Customer Reviews

Casio CW-50 CD Title Printer

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I got one of these last week and it works great! The ribbon they provided lasted for 50 passes (if you print above and below the hole on the CD then that is only 25 CDs). I set mine to "very dark", so perhaps if I had left it on the default it would have printed even more. Anyway, it blows away all CD labeling systems (used them for years) and the ink costs about twenty cents per pass: roughly the same as the CD sticker labels. Also, you can import graphics on this thing, you have to go to "freeform" mode or something like that. However, it only prints in one color so make sure your graphic will look good that way (I tried a color photo and it looked terrible as one color).

Worst thing: after printing the top of the CD, it pops out and you have to spin it around and carefully position it so it will print the bottom half evenly. I recommend only printing on the top, that way you can print roughly 50 discs with one ribbon and you don't have to spin it around every time.

This is a nice product. Only slightly larger than an external CD-drive, this thermal transfer printer can directly label CD-type discs (-R, -RW, DVD -RAM, -R, and -RW). The print design is fairly limited and it will only do so in one color, although ribbons of various colors are available so you can choose which one color you wish. Unlike thermal transfer printers that cost 10X to 20X more, this printer will not put graphics and complicated designs on your disc. You are limited to several lines of print in whatever fonts are loaded on your computer. Although you can't produce truly professional looking discs, the results are drastically superior to those sticker labels that never seem to stay attached or writing on the disc with a marker. The print is crisp, easy to read, and doesn't scratch or flake off. To work well, you need to print on a blank area of the disc. It doesn't print well over either writing or slightly raised areas of design on the disc. This printer is well worth the money if want to label your discs neatly, but do not want to spend an exorbitant amount of money.

This is a great little disc printer--both CD and DVD. Installation and software is simple to install and operate. In addressing a few of the drawbacks cited by others, let me say that they are minor and easily overcome.

This printers prints on ALL CD's and DVD's that I have tried. You may have to be clever on how you rotate the disc to insure that the print area is clear of manufacturer's writings, but I've been successful with several different, including Sony, Memorex, Imation and Fuji. Print quality is excellent.

The printer will only print on standard full-sized CD's and DVD's and not on the CD-Single or CD-Business card discs.

As for the fact that you may only get 20-40 labelings per label tape, that makes the cost about 15 cents each. If I can get a great looking print job on my labels for distribution at an average costs of 75 cents total (including amortizing the cost of the printer over 300 discs, the cost of the discs and the cost of the print ribbons) then I feel I've hit the jackpot!

By the way, many have pointed out that you can only print in one color per disc. This is not true. You can print each line in a different color if you want to and have the patience.

Do not be dissuaded. At this price, you can't go wrong.

I've owned this cd printer for about a year now and I love it. It works much better than labels that can come off from heat and ruin cd players. Although you can print single color graphics, multicolored graphics aren't recommended. For that you'll need to buy a different thermal cd printer, and they run about [$$$$] a pop! So, for under [$$], you can't beat it. You may have read the previous post regarding the cost of the ribbons, but that was a little high. You can get a 3pack of black ribbons for [less], that's not bad for 3 labels....If you're looking for neat and affordable cd printing for mostly text, this is it. Comes with software and 1 free black ribbon. Ribbons also come in red, blue and silver. Try this little printer out, you'll love it! (PS stock up on black ribbons if you can, the supply seems to run out quickly)

I have had and used one of these for two years, and I find it workable and useful, despite its obvious graphic shortcomings. Most fonts appear somewhat pixilated when printed on CD surfaces. I have developed a 'palette' of fonts that work particularly well. Sans serif fonts such as Futura, Franklin Condensed and such seem to work the best.
Graphics tend to look particularly rotten, no matter how high the dpi of the image is. I am non-amazed at how an outline of a rectangle, made in bold, thick lines and saved at 1200 dpi, comes out looking like mud. This printer is best at simpler jobs.
The printer does its work quickly, which is good. I've had to bat out 50 or 60 CDs in an afternoon, and the printer is faster than I am with the discs!
THE SINGLE BIGGEST DRAWBACK to this and to other Casio CD printers are those @$(^@_^_@!~ ribbons. The ribbons hold exactly 40 prints. If you use 2 per CD, that means a fresh ribbon after every 20 discs. The ribbons are not sold in office supply stores. CompUSA carried them for a brief time, then moronically deleted them. And don't even think about OfficeMax, -Depot or Staples. The cheapest I've found the ribbons is here, at $7.00 apiece, or sometimes on eBay for less. I am always "counting bullets" with these infernal ribbons. IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING GETTING ONE OF THESE, TAKE THIS TO HEED: the ribbons are a supreme pain in the ass. They are hard to locate, expensive, and wastefully manufactured. The greedy souls at Casio could easily get another 20-50 prints' worth of ribbon on the cartridges.
As well, the ribbons often have flaws in their manufacture, making for fuzzy half-coverage of some prints.
I am probably making this printer sound worse than it really is. As said, if your ambitions are simply to have a title printed in regular type, without much ado, this will do the trick. If you seek anything more complex, you'll need a bigger and better machine.

I bought this a week or so ago, it works nice. Text is clear, you will want to use larger fonts 26 or greater. I haven't tried graphics as I just wanted something to print on my DVD's/CD's without my sloppy writing. Only downfall, as is with all cheap printers, they get you on ribbons, some of the cheapest I've found were on here. And as this sells more, they will hopefully get cheaper. I printed appx 50 cd's/dvd's with one ribbon, and for the price of ribbons, thats less than 15 cents a pop.

I bought this unit when it had a huge rebate here at Amazon for a few days, and I certainly wouldn't spend anything close to the asking price for it.

Positives:

1. It's a relatively small device, so it can fit behind my LCD monitor, instead of taking up a lot of space on my desk or hutch.

2. It prints titles fairly well. You'll need as blank a surface as possible. I have a bunch of Memorex media which have very faintly raised lines -- they look flat to me!-- but the printing is messed up anywhere near them. Also, the printing is fairly faint, unless you print in BOLD, which is the default. I haven't tried graphics.

3. It looks better than my handwriting with a sharpie.

Negatives:

1. This isn't a 21st century technology: it would look more at home next to an Atari 800, and it uses ribbons instead of ink jet. I like the fact that I don't have to worry about ink jet cleaning cycles and such, but now that I have it, the tiny ribbons run out so quickly it's ridiculous and retro.

2. "It's the ribbons, stupid!" I can't believe others have stated that this is economical. I guess it all depends on your expectations. The ribbons are so small that my unit ran out of ribbon after 25 titles: my titles, mind you, are just a few words, printed on one line. I was hoping to do the trick of rewinding the ribbon, but only the left spindle is accessible, so turning that backward only gives you a bubble of loose ribbon. I surgically opened the case, but 15 minutes later, after rewinding it, it wouldn't run smoothly and snapped. 25 titles? 7 bucks a ribbon? That means that the title is costing more than the media I'm buying.

3. When I plug it into the USB port, it usually takes me four or five tries before the unit is properly recognized. Perhaps all the error messages when doing this have to do with the fact that the drivers are not XP certified.

4. I haven't tried printing on an "inkjet printable" medium, but the manual warns that the printer won't work on those, or rather, the ink will smear.

If I had to do it all over again, I'd wait for a sale on an inkjet printer that printed on cdr/dvdr's instead.

LATER: For what it's worth, I filled out a $20 rebate. When I got the check 2 months later, it was dates for deposit less than two weeks away! I was travelling at the time, but when I got home and got the check, I deposited it two days after its "deposit by" date, and the check was returned due to "account closed." Maybe it was my bad for trying (I got charged a lot of penalty fees), but it still seemed like a racket. I'll never buy anything by Casio again.

I love this device. I do not want to wait minutes to fancy label each disc from my recorder in an ink jet, so this little printer fits the bill perfectly. 5 seconds and the label is done. The manufacturer is clear that smooth matte or silver finish discs are required. Such discs are easily available from online stores that import discs from the manufacturer (and are less easily found at retail stores).

I have had this device for 2.5 years (since they were nearly impossible to find) and it has worked every day without fault.

First of all allow me to recommend you try the "Smudger LET" font. This font looks great when printed with this printer. Second, although not mentioned anywhere this unit is great for recordable DVD discs too! For some reason Casio does not mention labeling DVD discs with this unit (but in-store retail displays made by casio do have a DVD-R disc printed and attached to the display). You do get about 50 discs per ribbon and if you buy the ribbon 3 packs it turns out to be really cheap per print.

I was looking for a labeler that would look better then paper labels. I read some of the online reveiews here on Amazon and purchased the printer. Very limited....and the cartridges are not cheap.

I recently purchased a Epson R220 Color Printer that prints directly on printable CD's. Wow Awesome what a difference.

I should have waited.