Hi: I am starting a DVD duplication business. I have a Mac G4 and a Toshiba Satellite laptop (PC). I also have a Plextor burner PX-708UF.

I would like to buy a DVD duplicating tower: Should I build my own with a bunch of internal drive burners, or should I get a pre-made stack? How much should I expect to pay for a 1:3 free-standing device? Which company makes the best for the money? What really is the difference between 4x and 8x?

And, what kind of DVD should I write on? DVD+R is most compatible for players, right? Which company has the best quality for the least price? Imation? What about their Business Select line of DVDs? If I'm just duplicating people's home videos, is there a need to go with top of the line products?

Thanks for the answers.
Douglas Stambler
(Colorado)

Regarding media, -R is still more compatible in players, especially older ones.
Media is still quite a touchy issue with burners these days. If I were you and am selling the DVD's I would go no other route then Taiyo Yuden (TY) media. There is no media that even comes close to it in terms of compatibility and write quality among all DVD burners.
Second choice for media would be Mitsubishi chemicals corp (MCC). But again it will be worth the cost in the long run to get TY if you are going to be trying to get as close to universal compatibility.

I would build my own duplicator unless I could pick which burner goes in. Not all DVD burners are created equal. The current king of write quality is arguably the NEC 2500A followed by the LiteOn 812S.

thanks seth: i bought a whole bunch of +R DVDs. -R is better? why?

-douglas

Well some set top DVD players as well as the xbox/ps2 will not read DVD+R discs. This usually isn't because they can't read them, but because the manufacturer set the player to block the +R book type (the older the drive, the greater the chance it will become). Also older drives just do not recognize the +R booktype sometimes.
If you have a drive that can do bit setting (changed booktype from +R to -ROM that usually is not a problem (LiteOn 411S/451S/811S/851S and the NEC 1xxxx drives are the only ones that can do it I think).

You should scan that media to tell what it really is. AFAIK Imation uses different supplies so it's not always the same. You can use DVDInfoPro to scan the media and tell what it is (called a media code).
Like I said though, you will have more returns with any other media above TY.

much appreciated

-douglas

While I agree with everything Ssseth has posted......few dangling issues. What type of DVD's are you looking to duplicate? If it's for the gaming arena....thats one thing....if it's for video.....another...

You can easily spend $20,000 for a professional duplicating tower and be no better off than had you built your own for around $2500.....if the gist of your business is duplicating wedding videos.......business presentations....etc.....

If you need a CD/DVD Duplicator tower, check out www.JelaTech.com. We build all our own CD/DVD duplicators using Pioneer drives (most widely used burners.) They drives are +/- compatible. If your interested email me at Jeremy@jelatech.com I can see if I can get you a price break. Have a great day and good luck!