The Decline of Optical Media in Modern Computing

Let’s face it, optical discs are large and bulky. At nearly five inches in diameter, they feel oversized compared to modern laptops and tablets. Even though optical drives have been reduced in size over the years, many laptop manufacturers have eliminated them entirely to save space and power.

Beyond the size factor, space once used for an optical drive could be better allocated. It could house a larger battery for extended runtime, a faster solid-state drive for improved performance, or a more powerful graphics solution for design work or gaming.

When CD-R drives first entered the market, they offered massive storage compared to traditional magnetic media of the time. With 650 MB of capacity, they outperformed most hard drives of that era. DVDs expanded this further, offering 4.7 GB on recordable discs.

While optical media grew steadily, it never matched the exponential growth of hard drives and USB flash drives. Optical storage remains limited to gigabytes, while modern hard drives now store terabytes of data. Using CDs, DVDs, or Blu-ray discs for storage has become impractical—the write speed is slow, and retrieval times are equally sluggish. Hard drives and portable USB flash drives have become the dominant solution.

USB Duplicators: The Modern Replacement for Optical Disc Copiers

Given these points, it’s easy to see why optical media is fading out. CD-R and DVD-R may survive for a few more years, but USB drives and hard disks have already taken over. The next logical question is: how do you efficiently load data onto USB drives? In the optical era, you had CD/DVD tower duplicators, often with robotics and printers for disc labeling. These systems are now rare.

The solution today is USB duplicators. These are high-speed flash memory copier systems designed to load content onto USB drives quickly and efficiently. Similar to how optical duplicators had different burning methods, USB duplicators support multiple copy modes—file copy, binary copy, and duplication from ISO or IMG files.

It’s important to choose a USB duplicator that supports all these functions. Some models offer up to six copy modes, making them highly versatile. Options may include file copy, copy add, unique data streaming, copy from a physical device, and image-based duplication from IMG or ISO files. This flexibility ensures compatibility regardless of how the source content is provided.

Review: Nexcopy 3.0 USB Duplicator

EverythingUSB posted a review of the Nexcopy 3.0 USB Duplicator with a bunch of “thumbs up” marks.  Let’s take a closer look.

Design and Build Quality

As far as USB duplicators go, the Nexcopy SSUSB160PC is actually pretty stylish. Its form certainly flows from its function, but Nexcopy has made it look engineered like a German car. Because of this form-from-function design, it’s rather rectangular with flat boxy sides. However, Nexcopy added some flair where they could. For example, the top slopes downward from back to front, giving it a more aggressive styling. This dash of style also makes it more functional, as inserting 16 flash drives into the USB 3.0 ports on that top surface is easier when they’re slightly vertically offset. It’s also easier to check all 32 status lights (red for bad, green for good).

Where the Nexcopy USB 3.0 duplicator is a serious tool meant for serious work, there is no plastic fascia to be found—only metal. Nexcopy managed to sneak in some pizazz by CnC milling the company logo out of the front panel. This allows air to be drawn in from the front and sides, flow over the internals, and exhaust out the back via a cooling fan. It’s a great example of proper form and function.

Performance and Software

I first made an image file of my freshly installed Windows 7 64-bit flash drive using the included basic software. (Note: The professional version includes advanced features like write protection, partitioning, and setting drives as USB CD-ROM devices.) Once that was done, I created a new batch job, pointed the software to the image file on my hard drive, plugged in all 16 flash drives, and got down to business. With about 30 more seconds of setup, I had started a 16-way duplication process.

From the moment I clicked “start” to when the copy was completed, it took just over 11 minutes—not including the image creation. That’s 128GB of data written in under 12 minutes, which is solid performance, although I had hoped for even faster speeds.

The Nexcopy 3.0 USB duplicator is a true force multiplier. The more frequently you run the same task, the faster your process becomes. Most of the time in testing was spent on setup—once you’re past that, the duplicator can crank out 16 flash drives with custom images very quickly. The faster your flash drives, the faster the duplication process. If time is money, then the SSUSB160PC is a money-printing machine.

For the full Nexcopy 3.0 USB Duplicator review, head over to EverythingUSB for more details.

EverythingUSB.com is a long-standing technology website that launched in the early 2000s, focused exclusively on covering USB (Universal Serial Bus) technology and related peripherals. At a time when USB was revolutionizing how people connected devices to computers, EverythingUSB quickly became one of the go-to sources for in-depth product reviews, industry news, and technical analysis. The site gained popularity for its objective reporting and detailed writeups on USB flash drives, hubs, duplicators, gadgets, and even obscure USB-powered accessories.

Run by a small but dedicated team of tech enthusiasts and editors, EverythingUSB carved out a niche by maintaining a sharp editorial focus on USB-based innovations, both consumer and professional-grade. The site helped shape public perception around USB as a universal standard and provided early insight into game-changing technologies like USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and USB-C as they emerged. Though the pace of updates has slowed in recent years, EverythingUSB remains a respected archive and occasional contributor to USB-centric product reviews and commentary.

USB 3.0 is gaining momentum with every new product launch, and millions of PCs and peripherals are expected to ship with the SuperSpeed interface this year. That makes the timing of the Nexcopy SSUSB160PC USB duplicator especially relevant, offering users a high-speed solution to manage modern peripherals without relying on slower legacy USB 2.0 systems.

The SSUSB160PC is a 16-target duplicator designed to take full advantage of USB 3.0 technology, with theoretical transfer rates up to 5 Gbps. However, keep in mind that a USB 2.0 flash drive won’t automatically benefit from faster speeds just by being plugged into a USB 3.0 port—data transfer is always limited by the slowest link in the chain. That said, the SSUSB160PC excels when paired with modern USB 3.0 drives and hard disks, now common in professional environments.

Encased in a lightweight anodized aluminum housing, this duplicator is built for performance and portability. With an integrated 120-watt power supply, active cooling system, and support for data transfer at each device’s max speed, Nexcopy claims it can copy 32GB of data in as little as six minutes.

Who Needs a High-Speed USB Duplicator?

The SSUSB160PC is especially valuable for industries that demand rapid, secure content distribution—such as software publishers, government agencies, media production companies, and IT departments. When time-sensitive firmware, training materials, or confidential files need to be deployed across dozens of devices quickly and reliably, a professional-grade duplicator like this one becomes essential. Unlike cloud distribution, which requires stable internet access and setup on each machine, USB duplication delivers instant, offline access with full data integrity and copy protection options.

Released in the early 2010s, the SSUSB160PC quickly became one of the most trusted PC-connected USB duplicators for government agencies, publishers, and tech manufacturers. It ships with Nexcopy’s proprietary Drive Manager software and supports features like binary copy, write protection, data streaming, and USB CD-ROM emulation (in the Pro version). These capabilities, combined with its durable design, helped Nexcopy earn a leading position in the USB duplication market.

Source: UberGizmo

About Ubergizmo: Ubergizmo is a consumer technology news website founded in 2005 by Silicon Valley tech veterans Hubert Nguyen and Eliane Fiolet. Known for visually rich coverage and an accessible tone, the site gained recognition for product reviews, previews, and global tech event coverage, especially at trade shows like CES and MWC. Ubergizmo carved a niche by blending user-oriented design analysis with insightful reporting on innovation and usability.

Introducing the Nexcopy Standalone USB Duplicator

We’ve reported about Nexcopy several times before, ranging from their USB duplicators to SD and Compact Flash duplicators. Today, we’re here to highlight the Nexcopy standalone USB duplicator.

Nexcopy, Standalone USB Duplicator

With flash drives growing in both capacity and affordability, it’s no surprise that data loads are also increasing. A few years ago, it was common to load a PDF or PowerPoint presentation onto a promotional USB stick for trade shows. Today, with the ease of creating videos and the popularity of platforms like YouTube, promotional content has become much larger.

Between 2010 and the mid?2010s, average MP4 video file sizes grew by roughly 30%, as creators embraced higher resolutions. In the past three years alone, they’ve expanded another 20%, driven by increased use of 4K and 8K content—a cumulative >50% increase over 15 years. Source: MASV – How Big Will Video Files Get?

The Nexcopy standalone USB duplicator supports copy speeds up to 30MB per second—that’s about 1,800MB per minute. While most standard USB drives won’t hit those speeds, higher-end flash memory can certainly take advantage of it. Taking this a step further, if you have 16 USB sticks on the system and each port is receiving 1,800MB per minute, this means the entire unit is actually copying 28.8GBs per minute as an overall throughput.

Real-World Impact on Productivity

A large software company is preparing a nationwide training program for 1,000 new employees across 50 regional offices. Each employee must receive a USB flash drive preloaded with 4GB of onboarding videos, security protocols, and software installation packages.

Without a High-Speed Duplicator:
Using a standard PC and manual copy process, it takes 10 minutes to copy 4GB to one USB drive. Copying 1,000 drives would require 10,000 minutes (over 166 hours) of labor. This could take an entire week even with multiple staff involved.

With the Nexcopy Standalone USB Duplicator:
Each port delivers up to 30MB/sec, or 1.8GB per minute. With 16 drives copying in parallel, 28.8GB is transferred every minute. Copying 4GB per drive means each batch of 16 takes just about 2.5 minutes. To duplicate 1,000 drives:
1,000 ÷ 16 = 62.5 batches
62.5 batches × 2.5 minutes = 156.25 minutes (~2.6 hours total)

Productivity Gain:
From 166 hours down to just 2.6 hours. This results in reduced labor costs, faster turnaround, and the ability to reallocate staff to other tasks. It also gives the organization immediate scaling capability for future projects.

Summary:
The Nexcopy standalone duplicator’s 30MB/sec per port speed translates to 28.8GB/min total throughput, which enables massive productivity boosts for businesses distributing digital content at scale—especially for training kits, product launches, software deployments, and marketing promotions. This technology doesn’t just save time—it transforms how companies manage USB-based data distribution.

The Nexcopy standalone duplicator line includes two models: a 16-port system and a 32-port system. Each system dedicates one port for the master device. That’s likely why the models are named USB115SA and USB131SA—one master and 15 or 31 targets, respectively.

We couldn’t find specific pricing on the Nexcopy website since the products are only available through authorized dealers. The release date for these standalone duplicator models was the first week of September 2010.

To learn more about Nexcopy’s standalone USB duplicators, visit the official Nexcopy site.

Source: EverythingUSB.com

2025 Update: Nexcopy Enhances USB 3.0 Duplicator with Higher Capacity Drives and Advanced Drive Manager Software

Nexcopy, a leader in USB duplication technology, has been shipping its USB 3.0 SuperSpeed Duplicator for over 15 years. The 16-port USB 3.0 Duplicator remains one of the most reliable solutions for high-speed USB flash drive and hard drive duplication. With peak transfer speeds of 65MB/s per device and up to 72MB/s with multiple drives connected, the duplicator can efficiently handle demanding data loads. For USB 3.0 hard drives, transfer rates reach a consistent 95MB/s, regardless of whether a single device or eight devices are connected.

Since its initial release, Nexcopy has expanded its USB 3.0 flash drive lineup, now offering capacities up to 256GB with optional custom branding. These high-capacity drives are ideal for industries requiring large data sets, secure distribution, and reliable performance.

The USB 3.0 Duplicator is powered by Nexcopy’s proprietary Drive Manager software, which receives regular updates to enhance speed, improve user experience, and add new functionality. Drive Manager updates are always free and require no license fees. For professional applications, the PRO version of Drive Manager enables advanced features such as:

• USB write protection (hardware-based read-only mode)
• Configuring USB drives as USB CD-ROM devices
• Partitioning flash drives at the controller level
• Editing USB device serial numbers

Nexcopy continues to focus on providing enterprise-grade duplication solutions with ongoing software innovation and long-term product support.

Source: EverythingUSB.

Nexcopy recently introduced an upgraded line of microSD duplicators supporting media capacities from 16 to 60 port configurations—no adapters required. These systems are built from the ground up for high volume deployments and advanced flash memory control.

PC Based Solution: mSD160PC (16 Port)

The mSD160PC is a USB 3.0, PC connected duplicator featuring:

• 16 targets per run with maximum card write speed utilization
• Six copy modes: File Copy, Copy Add, Device Copy (short/full), IMG Copy, and Unique Data Streaming
• CID (Card ID) reading capability with CSV export—ideal for content encryption tied to unique serials

This PC based unit excels in custom data workflows and streaming content uniquely per card. Supported by Drive Manager software running on Windows 10+, it offers unlimited free software updates and support.

Standalone Duplicator: mSD115SA (15 Port)

The mSD115SA operates independently—no PC needed—and is ideal for on-the-go use at trade shows, field sites, or telecom recycling centers:

• 15-port standalone unit with synchronous or asynchronous copy modes
• High-speed binary copying (including bootable devices) at up to 1,800 MB/min
• Built-in functionalities: Copy, Verify, Compare, Erase (including D.o.D. Secure Erase), H2 integrity test, speed benchmarking, and auto-start capability
• Real-time LCD feedback, rugged design, and compatibility with FAT, NTFS, Ext2–4, proprietary formats

Documented in Nexcopy’s 2016 press release, this model offers both simplicity and durability for 24/7 industrial use.

High Volume Option: microSD131SA (31 Port Standalone)

The microSD131SA builds on the mSD115SA architecture to support 31 targets and is priced at approximately $3,399:

• No PC required—supports FAT, exFAT, NTFS, Linux formats, and proprietary systems
• Fast synchronous/asynchronous copying, CRC-32 verification, memory benchmarking, D.o.D. erase, and automatic job start
• Rugged hardware built for extended production with real-time performance feedback and compatibility with 110/230V power

This system is engineered for industrial-scale duplication where speed and accuracy matter most.

Why This Matters

Compared to earlier adapter-based copying systems popular in the 2010 era, all new Nexcopy microSD duplicators eliminate the need for micro-to-SD adapters—reducing labor, improving throughput (up to 30%), and enhancing reliability in telecom, recycling, and promotional content use cases.

“The microSD duplicator is ideal for telecom recycling centers who need to process and format microSD media left in cell phones … formatting, erasing, verifying and data loading is a very simple and straightforward process.”

To learn more or request a quote, please visit Nexcopy’s mSD160PC, mSD115SA, or microSD131SA product pages.

Source: Content compiled from Nexcopy’s product pages and official press releases.