If your company regularly needs to make copies of audio, video, or data files onto blank CDs or DVDs, CD/DVD duplication equipment can be a cost-effective purchase.

CD/DVD duplication equipment allows you to make hundreds of copies of your media at once. The process works similar to a standard CD burner on a PC. You insert a master recording of what you want to copy. You then insert blank discs into multiple trays and the machine burns the data onto them to create precise copies. Once complete, you can print text or graphics for your discs.

In-house duplication equipment is best for quickly creating promotional CD-ROMs, audio CDs, or video DVDs for internal distribution, marketing and promotions, demo recordings or software, and on-screen help documentation.

• Internal caching hard drive of 100 GB or more
• Internal fans for ventilation and heat distribution
• LED indicators that show duplication status
• Buffer memory (64 MB to 128 MB) to help prevent errors or failures
• 400W heavy-duty power supply to prevent power surges or outages

Types of equipment

You’ll find two types of CD/DVD duplication equipment – standalone towers and automated equipment.

A standalone tower works without an attached PC, although certain towers can be networked. You set up duplication jobs on the tower itself and multiple writers (or burners) copy the information to blank discs. Standalone burners that run at 52X speed can duplicate each CD or DVD in about two minutes, and can copy up to 15 or more discs simultaneously.

If you only need to make 1 to 50 copies and don’t need printing on the discs, standalone towers are the least expensive solution. However, since they require manual attention, you need to monitor the equipment during duplication jobs.

With automated equipment, you can produce larger quantities of discs much more quickly. You simply load up to 1,000 CDs or DVDs and walk away. The equipment features built-in pickers that load the CD trays and stack the finished product. You can network automated equipment to your PC to store multiple duplication jobs and customize labels for the discs.

Automated equipment features more functionality and offers increased productivity than standalone towers, but it’s also more expensive and takes longer to learn to use properly.

Quantity considerations

When shopping for a CD/DVD duplicator, make sure you know how many copies you'll usually make and how fast you need them done. Adding more burners to your equipment makes larger runs faster, but also adds to your costs.

Although lessors may have different names for them, you'll find that there are basically two types of equipment lease financing: finance and true.

Finance leases

Also known as capital leases, conditional sales, or dollar buy out leases, these leases work best if you intend to keep the equipment at the end of the lease. The main advantage of this type of lease is that it gives you the option to purchase the equipment for a nominal fee, usually $1.00. Payment terms on finance leases tend to last close to the expected useful life of the equipment.

The type of printer to choose depends on how you want the print on your discs to appear. Inkjet printers are best when you want to print small quantities of disc labels with medium-to-high resolution. To print direct to the disc face, a thermal printer is effective for higher volumes, but provides only low-to-medium resolution.

True leases

On the other hand, true leases, also called tax leases, operating leases, or FMV (fair market value) leases, do not usually span the full expected life of the equipment. At the end of the lease, you can choose to walk away from the equipment or purchase it at fair market value. Payments on true leases generally tend to be lower than those on finance leases. This is because lessors have the opportunity to resell the equipment when the lease ends.

Tax implications One of the main benefits of true leases is that you may be able to fully claim lease payments for tax purposes. In contrast, the IRS considers finance leases little more than installment purchase plans. As a result, although finance leases let you spread your payments over time, they are not tax advantaged in the way true leases are.
Again, it's important to discuss the tax implications of your equipment lease financing with an accountant before signing any contract.

Payment options

While fixed monthly payments are the norm, they are not your only option. Depending on your company's financial situation, your equipment lease financing can include one of several payment plans that may be more appealing.

If your company's cash flow ebbs and flows with the seasons, you might want to consider a skip lease. A lease with this repayment structure allows you to skip payments during slow months without being penalized. They are ideal for recreational and agricultural businesses that rely heavily on certain times of the year for significant portions of their revenue.

Step-up leases provide a solution for companies with limited cash that are depending upon the acquisition of specific equipment to increase revenue. This type of lease recognizes that the company will be able to handle increased lease payments over time, and keeps payments low at first then ramps them up according to a pre-determined schedule.

An alternative to a step-up lease is a 60- or 90- day deferred lease. Just as its name implies, this lease allows you to defer your first payment for 2 or 3 months. Usually you will not have to present a down payment with this option.

Ending your lease

Lease terms range anywhere from 6 to 120 months, although the majority fall between 12 and 60 months.

The lease term that you decide upon will depend heavily on what you decide to do with the equipment at the end of your lease. Usually, you have four choices. You can:

• return the equipment to the lessor with no future obligation.
• renew the lease.
• purchase the equipment for a nominal fee or fixed price agreed upon at the lease inception.
• purchase the equipment at fair market value

Before agreeing to any particular end of lease clause, carefully consider what state the equipment will be in at the end of the lease, and whether you'll want to obtain a newer model at that time. Also consider the chances that you'll want to get out of the lease early - if you think it's likely, be sure that your lease doesn't contain substantial penalty clauses for early withdrawal.