For those of you who followed my blog about the issues with the Primera Bravo II DVD Replicator printer, you know that I purchased a DiscMakers Medley unit to replace it.
http://blogs.creativecow.net/node/330
Well, while DiscMakers claimed the print quality of this unit would be equal to the Bravo II, in reality it isn't. This is disappointing because they both feature the same printing unit from Lexmark. The difference appears to be in the Bravo II drivers as there are many more options available to the user to achieve incredibly sharp text and good solid colors. What was printed as a solid color on the Bravo II is a mottled mess on the Medley as it is just not capable of printing a very tight dot pattern, even at the 4800dpi print setting. And this is using the exact same 300dpi TIF image and exact same DVD stock that was originally printed on the Bravo II so we're comparing apples to apples here.
On the upside, the Medley does reproduce the correct colors on the disc from the original file with minimal tweaking. That was a major issue with the Bravo II as we would have to throw the colors and shading out of whack in order to get acceptable color results on the Bravo II.
As a straight replicator, the Medley performs as expected, absolutely no issues there. But if you are looking for a very high print quality, this definitely would not be your unit. Print quality is decent, but not something you would want to present to demanding clients.
http://www.discmakers.com/duplicators/automated/Medley.asp
Digg it
Hmmm.....
Well, sorry to hear that you are having so many issues with the duplicators.
We've been using the Primera duplicators for the past three years and have been thoroughly pleased with the results. We started with the Bravo II until I finally used it up... We replaced it with the Bravo Pro which is a beefier printer but if we have to replace this one in the future, I am looking towards the next level, Bravo Pro XR, the professional version. The only issue I have had with these units are the software that comes with them. The Surething Label software has a lot to be desired. Its too simple.
But all in all... The Primera duplicators are the best bang for the buck on the market.
Not impressed with anybody right now
Been trying to get discmakers to call back for a week now, notody has called. Got an email they they "tried to call" but of course we have voicemail service and folks working the office. No message.
I guess we'll just move forward with another solution. Primera was definitely not a solution for us that I really want to deal with again. I'm really thinking now of just getting a replication tower and we'll keep printing on our Epson R200. It still prints better than any other DVD printer we've had in the shop.
Really annoying that I spend over $2,000 on either solution and neither delivers what was promised.
Walter Biscardi, Jr. www.biscardicreative.com