Month: July 2010

Is your existing disc printer getting a little tired? Is the quality of your printing letting you down? Do you wish you didn’t have to baby sit your machine every time you want to print 50 discs? Fortunately CD-writer.com is here to help! We have some exceptional deals on Microboards Printers and tower duplicator bundles. With deals on PrintFactory Pro, Print Factory 3 and the best selling MicroBoards G3 disc printer you will be sure to find a solution that matches your budget. For just over £1000 you’ll find that you can soon be producing up to 1000 disc per day.

These savings are only available when bundled with our tower duplicator range. With deals on 15 target, 11 target and 7 target duplicators you will soon be equipped with a cutting edge disc production platform at prices you won’t believe.

Call 020 8293 0777 today to discuss how CD-writer.com and MicroBoards can work for you.

That’s it, my mind’s made up…I totally love this record!

Indie rock band Redtrack serve up a lively up-tempo number that doesn’t waste any time declaring its intentions.  Right from the off with its big-sounding drums  and energetic guitar intro, this youthful  4-piece present us with a well produced chunk of fizzing britpop that simmers and bubbles all the way through.

A confident, slightly cheeky  vocal performance from a lead singer who knows how to get the best from a song.  And in this case, it’s a very good song indeed – “trust me…as far as you can throw me”!  The catchy lyrics are delivered in the time-honoured tradition of the great, original, ‘English-sounding’ vocal style familiar when listening to songs by such artistes as The Kooks, The Boo Radleys …or even Steve Marriott of the Small Faces.

Hearty backing vocals sit well in the mix which, on the whole, has a close and intimate sound – remarkable really, because there, the intimacy ends.  This is about dancing. This is about guitars. And there’s a healthy dose here, all right – no doubt about it, plain and simply…this IS moshers delight, the energy is amazing and the more I hear it, the more I like it.  And look, the lads have even thrown in a quick, crafty two-note bass solo!

Perfectly Fine Intellectual is a perfectly fine piece of music and Redtrack are, clearly on the right path.

Download a free track from Redtrack

Words by CD-writer.com music editor: Derick (the Dupester) Hamilton

Would you like to see your band reviewed on CD-writer.com? Send your press to newmusic@cd-writer.com today!

 

CD-writer.com offer both supports and encourages an active reseller network. Our goal is to develop long term partnerships with you, to strengthen both your business and ours. We have a range of products that are exclusive both worldwide and within Europe.

We give resellers access to technical support, financial services as well as competitive prices. Building your business is a lot easier when you have the right support.

New customers applying for a trade account:
If you wish to apply for a reseller account please follow the link below:

http://accounts.cd-writer.com/create_account.php

Complete the application form and fax it back to us at: 0208 293 0666. You can also post it to us at: CD-writer.com Ltd UNIT 15 Greenwich Center Business Park, 53 Norman Road, London, SE10 9QF
Once we receive your application, we will endeavour to process it within 24 hours. Once it is processed, you will receive an email of notification.

 

Increasingly individuals in the business of producing CD or DVD products have turned away from producing disc fisnished with an adhesive label. The stick on label is now considered to be a little unprofessional. Glossy inkjet printed labels can still look very impressive however, but those using the process or using discs that have a CD label adhered should consider teh fact that it may come off inside their CD or DVD player. Labels coming away from the disc is not common, but it is known, usually after the adhesive has dried allowing the CD DVD label to come away. This is often caused by forces encountered by the disc since it rotates at such high speed.

The term DVD Label printer or CD label printer is often used to describe a product used to print directly to a CD or DVD. The concept of having a printer dedicated to printing adhesive labels is no longer relevant. Primera and MicroBoards may be considered to be the 2 leading manufacturers of DVD label printers. They offer a wide range of well designed disc printers that can be used to print discs in volumes determined by production demand.

Primera produce an attractively priced CD label printer for entry level production. The Primera Bravo SE AutoPrinters is designed for use with a MAC or a PC and can produce up 10 100 discs per day a couple of times per week. It has 20 disc capacity and a single ink cartridge. It’s cheap to buy and is a great entry point for those looking to produce professionally finished CD and DVD products in house. Primera product are available in printer and publisher models (copy and print) and extend into larger capacity and more versatile units.

MicroBoards probably produce the ‘king among men’ of CD and DVD Label printers. The MicroBoards Print Factory Pro is an exception printer and comes after years of development. 100 Disc capacity and featuring 4 individual ink resevoirs the MicroBoards print factory pro features the most advanced load and print system in the market. Not only is the PFPRO fast, but print quality is exceptional. CD label printing with the PrintFactory Pro is economical too due to a highly efficient ink cartridge system that means you get many more disc prints for your money.

These 2 products represent just too lines from the extensive product portfolio at CD-writer.com. We have larger capacity DVD label printers that are operated over the network with capacities of up to 600 disc and we have manually operated CD label printers that for doing just a few discs per week. Whatever your requirement you can be sure that at CD-writer.com we will have the solution to meet your needs. Call us today on 020 8293 0777.

At CD-Writer.com we get a lot of enquiries from customers who are based in Africa, or who wish to take their purchases to Africa. We are very happy to cooperate and make the process as simple as possible. For those customers who are visiting London they often find it very beneficial to make an appointment to come to our office for a demonstration, so they can see how the equipment works and decide on the best hardware solution for their needs. Other customers who are unable to visit in person benefit from our expert knowledge by email or phone, as we strongly believe it’s important to ensure the right product is bought to suit the needs of each customer.

We are also able to make the VAT-refund part of the process as simple as possible. There are a number of procedures, that depend on how the goods are taken out of the UK. Ie some customers take the goods as luggage, some send them with a shipper or freight forwarder. Depending on how the goods are exported we can either help the customer get their VAT refund, or avoid charging them VAT in the first place.

The new Stordigital USB adapter with a switch means you no longer need to scroll through internal menu settings to activate the I/O connection.
The first time you attempt to connect the duplicator’s USB port to your PC, your computer will need to load the copier’s drivers to its system. You will be presented with screens similar to this that relate to the new hardware/USB mass storage device.

 

Shortly after pressing ‘NEXT’, you will be presented with another message

You will need to press ‘CONTINUE ANYWAY’ to proceed.

The computer then searches for and loads the drivers for the duplicator’s DVD writer that is now connected to the PC as well as drivers for the duplicator’s ROM (reader)- which may also need your confirmation – this will take a few minutes, please be patient.

Your computer will notify you once the new hardware has been successfully installed and is ready for use.

To use the duplicator’s DVD writer via USB, the adapter’s switch on the rear of the duplicator should be set to the left (as seen from the back of the copier) – in this position, all remaining writers will be available for normal duplication tasks but first,  you must  SHUT-DOWN your duplicator and restart.

Upon successful reboot, the duplicator ( AUTOCOPY mode) will open all available writer trays – NOTE: the tray for the bottom writer will remain closed as the connected writer (usually the lowest one) is now temporarily part of the computer’s system and its status and contents may be viewed through My Computer.

Use a program such as Nero (supplied) to transfer and burn files directly to the duplicator’s DVD writer.

When you have finished using the USB connection and you wish to use all writers for duplication, set the switch to the right (as seen from the back of the copier) and re-boot the duplicator. 

You will need to press ‘CONTINUE ANYWAY’ to proceed.

The computer then searches for and loads the drivers for the duplicator’s DVD writer that is now connected to the PC as well as drivers for the duplicator’s ROM (reader)- which may also need your confirmation – this will take a few minutes, please be patient.

 

Your computer will notify you once the new hardware has been successfully installed and is ready for use.

 

To use the duplicator’s DVD writer via USB, the adapter’s switch on the rear of the duplicator should be set to the left (as seen from the back of the copier) – in this position, all remaining writers will be available for normal duplication tasks but first,  you must  SHUT-DOWN your duplicator and restart.

 

Upon successful reboot, the duplicator ( AUTOCOPY mode) will open all available writer trays – NOTE: the tray for the bottom writer will remain closed as the connected writer (usually the lowest one) is now temporarily part of the computer’s system and its status and contents may be viewed through My Computer.

 

Use a program such as Nero (supplied) to transfer and burn files directly to the duplicator’s DVD writer.

 

When you have finished using the USB connection and you wish to use all writers for duplication, set the switch to the right (as seen from the back of the copier) and re-boot the duplicator.

The range of duplicators available from CD-writer.com is unmatched in the industry. Our own brand of StorDigital DVD, CD, Blu-ray and Flash Media production systems has been a favourite of UK digital media professionals for over 10 years. All of our products are, built, tested and supported from our Greenwich facility based in the south east of London.

Our product range is constantly evolving in order to address the changing needs of our customers. Customers are already familiar with our best selling range of premium duplicators, offering the highest standards of quality, built with components from industry leading manufacturers, always ensuring robust operation and backed up by the most comprehensive warranty and technilcal support in the business. StorDigital, really is the name to trust in duplication.

Advanced users can benefit from some fantastic innovations that allow for more complex task to be perfomed with ease. By working with StorDigital duplication houses can benefit from solutions such as Network Attached duplication, DVD video copy protection, LightScribe disc printing, Daisy Chain Duplicators thas can be expanded, Flash media duplicators and Blu-Ray duplicator for HD and large capacity storage requirements.

Why would my company need a network duplicator?

Increasingly large corporations might choose not to include optical drives in client terminals across the network. Network users will still require the functionality of optical disc burning however; and the StorDigital NETBurner is the perfect solution. StorDigital NETBurner, network attached tower duplicator offers network wide access to the hard drive of the tower duplicator. Remote users can drag and drop content from their terminals, clients and network PCs directly to the hard drive of the duplicator. Onc eon the duplicator the users data is stored in named partitions ready to be mass duplicated by the tower operator. This is a great function for large organisations that need totla and seamless control over their duplication process.

How does DVD Video copy protection with StorDigital SafeTower work?
StorDigital DVD Video copy protection towers effectively hinder the unauthroised duplication and ripping of video contents. The protection technology is applied via a combination of hard and software technologies thats supports the application of a secure zone to the master discs. The master disc is protected by using special software supplied for use on a PC. Once a master diusc has been protected it can only be compied in thepy proection enabled duplicator via which unlimited copies of prtected discs can be made. This solution ensures that protected discs can be produced and distributed at the lowest possible cost per unit. Copy protection credit are supplied via a dongle that is purchased in unit of 100, 500 and 1000. Each StorDigital Safetower ships with a 5 disc protect license included in the cost of the duplicator.

Copying and printing with LightScribe via a StorDigital PrintTower

LightScribe disc printing is probably one of the most usefull technologies ever developed for optical disc media, yet so few people use it. For duplication services providers or for those producing disc product as part of their business, the ease of production adn the durable nature of lightscribe pritned discs makes them a very attractive proposition. Its true lightscribe discs do cost a few pennies more, and the time to print can sometimes feel prohibitive, equally some people may be put off by what seems like limited printing abilities. LightScribe printing however has a good many strengths including; A very low entry point to disc printing, clean and efficient with low consumable costs and the fianl prints are very durable and wont run or smudge. In reality LightScribe disc printing can be compared to the more expensive monochrome thermal printing achieved by printers like Rimage Prism.

How does LightScribe printing with StorDigital work?
LIghtScribe disc printing with a StorDigital PrintTower could not be simpler. Using the LightScribe disc labelling software supplied with the duplicator, users will either create a lebel or import artwork designed in an application like photoshop. Once happy with the design the user will export the LightScrieb print file and burn to a disc. Assuming you have first copied your discs, you will nto turn your disc over so the pritn surface is facing down, then insert the master containing the print design to the duplicator reader. Choose the Print functions from the duplicator control panel and GO!. All inserted discs will now receive the print label created on the host PC. Burn It, FLip IT, Print It with a StorDigital Print Tower.

Get connected with the StorDigital Link Tower, expandable daisy-chain duplicator.
Sometimes it’s difficult to know exactly how much production power you need to initially invest in when purchasing duplication technology. You need to test the market and discover the potential demand.

One way to do this is to invest in an expandable duplcation system from StorDigital. The LinkTower is available in modules of 15 drives, housed in a compact steel cube. Each cube module is linkable with another unit offering the potential for an nfinitely expandable duplication system. Having an expandable duplication system is preferable over mutiple individual towers when you need to make many copies of the same disc in the shortest possible time. For example individuals or comapnies who offer live duplication services will be able to record a single master that could be used to copy 100 CDs in just 3 minutes if they had 7 ‘Link Towers’. Whatsmore each ‘Link Tower’ module also works completely independently meaning that each unit can either be working on a single production job or lots of individual jobs, meaning you get real scalability and flexibility as and when you need it.

Share your content in a flash with Flash Media duplicators from StorDigital
The optical media market is still alive and well but many customers are tempted to try distribution via USB memory stich. Additionally many industries now require that SD cards are mass produced as part of normal working practices. GPS devices and delivery drivers are typical target markets for SD products.

The StorDigital duplication range offer a full range of standalone SD, CD and USB duplication and copying devices. From 7 to 118 target drives we can offer a solution that can do fast simple copies to more complex workflow solutions that might support media streaming and copy protection. Falsh media duplication and its applications is a market very much in its infancy, but the CD-writer.com company and team that supports it knows well the potential of this new and exciting area. Call us today on 020 8293 0777 to discuss your flash media duplication needs.

Blu-Ray Duplication – high capcity storage for movies, media and more

We know our customers are familiar with the range of Disc Publishers from Primera, afterall they manufacturer the worlds best selling products. What you may not know however, is that Primera also manufacture a range of highly competent label printers. Offering rich full colour printing the LX series of full colour label printers are ideally suited for companies that produce their own products.

The LX range consists of products designed to produce labels in different sizes and different capacities. The LX200 is a black and white label printer, while the LX800 offers full colour printing onto labels of up to 8 inches. More recently we have seen the release of the very fast high resolution label printer, the LX900. Other new products in the range include a foil printer and the CX1200 Digital Label Press which is an industrial standard label design and print station.

For Primera the extension of their range into the label printing is a great decision. The internet has opened the doors to a ‘work from home’ industry that is seeing new products being, devised, designed and supplied faster than ever before. Just as the best selling disc publishers have enabled digital content producers to create professional digital products with ease; Primera will be hoping that their range of label printers will be similarly well received by budding entrepreneurs and businesses.