Bulk CD Copying

Compact disc (CD) copiers or CD duplicators copy the contents of one CD onto another CD (or many CDs).

CD copiers may be manual, integrated, or networked. With manual CD copiers, the operator is required to physically open the copier and reload the CDs. However, they are slow and can copy only one to nine CDs at a time. In contrast, the higher end versions of CD copiers allow easy copying of CDs in bulk so that one can copy up to 1100 CDs in one go in a small span of time, without intervention.

CD copiers may be CD-writable (CD-R) or CD-rewritable (CD-RW). In CD-Rs, a laser recorder copies data on a blank CD by selectively burning an organic dye on the CD surface. This process is also known as burning and it is a permanent and irreversible process. CDs burnt by a CD-R can be used only once. But with CD-RW's, a laser recorder melts an alloy on the surface of the CD in selective degrees. This is a reversible process and these CDs can be used for around a thousand rewrites.

Bulk copying of CDs is required in a lot of cases, such as for handing out CDs to music producers, passing out hundreds of CDs at local concerts, or providing beta versions of a company's proprietary software. The bulk CD copying process is also very cost efficient. With a tiered price structure, the more the number of units ordered, the more is the saving per individual disk.

Nowadays, with CDs changing in size, a lot of people present their business cards on CDs which not only contains the usual information about them and their company, but also provide a detailed list of the products or services the company offers, along with a whole host of other information. With such use of CDs, bulk copying of CDs for the purpose of using them as business cards becomes absolutely necessary.