Q: I see two types of duplicators on the market: 'stand alone' and 'computer based', what are the differences between the two? Where is FlashCopier standing?
A: It could be misleading. In fact, a so called 'stand alone' duplicator also has a micro computer built in. It has a CPU (usually running at MHz), buffer memory (about 256MB or so) and software stored in flash chips (called firmware). It works essentially like a PC except it has less processing power and does not have a hard drive. It is usually designed to perform certain specialized data processing with limited functionalities such as in the duplicator case . So, essentially, a "stand alone" duplicator is still a micro computer or controller (to be more accurate) based equipment.
'Computer based' duplicators refer duplicators operated by a PC. The PC may run different operating systems such as Linux, DOS or Microsoft Windows. Computer based duplicators can be further divided into two categories, depending on whether the PC is user provided or manufacturer built in:
• Duplicators requiring a user provided PC usually include a hardware box and a software program. The hardware box is basically a 'big' USB hub with smaller hubs daisy chained together internally to reach the number of USB ports needed. You need to connect the box to your PC through a USB cable and install the software on the PC to operate it. The advantages of this simple type computer based duplicator include low manufacturing cost, relatively simple to setup. The major disadvantage is that it requires a user-provided PC which may not be suitable or optimized to operate the duplicator. Another major disadvantage is its constrained bandwidth (due to the single cable connection) and low capacity (due to also the single cable connection and the processing power of the user-provided PC). As you may know a USB 2.0 compliant cable can provide as much as 480Mbps bandwidth (a USB 1.0 cable can only provide as much as 12Mbps). When you connect a single USB cable to conduct data flow from your PC to 20+ USB drives, the cable can become a bottleneck. As more ports or drives are add to the box, the performance can be seriously deteriorated.
• Duplicators with built-in PC integrate a PC, multiple USB multiplexers and the software into one unit. The USB multiplexers connect directly to the system bus and provide parallel data paths with much higher band width, which reduced unnecessary hierarchies of the USB chain (as in daisy chained systems) and eliminated the bandwidth bottleneck (as in one-cable systems). This is fundamentally different from duplicators using user-provided PC in architect. Moreover, because the built-in PC is specially customized and optimized to run both duplicator hardware and software, duplicators with built-in PC perform far better than duplicators using user-provided PC. All FlashCopier models except FC-21 belong to this category of computer based duplicators.
As for the differences between "stand alone" and "computer based" duplicators, duplicators with built-in PC are in fact also a stand alone duplicator, because no additional PC is required. The key differences are, instead of a micro controller, FlashCopier has a PC of full scale built in, with an Intel multi-core CPU running at GHz (vs. MHz), Gigabytes memory (vs. Megabytes) plus a SATA hard drive (vs. none). Here are some advantages of FlashCopier over stand alone duplicators:
1. Processing power and versatilities between FlashCopier and a stand alone duplicator are not comparable. It is a full scaled PC (running Intel Core2Dou) vs. a micro controller.
2. FlashCopier has a huge SATA hard drive running at 3Gbs. Copying from a hard drive is much faster than copying from a flash drive (many flash drives are slow in reading), not to say you can archive your source files on FlashCopier while you can not at all on a stand alone duplicator.
3. With FlashCopier, you can do much more than with a stand alone duplicator, such as formatting, partitioning, deleting a particular file on a particular drive, running your own applications and so on. You are in a more user friendly Windows environment than constrained with a few buttons and a small LCD screen.
4. FlashCopier has the potential to support different flash cards by using adapters. However with stand alone duplicators, you have to buy one for USB drive and another for CF cards and another for SD cards and so on.
5. Because any flash drives you duplicate are going to be used on computers, you can immediately test them on FlashCopier (no matter the data copied is sound, pictures or video), you can not, however, test them on a stand alone duplicator.
6. Finally and best of all, currently stand alone duplicators are selling at $100 to $200 per port while FlashCopier is just fractional of that.
For the value you get on the dollars you spend, you want something that is more powerful, versatile and cost effective!
Q: Can FlashCopier duplicate SD cards?
A: Yes, with the latest breakthroughs from our R&D team, FlashCopier now works with flash cards of all types including all versions of SD cards (SD/SDHC/MiniSD/MicroSD). To facilate users who purchase FlashCopier for duplications of SD cards, we provided FlashCopier certified SD card readers at minimal charges. Non-FlashCopier certified readers are not supported.
Q: Are files copied verified against the source?
A: Yes. In fact, each file copied is double verified. First, the file is verified at the Command level using a mechanism called checksum that is a reliable and has been widely used in data processing since the early time . It is now still used in serial, USB, wireless and telecommunication areas. The files copied are also verified at application level which calculates file sizes and number of files against the source for each file copied. We have not experienced any inconsistencies in our lab testing or complain from our users about this.
Q: Can I copy directly from a source USB drive?
A: Yes, you can copy directly from a source USB drive by plugging it in the A:\ or B:\ port (see User Manual for details).
Q: We bought some cheap flash drives from China; some of them are unpartitioned (with only raw space on it) and some are unformatted (raw format). Can FlashCopier handle them?
A: Yes, FlashCopier detects all drives before copying. It catches any drives that are not ready (unpartitioned, unformatted, corrupt or offlined) when it detects them. It marks these drives with a red 'X' on the drive row and a red 'light' on the Port Map. It also prompts you what to do to get around (see screen shot on the Home page).
Q: Is there a way I can map the drives on the list to their physical USB ports which they were plugged in?
A: Yes. FlashCopier now maps every drive on the list to the physical port it plugged in. The last column of the list shows the ports for all drives. A visual presentation of this mapping is also provided on the Port Map which shows status of each drive. You will find it is very helpful when a bad drive is detected. You can easily identify the drive by a red 'light' as shown by the screen shot on the Products page.
Q: Can FlashCopier handle unformatted (also called 'raw format') flash drives?
A: Yes, FlashCopier can handle unformatted or 'raw' flash drives. FlashCopier will detect the drives that are unformatted and label them as <UnFormatted> in the volume label column. You can format these drive as you format normal drives. hat is, use Format All or the shortcut menu for individual drives.
Q: Can I mix different flash drives in the same copying session?
A: Yes, you can. However, when you mix different flash drives in the same copying session, the slowest drive decides the time taken for the session. So it is not recommended that you mix high speed flash drives with slower flash drives. For best performance, use the same flash drives for the same copy session.
Q: I see several models of FlashCopier on your Products page, what are the differences among them?
A: You are right that we currently offer 4 models of FlashCopier for businesses, two models for portable edition. The major difference is capacities, or number of targets supported. All models except FC-21 and the portable line have a full scaled PC built in running familiar Windows XP. Everything is preinstalled, configured and optimized. You can get it up and running in no time. You will find you are in your day to day computing environment with no learning curve at all.
Q: Is there any warranty on the products?
A: Yes, we offer two year product warranty including both parts and labor. We also provide life time free technical support and free software upgrade. There are optional service plans for extended warranty at additional cost.