Master Pirate Merchandise (Burning tower, best thing ever)
12/03/08 09:16 Filed in: Tech
Ok ok, while most people don't need or want this sort
of thing, but I got
a DVD duplication tower yesterday, and boy, its the best thing EVER.
at work i usually don't burn too many discs, but in the last few weeks
i got into burning about 200 a week.
thats a lot, believe me. i got a new external USB burner by SAMSUNG
to help out, but i found out that no matter what the setup was (i burn
.iso using dvd decrypter), speed simply got divided by the number of
writers.
since this meant i can only burn 4-5 discs an hour, i decided to go and
get the burning tower.
if you don't know what a "burning tower" or a "disc duplicator", here it is:
the duplicator next to a lame PC.
basically, it is a case (in my case, a unique case for duplicators) populated
with just DVD burners, a PSU and a controller. no Intel inside.
the burners are just the ordinary drives, as it is the controller that makes all
the difference. in this one they used a copystar DVD1611, which has 12 IDE
connectors, for 11 burners + 1 drive to read from and 128MB RAM. it is capable of
burning at the media's maximum speed in all the drives at once (i used a TDK X20).
the controller. 80 discs passed, 0 failed.
this is a very simple machine, but it makes the process of duplicating quantities
of discs a breeze. no applications to run, no setup, no booting (other then the
power on self-check, which takes 30 seconds or so). all you have to do is to put
a master disc in any of the drives, and the controller scans it and displays the
size and other information on a small lcd display. next, populate the rest of the
drives with as many discs as you want to burn, and close the trays.
thats it. at first when the salesman explained me how to operate this,
i was sure he doesn't know what he is talking about. "just put something to
read from in one drive, and something to burn on in some other drives, and
thats all", 'cant be that simple' i thought. well, it is. using this machine is no more
complicated then using a toaster. of bread that is.
now i am making about 100 copies in an hour, with 0 coasters, with the
Canon 6700D printer i use for printing labels on the discs being the bottleneck.
COPYSTAR DVD 1611:
price: ~1000$
Pros: super fast, simple and reliable.
Cons: since its a tower, it is kind of difficult to load \ unload the drives, but nothing serious.
what more: i would like to see a close all\eject all button. also, the lcd could be more communicative.
there are some more intelligent machines, some even load \ unload the discs with a robotic arm,
some combine a label printer inside, and some have a built in HDD for storing masters. these models
are much more expensive, and suit those who need to make hundreds of discs daily. if you are like me,
and burn something like 500 discs a month, this is a must. must must must. go get one now,
it is the best thing ever.
a DVD duplication tower yesterday, and boy, its the best thing EVER.
at work i usually don't burn too many discs, but in the last few weeks
i got into burning about 200 a week.
thats a lot, believe me. i got a new external USB burner by SAMSUNG
to help out, but i found out that no matter what the setup was (i burn
.iso using dvd decrypter), speed simply got divided by the number of
writers.
since this meant i can only burn 4-5 discs an hour, i decided to go and
get the burning tower.
if you don't know what a "burning tower" or a "disc duplicator", here it is:
the duplicator next to a lame PC.
basically, it is a case (in my case, a unique case for duplicators) populated
with just DVD burners, a PSU and a controller. no Intel inside.
the burners are just the ordinary drives, as it is the controller that makes all
the difference. in this one they used a copystar DVD1611, which has 12 IDE
connectors, for 11 burners + 1 drive to read from and 128MB RAM. it is capable of
burning at the media's maximum speed in all the drives at once (i used a TDK X20).
the controller. 80 discs passed, 0 failed.
this is a very simple machine, but it makes the process of duplicating quantities
of discs a breeze. no applications to run, no setup, no booting (other then the
power on self-check, which takes 30 seconds or so). all you have to do is to put
a master disc in any of the drives, and the controller scans it and displays the
size and other information on a small lcd display. next, populate the rest of the
drives with as many discs as you want to burn, and close the trays.
thats it. at first when the salesman explained me how to operate this,
i was sure he doesn't know what he is talking about. "just put something to
read from in one drive, and something to burn on in some other drives, and
thats all", 'cant be that simple' i thought. well, it is. using this machine is no more
complicated then using a toaster. of bread that is.
now i am making about 100 copies in an hour, with 0 coasters, with the
Canon 6700D printer i use for printing labels on the discs being the bottleneck.
COPYSTAR DVD 1611:
price: ~1000$
Pros: super fast, simple and reliable.
Cons: since its a tower, it is kind of difficult to load \ unload the drives, but nothing serious.
what more: i would like to see a close all\eject all button. also, the lcd could be more communicative.
there are some more intelligent machines, some even load \ unload the discs with a robotic arm,
some combine a label printer inside, and some have a built in HDD for storing masters. these models
are much more expensive, and suit those who need to make hundreds of discs daily. if you are like me,
and burn something like 500 discs a month, this is a must. must must must. go get one now,
it is the best thing ever.