Business Benefits Of Usb Thumb Drive Duplication

By Author: Mingki Tsui
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Whoever came up with the name for the Universal Serial Bus (USB) picked a perfect one, as the protocol has pretty much lived up to its name. USB is universal, that is no overstatement, and is found on every modern digital gadget from music players and mobile phones to every computer, from low-cost netbook to top-of-the-line. As the price of flash memory continues falling, both discrete memory chips and ones integrated into ready-to-use USB thumb drives are becoming cost-effective alternatives for distribution of digital media. This media can be music, video or Flash files, as well as marketing communications documents presented in PDFs, slideshows, self-running motion graphics or other form.

To deploy custom thumb drives of your company's software trial offers, marketing and media kits, PR packages, videos or other items, you only need a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) mindset and a few things to take control of your own thumb drive distribution. First off, there are dozens of firms that will sell you bulk thumb drives in whatever storage size you need, from fractions of megabyte up to 8 or 16GB. You can easily find vendors that ...
... will silkscreen, etch or print your logo or slogan (or both) on the sides of the thumb drive. Then, to duplicate your content onto the blank thumb drives, you would get yourself one of the new breed of USB duplicators.

General description
The best USB duplicators will have one or more rows of USB plugs on the front of the device, with the first slot typically reserved for the master, or the thumb drive from which the others will be replicated. This means that the common number of target slots for copying will be three, seven or 11. The duplicators do not need to be connected to a PC, although some can be, because standalone operation is quite straightforward. The units will generally support all operating systems (OS) and file formats, and perform bit-by-bit copies so that perfect mirror copies of the original master are produced again and again with no errors.

With the best technology, there is firmware upgradeability, so that your duplicator does not become obsolete any time soon. The leading units of this type also perform secure erasures, making previously recorded material completely unrecoverable. The devices also have multi-language support on the front-panel information displays, with user-friendly interfaces and even some shortcut keys to access common commands without working through menus. As opposed to duplication of CDs and DVDs, the machines do not build up heat from spinning drives and laser optics, so they can be run for long periods with no cool-off required.

Marketing benefits
The marketing benefits of custom USB thumb drives are many, and are quite dramatic. The form factor is small, the thumb drives can have embedded loops to act as key chains and the items have a high-tech cachet that is no longer emanating from the now-aging CD and DVD formats. While the latest Blu-ray discs do hold from 25 to 50GB of data, flash memory used in thumb drives has now outpaced all the double-layer DVD capacities, which top out at about 16GB. There are already 32GB versions of many flash memory chips, and they are getting more numerous and cheaper all the time.

The reduced costs are attracting plenty of interest, as companies now find it affordable to duplicate thumb drives instead of DVDs, whether in-house or outsourced. It is the in-house duplicators, of course, who are leading the way, and the technology in the leading USB devices is continuing to mature and evolve dramatically. For companies that want to control distribution costs and maximize marketing impact, USB replicators are becoming a front-line tool. An additional benefit, of course, is that firms can test market different ideas with small batches of thumb drives that are still quite cost-effective even in small quantities.

Bottom line
For a variety of applications, a USB duplicator is a wise move for many firms. Any company that needs to distribute documentation, software updates, presentations or even annual reports in a digital format, USB thumb drives are hard to beat. Startup costs are minimal, supplies are easy to obtain and, when USB advances once again from 2.0 to 3.0, firmware upgrades will keep your replicator from becoming obsolete.

It is a smart, cost-effective protocol with a huge worldwide audience. USB is no gamble, it is a given, so setting your firm up to leverage its global presence is a smart move in many ways. Make sure that you get a duplicator with all the important features discussed here, and read the fine print, as not all of them are thus equipped. Stick with a leader in the duplication industry if you have any doubts, as several leading firms offer first-rate devices of this kind. A USB duplicator could be a real boon to your business if you have the right strategy, implement it wisely and keep your quality high.
About Author:
Vinpower Digital.com has almost any type of cd duplicator on the market today, as well as other formats. We have the expertise to help you at every stage of planning to enhance your optical disc duplication. Visit online today.