take a few business days, depending on the duplication company. If you have a limited amount of money, are short on time and don't need to duplicate discs that often, then using a duplication company to fill your order is ideal.

In-House Duplication

Burning discs one at a time on your computer is a daunting task when you need large numbers. If you're duplicating large orders of discs more often than not, you should look into getting a duplicator. There are many options available that are easy to use and affordable. The greatest thing about most of these duplicators is that they require no software, and they can be standalone units, which makes them very easy to set up. We'll look at manual and automated duplicators.

Manual Duplicators

Manual duplicators look like a rack of DVD burners stacked on each other, with a simple menu system. One drive acts as the reading drive, while the rest burn a duplicate of what's in the reading drive. Their design is simple, and they usually have only a few buttons. Many of them require you to just turn on the tower, load all the trays and let the duplicator do the rest.

The number of discs a tower can burn depends on how many drives it has. It can range from one duplicate at a time to how ever many you're willing to buy. Higher-end models can come with a built-in hard drive for storing DVD images. This can free up the tray that would have held the master disc and is great for quickly returning to a past project.

Manual duplicators are the most cost-effective option for burning multiple discs yourself. This option is ideal for lots of little jobs, but you can also use it for bigger ones, if you have the time to reload the trays.

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