What is it? CD or DVD Burning is a process by which data (be it computer data, files, music, video etc) is copied onto ('burnt') onto the surface of the disc. It's basically a way of storing data in a robust and reliable way, although it has some limitations. It was very popular once upon a time when floppy discs were too small to hold much data and USB devices that we have now were extremely expensive. These days CD burns are quite rare, but we keep the service available as it is sometimes useful to have the option available.
Pictures: This is NOT the type of CD burning we're talking about. But it looks nice though ....
Why do it? These days most data can be quickly and easily saved to any USB device which is smaller, faster, more versatile and can hold more information. However, there are a few instances where it's useful to have a physical disc:
you want to play something you've downloaded on a DVD or CD player
you want to create backups of something that you can file away neatly
you want to send or give electronic information to several people via a physical medium
How much does it cost? We charge £5 per CD or DVD burn and this includes the disc. Simply download the data you want into a network folder that we will create for you and then we can burn it off at one of the staff PCs on your behalf. Effectively, you're paying for the staff time as burns can be a bit fiddly sometimes and large ones can be time consuming. You can't burn CDs yourself at our PCs due to legal reasons concerning copyright.
How much data can I store? A CD will generally hold 640MB of data or around 74 minutes of music. A DVD will hold up to 4GB. Burns of this size can take some time, especially as we verify every burn (effectively we double check every byte of data to make sure it has transferred properly)
Can I add to it later? Yes you can, but you need to let us know if you'd like to have that option before we burn. This is because it's simple option change to make it possible, but by default that option is switched off.. What else do I need to know? We can copy CDs or DVDs to other CDs or DVDs (known as copying 'on the fly') by the same copyright rules apply as they do for Cine film or DVD transfers. You can view this section here.
