blog.cd-writer.com

If you know your disc publishing processes, you will know that thermal disc printing has many advantages over inkjet printing. And if you know your products you will know that the Rimage Everest 600 AutoPrinter is the crown prince of colour thermal disc printers. So why don’t more people use the Rimage Everest 600? The answer my friends is simple, it comes with a high price tag. Fear Not!

Now here at CD-writer.com towers we know disc printers like no one else, we know the best printers to use for different jobs and how to reduce your consumables costs, yet still blow your customers away with the highest quality discs imaginable. This month we are very happy to find ourselves recommending the Everest 600.

The nice people at Rimage have lent us one of their new automated thermal printers in order that we can try it for ourselves, demo it to our customers, print off sample discs and generally get all excited about it.

To be honest in these days it really takes something special in disc production to get us excited. We’ve been walking this road for some years and there’s not a great deal left for us to see… or so we thought. It transpires that the Everest 600 is a remarkable piece of disc production technology. Its perfectly engineers, operates flawlessly and produces full colour high resolution, waterproof prints in an instant. Whats more the cost of printing is comparable to full colour inkjet printing on watershield discs.

So how can the nice people at CD-writer.com Ltd save you money? We’ve come up with a unique scheme that will take advantage of offer from Rimage called, “Cash for Clunkers”.

Similar to the Government scrappage scheme for cars, Rimage are offering discounts when you trade any automated disc printer.

But I don’t have a clunker I hear you cry.

No Problem!

The CD-writer.com Ltd offices are littered with tired old printers that can’t wait to be shipped off to the nice people at Rimage. I told you it was cunning.

So call us today (that’s GMT 10am – 5pm) to discuss how we can work you out the best deal on the worlds best disc printer. Call NOW 020 8293 0777. Email Sales (@) CD-writer.com.

Check out the new LG N2B1 Personal storage solution from LG Electronics. Offering remote access for the safe and secure upload of data from anywhere in the world. Cool. LG NAS N2B1 network hard drive – 2 bays – Blu-ray

CD-writer.com Ltd are offering all their customers the chance to receive a free sample disc printed on the fantastic Rimage Everest 600 Automated Thermal Disc Printer.

Interested customer should follow the link to the Everest 600 where they will find more information about requesting the sample disc.

Customer interested in receiving a demo of the market leading thermal disc printer can call CD-writer.com Ltd on 020 8293 0777 in order to arrange a demonstration at our London facility based located in Greenwich.

Nic Ranshaw (Founder and Managing Director of CD-writer.com Ltd) has this to say about the Everest 600, “We’ve been selling discs printers for over 10 years and have witnessed every evolution in what is a quite specialised market place. The majority of our customers who are producing discs for internal use or for sale are using inkjet disc printers. This is usually due to the low purchase price and the familiarity with the inkjet technology. Whilst inkjet printers offer a great solution and are justifiably the most popular disc printing technology in the market, they do have their disadvantages.”

He went on, “Inkjet printing can be slow, time consuming, messy and difficult to manage in terms of quality control. Equally inkjet printed discs are generally not resistant to water, light and abrasion and so everyday handling can quickly result in damage to the printed disc surface. Its at the top end of the market where the Everest 600 Full Colour Thermal disc printer fits in. The Everest 600 is for disc publishers who want to differentiate their products and services. A disc printed on the Everest 600 is produced quickly and cleanly, with the resulting disc being fully resistant to water and abrasion and features a stunning, high gloss, high resolution finish.”

Adding, “Discs produced on the Everest 600 stand out from the crowd and in most instances surpass the quality possible even via professional replication houses.”

For a limitedf period CD-writer.com Ltd is offering a tradein value fo £1000 for any customer that has an existing disc printer who woul dlike to upgrade to an Auto Everest 600.

Left front to back: Nic (MD), Sebastien (development), Derick (duperman), Jen (logistics), Tarsis (development).

Right front to back: Laura Coll Corbilla (Design), Tom (support), Kayley (accounts), James (development).
PC Retail is the UK’ best trade only IT publication. Published by Intent Media it is widely recognised as being a must read publication.

After ten years of operation, CD-Writer can claim to be one of the UK’s leading providers of CD and DVD production and duplication systems. With a reseller drive currently underway, Matt Grainger talks to managing director Nic Ranshaw about his business and his plans

CD-Writer was formed at the dawn of the commercialisation of the internet, and in the decade since its incorporation, it has grown to be a dominant player in a profitable niche and is one of the UK’s market leaders in the development and production of CD and DVD duplication technologies.

Much of the company’s initial success can be attributed to its founder Nic Ranshaw, who was quick to recognise the potential of digital duplication. Having spent the late nineties working with what was then called multimedia, including roles at Channel4.com and agency.com, he became head of internet at the dance club and music publishing house Ministry of Sound.

It was there that he noticed that music download was increasing in popularity among young people and came up with the idea of a CD production device for the consumer market.

This was before the evolution of solid state MP3 players, states Ranshaw. I thought we could have a license agreement with one of the music download sites. So we went to them with the proposition back in 1999, but the technology had evolved so fast that it very quickly became an unviable business model.

After a review of the options, it was decided that it would be better to offer CD and DVD production solutions at an enterprise level something that remains the core of CD-Writer’s business today.

I think we were were quite lucky from a vision point of view, continues Ranshaw. We were at the forefront of an emerging new market, so we were able to capitalise on the skills and tools that I had as a web developer to bring the product and the brand to market. So we were one of the first online stores in the UK and we got a hell of a lot of traffic, which gave us a competitive advantage.

As the internet developed and became a new marketplace, the company was able to develop an excellent web presence and became the go-to destination for anybody looking for CD duplication technology. Ranshaw describes this visibility, along with the development of its own in-house brand as key to CD-Writer’s growth.

The main reasons for our success has been good internet presence, a focus on a niche product and the development of our in house brand, StorDigital, confirms Ranshaw. Essentially, we benefitted by concentrating on that and building a level of expertise within the company that customers could relate to and feel secure that they’re getting the products and services they need. Good in-house marketing has helped as well.

Like many other companies, CD-Writer has felt the sting of the current recession, however, it has seen good growth in new markets, such as education. Nonetheless, Ranshaw believes that now is a good time for strong companies:
From our perspective, the economic climate has acted as a leveller, where the companies with the weaker propositions and products are generally going under and being forced out of business. Those that have the service model in place to support and sustain their customer base should come out of it strong and in a better position.

Naturally, Ranshaw counts CD-Writer among the second category, and he is keen to stress the strengths of his business model. Its clear that he considers the exploitation of internet technology to bring products to market as a great advantage. CD-Writer has a portfolio of over 150 websites a unique one for each product that help generate interest and ensure a good internet marketing strategy.

Equally, differentiation through branding establishing StorDigital as the name in duplication has been a great benefit to us, adds Ranshaw. Our diligence in ensuring excellence in customer service has helped retain business, and our product innovation has always being very good for staying ahead of the trend.

We put a great deal of work in to monitoring new trends and researching new techniques to help bring cutting edge products to market.
Another of CD-Writer’s strengths is the versatility of its products, which can be used for digital distribution for segments of the population who don’t necessarily have access to high speed download facilities.

In terms of markets, education is always strong, as is the public service sector, elaborates Ranshaw. For example our products are heavily used by the legal services for distributing digital evidence one for prosecution, one for defence and one for the archives which is a nice application.

There’s also a lot of unexpected areas, for example churches are quite big for us because they distribute the sermons to their congregation, or we can do remote duplications of DVD’s for people on day trips or events. There’s a very broad range of option for usage. As digital media has filtered in to every aspect of our lives, so too do the applications and the necessary distribution methods.

It is with this kind of versatility in mind that CD-Writer has initiated its drive to grow its reseller base. In the past, it has operated without an official distribution channel, preferring to work with those resellers who offer a value added proposition.
Going forward we’re going to be supporting more online resellers that are looking to sell off the page, comments Ranshaw. We produce some live data feeds that’ll keep them up to speed on what’s available, in terms of pricing and stock, and just generally keep them informed with training and product knowledge to a level that we’ve traditionally done with our end users.

This drive is already under way, and Ranshaw hopes to have doubled the current reseller base by the end of the second quarter of 2009.

We recognise that visibility is key, adds Ranshaw. We can’t use our own D2C channel for every market. There’s a lot of resellers out there who operate in their own vertical niches, they’ve got their own web development in hand and we’re in a unique position where we can help to deliver them clean data that will support their own sales.

Many of them haven’t even considered that they may have a market within a market with the products we sell. We’ve got a proposition that ensures a good margin for the reseller. They have extended warranties, free support and training, direct shipping and all the things that make back to back ordering not just easy but profitable, and encourage repeat sales.

View the online version of the CD-writer.com Ltd Company Profile in PC Retail digital here.

StorDigital ProBurner duplicators now offer 2 exciting extra features. For a limited time all StorDigital ProBurner DVD and CD duplicators will feature a PC USB connection at no extra cost.

What will a USB connected Duplicator do ?

By Enabling the StorDigital ProBurner with a USB PC connection we have eliminated the requirement to burn DVD and CD masters on the burner within the host PC. This mean you don’t need a burner in your host PC to make your masters.

Instead you will be able to use a DVD CD writer within the ProBurner to create your master. This physical disc master will then be used in the normal way, ie, in disc to disc copy mode, or by first being uploaded to the (optional) on-board hard drive for HD to disc copying.

And there’s more. Yes those clever boffins in StorDigital Towers have taken the USB PC connect a stage further. Thanks to our partners overseas we are now able to offer you an enhanced USB connect option called ‘Copy Connect’.

OK.. tell me about StorDigital Copy Connect Duplicators.

A StorDigital ProBurner, professional DVD and CD duplication tower can offer enhanced functionality by the addition of the ‘Copy Connect’ feature. Copy Connect enabled duplicators allow content intended for duplication to be controlled and managed via a host PC. A ‘Copy Connect’ enabled duplicator will be fitted with a harddrive that is used to store data in the form of disc images that is to be copied to CD or DVD. Using the supplied software, the operator can drag and drop pre compiled discs images like ISO files from the harddrive of the host PC to the harddrive of the duplicator. This process prevents the requirement by the operator to first create a physical disc master. Multiple disc images can be stored on the the duplicator hard drive in partitions that can be named for convenience.

StorDigital Copy Connect means that the duplication process is increasingly streamlined and time efficient. For the best in tower based duplication duplication trust StorDigital ProBurner.

Find out more about Copy Connect and the StorDigital ProBurner

Left front to back: Nic (MD), Sebastien (development), Derick (duperman), Jen (logistics), Tarsis (development).
Right front to back: Laura Coll Corbilla (Design), Tom (support), Kayley (accounts), James (development)

PC Retail is the UK’ best trade only IT publication. Published by Intent Media it is widely recognised as being a must read publication.

We recently received a call from Matt Grainger who invited us to take part in a company case study he was working on. Yesterday the September Issue of PC Retail hit the streets and we are delighted with the way PC Retail have presented our company.

Headline// The write way

Strap// After ten years of operation, CD-Writer can claim to be one of the UK’s leading providers of CD and DVD production and duplication systems. With a reseller drive currently underway, Matt Grainger talks to managing director Nic Ranshaw about his business and his plans…

Body// CD-Writer was formed at the dawn of the commercialisation of the internet, and in the decade since its incorporation, it has grown to be a dominant player in a profitable niche and is one of the UK’s market leaders in the development and production of CD and DVD duplication technologies.

Much of the company’s initial success can be attributed to its founder Nic Ranshaw, who was quick to recognise the potential of digital duplication. Having spent the late nineties working with what was then called multimedia, including roles at Channel4.com and agency.com, he became head of internet at the dance club and music publishing house Ministry of Sound.

It was there that he noticed that music download was increasing in popularity among young people and came up with the idea of a CD production device for the consumer market.

“This was before the evolution of solid state MP3 players,” states Ranshaw. “I thought we could have a license agreement with one of the music download sites. So we went to them with the proposition back in 1999, but the technology had evolved so fast that it very quickly became an unviable business model.”

After a review of the options, it was decided that it would be better to offer CD and DVD production solutions at an enterprise level – something that remains the core of CD-Writer’s business today.

“I think we were were quite lucky from a vision point of view,” continues Ranshaw. “We were at the forefront of an emerging new market, so we were able to capitalise on the skills and tools that I had as a web developer to bring the product and the brand to market. So we were one of the first online stores in the UK and we got a hell of a lot of traffic, which gave us a competitive advantage.”

As the internet developed and became a new marketplace, the company was able to develop an excellent web presence and became the go-to destination for anybody looking for CD duplication technology. Ranshaw describes this visibility, along with the development of its own in-house brand as key to CD-Writer’s growth.

“The main reasons for our success has been good internet presence, a focus on a niche product and the development of our in house brand, StorDigital,” confirms Ranshaw. “Essentially, we benefitted by concentrating on that and building a level of expertise within the company that customers could relate to and feel secure that they’re getting the products and services they need. Good in-house marketing has helped as well.”

Like many other companies, CD-Writer has felt the sting of the current recession, however, it has seen good growth in new markets, such as education. Nonetheless, Ranshaw believes that now is a good time for strong companies:

“From our perspective, the economic climate has acted as a leveller, where the companies with the weaker propositions and products are generally going under and being forced out of business. Those that have the service model in place to support and sustain their customer base should come out of it strong and in a better position.”

Naturally, Ranshaw counts CD-Writer among the second category, and he is keen to stress the strengths of his business model. Its clear that he considers the exploitation of internet technology to bring products to market as a great advantage. CD-Writer has a portfolio of over 150 websites – a unique one for each product – that help generate interest and ensure a good internet marketing strategy.

“Equally, differentiation through branding – establishing StorDigital as the name in duplication – has been a great benefit to us,” adds Ranshaw. “Our diligence in ensuring excellence in customer service has helped retain business, and our product innovation has always being very good for staying ahead of the trend.

“We put a great deal of work in to monitoring new trends and researching new techniques to help bring cutting edge products to market.”

Another of CD-Writer’s strengths is the versatility of its products, which can be used for digital distribution for segments of the population who don’t necessarily have access to high speed download facilities.

“In terms of markets, education is always strong, as is the public service sector,” elaborates Ranshaw. “For example our products are heavily used by the legal services for distributing digital evidence – one for prosecution, one for defence and one for the archives – which is a nice application.

“There’s also a lot of unexpected areas, for example churches are quite big for us because they distribute the sermons to their congregation, or we can do remote duplications of DVD’s for people on day trips or events. There’s a very broad range of option for usage. As digital media has filtered in to every aspect of our lives, so too do the applications and the necessary distribution methods.”

It is with this kind of versatility in mind that CD-Writer has initiated its drive to grow its reseller base. In the past, it has operated without an official distribution channel, preferring to work with those resellers who offer a value added proposition.

“Going forward we’re going to be supporting more online resellers that are looking to sell off the page,” comments Ranshaw. “We produce some live data feeds that’ll keep them up to speed on what’s available, in terms of pricing and stock, and just generally keep them informed with training and product knowledge to a level that we’ve traditionally done with our end users.”

This drive is already under way, and Ranshaw hopes to have doubled the current reseller base by the end of the second quarter of 2009.

“We recognise that visibility is key,” adds Ranshaw. “We can’t use our own D2C channel for every market. There’s a lot of resellers out there who operate in their own vertical niches, they’ve got their own web development in hand and we’re in a unique position where we can help to deliver them clean data that will support their own sales.

“Many of them haven’t even considered that they may have a market within a market with the products we sell. We’ve got a proposition that ensures a good margin for the reseller. They have extended warranties, free support and training, direct shipping and all the things that make back to back ordering not just easy but profitable, and encourage repeat sales.”

View the online version of the CD-writer.com Ltd Company Profile in PC Retail digital here.

LightScribe disc labelling technology is the clean and easy way to create permanent high resolution labels on the surface of CDs and DVDs without having to use ink or labels. Many people don’t realise that the DVD burner in their PC or laptop is enabled with LightScribe disc labelling technology.

In fact it is the opinion on the author, that LightScribe technology has been somewhat overlooked by its market. At CD-writer.com Ltd we have been offering LightScribe enabled burners for around 7 years. The technology comes to the user essentially free but in order to print a label you have to use a LightScribe disc.

LightScribe discs are really not expensive, even when compared to very budget media. So for a few extra pennies, on each disc you can offer your audience a well finished and professionally labeled disc that will attract attention.

Whilst LightScribe printing is monochrome printing and therefore won’t support the printing of full colour images, its ease of use, durability and low cost make it the perfect option for anyone who wishes to explore direct to disc labelling without investing in further hardware.

StorDigital Systems and their partners have taken the technology several steps further and now offer a range of disc publishers and duplicators that support high volume and automated production of lightscribe labelled discs.

Managing Director, Nic Ranshaw said; “We are so impressed with LightScribe and feel it adds real value to DVD CD duplicators and publishers, that might otherwise be burn only devices. Its almost like customers get the benefit of LigthScribe disc labelling without having to pay a premium. The technology is so practical and easy to use and its the perfect solution for internal disc labelling. We have a LightScribe enable duplicator or publisher to match every application and price point, 3 drive tower copiers, through Automated Copy and Print LightScribe disc publishers, through to high capacity LightScribe duplicators”

See the full range LightScribe enabled tower duplicators and LightScribe disc publishers here.

OK people, here is a quick trouble shoot for anyone having a porblem with the best sellign StorDigital DP100 automated inkjet CD and DVD printer.

Please work through this trouble shooter.

1. make sure that the cartridges are inserted. It would be best if took a new pair of them.

2. disconnect the usb cable.

3. pull the tray half way out manually.

3. unplug that power cable and connect it again.

4. the printer should initialize . The printer should clean and initialize the cartridges. the tray should open and close.

All led’s should be off except of the power (steady green).

If this doesn’t work, we have a hardware problem or defective cartridges. Sometimes the connection on them is bad especially if the customer uses refills.

If this works ok, then we go to the next step.

It will be clearing the print queue ( sometimes it is a source the problem). The best to do it way is to:

1. Pause the printer.

2. Reboot the computer.

3. Clear all print jobs for the printer.

The print queue should be empty.

Please connect the usb cable.

The printer should be ready to use ( if the problem was something in the print queue).

Rock and Roll

DupaLIVE is a network ready, multiple target duplicator range that supports the live recording and printing of DVD, CD & Blu-Ray discs. DupaLIVE features an embedded PC that supports and controls a host of advanced functions not available on a standard duplication tower.

Supporting live audio recording, audio editing, and multi target disc duplication as standard, StorDigital DupaLIVE ships with a powerful application suite providing live event organizers, concert promoters and churches with all the tools necessary to ensure professional and speedy disc distribution. Optional enhanced functions include onboard LightScribe label design and disc printing, USB duplication, Blu-Ray duplication, automated disc printing and automated MP3 extraction.

This new concept in duplication from StorDigital represents a turning point in duplication technology. Perfect for digital facilities, production houses, media agencies, AV installers, churches and live event organizers, the DupaLIVE system is a flexible workhorse that can adapt to your needs and grow with your business.

StorDigital founder, Nic Ranshaw said, “As a company we strive to keep in tune with our customers needs. DupaLIVE is a response to an emerging trend for ‘Just in Time’ duplication, whereby the value of the content is determined by the speed that it gets into the customers hands. By enabling the DupaLIVE to operate as a live recording device, editing platform, and tower duplicator we have developed a genuinely unique product. So many of our customers come to us and say, “Can I record on the duplicator?”. Now thanks to StorDigital DupaLIVE the answer is a firm “Yes!”.

The DupaLIVE range brings further advantages to consumers. Many duplication professionals offer live duplication, conference recording or sermon recording services. Live events require speed and efficiency in order to get the product into people’s hands in the fastest possible time. DupaLIVE offers the user the chance to do real time digital recording, mastering and duplication via one self contained unit. No more is there a requirement for an additional disc or hard disk recorder. DupaLIVE operators have an all-in-one, easy to use solution in a single box.

Nic Ranshaw added, “The development of DupaLIVE is a reaction to feedback we have received from our customers. They love the quality and function of the standard StorDigital duplication towers, but digital media is changing. To get a competitive edge duplication houses need to look at how they can diversify and differentiate their services. DupaLIVE opens the doors to new business opportunities, whether it’s live event duplication, live audio editing, or MP3 ripping. What’s more the modular nature of the solution means that you can expand your solution component by component as and when you need it. The standard base unit can later be upgraded with further peripherals that will increase power and enhance functionality. DupaLIVE is more than a duplicator – it’s a concept that represents the coming together of the entire StorDigital product range.”

DupaLIVE is a powerful PC workstation, pre-installed with Windows XP and hosting a suite of applications. Included software supports the recording, editing, and mastering of CD/DVD discs and label designing software for both inkjet and LightScribe printable discs.

The StorDigital DupaLIVE system will be available from StorDigital direct and their resellers from August 2009. Configuration subject to change without notice. To arrange a demo call StorDigital on 020 8293 0777. Retail customers can get more information and buy online at www.cd-writer.com/dupalive.html

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Editor’s note: If you want to stay constantly up to date on the latest news from CD-Writer.com, paste the following link into your RSS reader, http://blog.stordigital.com/feed
For further information contact: Nic Ranshaw

StorDigital Systems, 15 Greenwich Center Business Park,
53 Norman Road, London, SE10 9QF
Telephone: +44 (0)208 293 0777
Fax: +44 (0)208 293 0666
e-mail: nicr@stordigital.com
www: www.stordigital.com

About StorDigital Systems: StorDigital Systems was founded by CD-writer.com Ltd in 2002. They are now a leading UK manufacturer and supplier of specialist DVD, CD, Blu-Ray and USB duplication solutions. The range includes tower copiers, robotic duplicators and automated printers for DVD, CD, Blu-Ray and flash media. You can contact StorDigital Systems online at www.stordigital.com or by calling +44 208 293 0777.