Russell I have personally sat in front of a bank of PC's before - running off 200 copies of CD's (when it took 20mins per 600mb disc) I cant remember if I had 2,3,or 4 pcs running the discs off but it WAS mind numbingly dull. I actually spent a couple of years making master discs for magazine coverdiscs so I know the subject fairly well. If you can be bothered to throw a cheap pc together with 3 writers and a boot drive - a program called padus disc juggler will happily write to all 3 writers at once. (bear in mind I haven't checked the existence of this software for several years) However it could triple the speed of writing and any 500mhz + pc should cope ok. I used to write masters for pressing on a 486 DX266 and it took several hours !!! We had to master the image to a clean hdd first then write on a KODAK 1x writer that was the size of an AV Cinema Surround sound amp and then it would take an hour to write and an hour to verify.. Those were the days. Oh did I mention each gold disc was =A35 ($15) LOL and my boss would have a fit if the write failed for any reason ! Anyhow - as I'm literally just down the road - if I can help just say. Lastly - one thing I have noticed is that some of the cheap DVD-writers seem to cope for about 500 odd dvd's before they start being unreliable. This is in no way an accurate statement, just something that=92s a feeling. I have gone through probably 8-10 writers over the years since I started writing discs in '94. In all that time I have found Pioneer to be reliable but on the expensive side. I almost certainly have 1 or 2 spare writers if you need any. Chris -----Original Message----- From: Russell McMahon [mailto:apptech@paradise.net.nz] = Sent: 02 May 2007 03:05 To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public. Subject: Re: [EE]:: DVD copying? >> 1. What is the amount you been quoted for this work? Very reasonable. >> 2. What is the amount you are willing to pay? Totally unreasonably low ;-) > Also, the process is divided into two parts: > 1. Creating the DVD image from the source material (authoring) > 2. Duplicating the DVDs from the image. > You're not clear if you need help on #1 or not. I would provide a DVDR containing a completed product which I wanted = copies of. This could eg be copied by a bulk DVD copier. I am aware that my hopes are unreasonable. It's not vastly important in this case but it sets a precedent for = future similar tasks. Multiply all prices by 0.75 to get $US Prices include local GST tax of 12.5% Media cost for a DVD-R in a 'wedding cake' 100 pack is $NZ0.54 for = Imation brand white inkjet printable. Paper sleeves add 2.5 cents more. Cost of copying to DVD-R in 300 volume has been quoted at $NZ2.36 each Difference per copy is about $1.80 or for 300 is over $500. These are photos for a school ball for which I'll be taking the = photos. This is not my day job :-) Photography is an obsess... er hobby and it is nice for it = occasionally to make some money to keep my wife happy with my = purchases - and I also like it to be self funding. Most things I take photos of don't pay anything for the privilege. It's also nice to be paid something for something which one might = happily do for free, depending on time and other priorities. The time spent per $ earned is less important than the absolute $ = earned. In this case my aim is to clear $1,000 after all expenses taxes etc = and in return give all students a DVD of most of the photos. By any normal standards that's a small sum for the work which will be = involved, firstly in taking the photos and then in preparing a DVD. We're working on a school website 'pre-viewing and right of veto' = arrangement prior to the DVD being made to satisfy local privacy = concerns. That adds some extra work. Overall this gives the students a far far far better deal than = previously - they can each print unlimited photos of their choice at = photo site rates. They are adding the cost of the DVD to the ball ticket cost. The cost is fixed and 'rather low'. I need to minimise production cost to make my desired net profit. So ... I will also be offering inkjet printed A4 prints at say $5 for those = who are interested. With CIS ink and cheap but good paper that's mostly profit (plus = labour plus printer amortisation plus ...) So. OK. Cough. The DVD return to me is $NZ5. $4.55 after GST :-( 300 sales takes $3.33 of that for my target $1000. That leaves $1.22 for ALL other expenses (not counting profit from = prints). Less than $1.22 would be highly desirable. Sales may be as high as 350. And may not. I could have said $7.50 / DVD and we'd be home by now, but I didn't, = and ... . Next time. I'd be happy to do it on a couple of PCs here over a week if I can = find a suitably trained monkey to swap disks. (Any other suitably = trained animal that would work for peanuts would do). Russell -- = http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist -- = No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. = Version: 7.5.467 / Virus Database: 269.6.2/782 - Release Date: 01/05/2007 02:10 -- = http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist