Has anyone tried the CD label printers?

I have the Rimage Perfect Producer series, which, if it worked well,
would be a wonderful choice. You can get them easily on eBay for a
reasonable price, but be warned:

The AutoStar, Producer, etc., series systems require a very expensive
($15k+) software/server system. The software is not that great, and
if you need the system services your SOL without an agreement which
costs more than any medium sized business will be willing to spend.
The company won't even answer a simple question.

XEROX used to have a policy like that and the FTC compelled them to
support their products after they were resold to a third party. If
someone wanted to make a stink for Rimage they'd win, but in the
meantime, unless you have the big bucks, even tech's who do side-work
are afraid to encroach on Rimage territory.


Mike Richter wrote in message ...
OM wrote:
Has anyone tried the CD label printers? I didn't know they existed!

I don't know what you mean by a "CD label printer". There are two types
of printer made for writing directly onto the CD. I used a Singature for
some time; it's an inkjet and works quite well. Thermal (wax) printers
are preferred for production jobs in part because they do not require
special media.

There is a page on labelling in the primer at my WWW site which may help.

There seem to be quite a few around.

1. I want to know how good they are. What's the print quality like?

They are good. Print quality varies with the printer from adequate
(level of pressed, silk-screened CDs) to excellent (1200-dpi and better).

2. How fast are they? Important if you want to do loads of copies.

Depending on the printer, quite slow to moderately fast. Of course, you
could look at the specs on those you are considering and turn those
qualitative words into numbers.

3. Any recommended models?

I was happy with the Signature but a friend needed it more than I, so
he's been running it for the last couple of years. I haven't used Rimage
or the other established lines - or the new Epson family either.

I've searched the internet high and low. And CD duplication costs
are way high. I'm sure they're tooo high.

I find them quite reasonable. I've had a couple of dozen discs pressed.
The full operation from the guy I use is under $1000 for 1000 pieces.

If you're looking to print on 200 CDs, say, then all things taken
into consideration, it's more cost effective to get a CD printer.

Or to get custom-printed blanks which look professional.

Mike