Big Changes at Rimage / Qumu

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Kevin

Qumu, formally known as Rimage, sold off all of its disc publishing assets to Minneapolis based Equus Holdings for and all cash deal of $23 million. This transaction is subject to certain closing conditions like shareholder approval and buyer financing

Should be an interesting transition. We will keep you posted on how this may affect support of your current Rimage printers and duplicators.

After listening to the conference call this morning it appears Qumu is relieved to divest the disc publishing business from their operations in order to focus all their efforts on their video streaming business.

Stay tuned for updates and relevant information related to the disc publishing and digital delivery market with Techware Distribution.

Damaged Rimage Prism Printheads

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Kevin

Take a look at the picture of this damaged and now unusable Rimage Prism print head. Notice the damage to the gold colored area of this particular printhead. This damaged occurred when 2 or more silver lacquer discs stuck together when picked from the output bin of the Rimage robot. One of the CDs ended up getting wedged in the printhead causing the printhead to fail and the ensuing damage.

All Rimage printers are designed so only 1 disc is to be loaded into the printer at a time. When multiple discs are placed on the printer tray, damage is a real possibility. No Bueno.

Prism printheads cost over $600 just for the part (labor is additional). A very expensive price to pay for using cheaper and lesser quality CD-r and DVD-r disc media.

Call Techware @ 952-944-0083 x13 if you have experienced these types of problems as we can help you out with all of your cd/dvd printer and duplicator repair needs – specifically w/ Primera, Microboards and Rimage equipment.

LightScribe CD-r or DVD-r user? The end is nearing.

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Kevin

It was great while it lasted, but the end of LightScribe disc technology is very near. The writing was on the wall starting over a year ago when tower duplicator manufacturers like Microboards stopped offering units with Lightscribe drives. Now Microboards is dropping their DVD version of the LightScribe product within the next 30 days. If you have a product requirement then now is the time to purchase a bunch before they are all sold out. We’re looking into other product options, but we wanted to let you know that this technology is close to being dead.

This is the note from Microboards –

“Microboards Branded LightScribe DVD-/+R blank media – We’ve come to the end of our supply of DVD-R & DVD+R LightScribe media. We currently have about a 30-day supply left and will discontinue both skus once we have sold out (P/N’s LS-DVD-R-50Y & LS-DVD+R-50Y)”

From Wikipedia –

“Companies such as HP, Samsung, LaCie and LiteOn have discontinued or are phasing out LightScribe drives as of June 2013^[5] with only LG still manufacturing drives.

As of the beginning of January 2014, LightScribe.com HP’s official LightScribe website has been removed. This has been replaced with the following message:

“Thank you for your interest in the LightScribe disc labeling technology. This website is no longer active. LightScribe software and disc utilities may be found on a number of public websites.”

Let us know if you have any questions or need to look into a buying a new CD printer.

Don’t Use Cheap Media in your Everest Printer

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Kevin

Take a look at the picture a CD recovered from a Rimage Everest printer this past week. This is a prime example of what can and will happen when two or more discs stick together. Discs stick together typically if the manufacturing process is rushed or the correct precautions are not taken in the packaging and/or shipping process. These manufacturing short cuts are seen frequently in CD-r and DVD-r products made in Taiwan, China and India.

When the discs stick together, multiple discs are picked up by the Rimage picking mechanism. The sticky discs end up jamming up the printer itself and sometimes end up behind the closed printer tray or even below the tray. Damage occurs in this scenario, and typically expensive damage to the printhead ($1800+), inner cables and connectors, and sometimes even the printer tray has to be replaced ($900+).

The best way to avoid this is to use high quality CD and DVD media manufactured in Japan. Japanese manufacturers boast much higher quality controls than their counterparts in China and Taiwan. Discs made in Japan cost more than Chinese CDs/DVDs, but the long term value typically proves itself over time with lowered repair costs, labor costs, down time and shipping costs.

Brands like Taiyo Yuden and JVC work the best. Rimage also has its own brand also manufactured by JVC.

Rimage Everest 600 Printer Sale – Two for $9900

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Kevin

Rimage just announced a great deal on their industry leading Everest 600 AutoPrinter. Get (2) Everest 600 Autoprinters for $9900. That is the lowest cost promotion Rimage has ever had for two of these industrial, high resolution CD/DVD/Blu-ray printers. Promotion runs from December 2, 2013 – March 14^th, 2014.

This is proven technology as the Everest line of printers were first introduced in 2000. The Everest 600 printer is the 4^th generation, and has been a strong performer since 2008. Previous Everest printers maxed out at 300×300 resolution or 90,000 dots/inch. The Everest 600 boosts 600×600, or 360,000 dots per square inch. That means the E600 printer has 4 times the sharpness. 4x the resolution/definition/clarity/detail as the Everest III and Everest II printers.

Read a comprehensive Rimage Everest 600 review that we did a few years back.

These will sell quick, so orders will be filled on a 1^st come 1^st served basis.
Call us today for details!

1-800-295-0083 x-13
1-952-944-0083 x -13

Or email mike@techwaredist.com

We also sell gently used and refurbished Everest printers . Repair Everest printers & Prism printers, autoloaders and full Rimage systems.

Fast CD Printer Repair

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Kevin

We have an interesting disc printer repair story to share with you this week. Yesterday, a longtime customer stopped in our office with an older PrismPlus printer that was in need of repair. The customer needed the printer back ASAP as he had numerous CD and DVD projects that he needed to complete this week.

The Issue:

The Prism DVD printer was intermittently failing to print the bottom part of the disc. Essentially the printer stopped working about 1/3 of the way onto the disc.

Timeline:

10:15am – Printer is dropped off and checked in at Techware
10:45am – Our tech started work
11:30am – The printer was cleaned (needed badly), firmware was updated, and we replaced the disc detect strip
1:30pm – 250 test discs were printed using our test Rimage AutoPrinter II – all looked good
2:30pm – Our customer had the printer back at his shop up and printing discs perfectly

Now this repair story is a best case scenario, but it does happen this smoothly and quickly often. This is the kind of outstanding service that your get by being a Techware Distribution customer. It is what we strive for here at Techware.

Consider Techware for all of your disc printing, replication and duplication needs.

Rimage 5300n CD/DVD Equipment Sales and Support

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Kevin

Are you a hospital, imaging lab or print shop that has a Rimage 5300n system that is in need of repair? Or would you like a back-up system or replacement? Have you been told “no” or “not possible?” Or been told you have to upgrade to a new $15,000+ system?

Techware has better options for you.

Many of you may have Rimage systems that are private labeled by 3^rd party companies like GE Medical, Siemens, Philips, Pacs Gear and many others.

We have pristine 5300n systems that look like the above picture (keep in your system may have a different model name or number) that can be easily integrated or swapped into your DICOM / PACS environment.

We also have plenty of spare parts for these Rimage 5300n systems – printheads, picker mechanisms, lift motors, embedded power supplies, embedded modules, sensors and more.

Call us at 1-800-295-0083 x-13 or fill out our contact form here – http://www.techwaredist.com/equipment/models/rimage-5300n-publisher.php

Magneto Optical Disc Pricing to Increase in 2013

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Kevin

Sony just announced a 10% across the board price increase for all 3.5” and 5.25-inch MO disks. The new higher pricing will be effective on the 1^st of April. Current MO disk capacities that will be affected:

5.25” r/w	3.5” r/w	WORM
EDM-2300c	EDM-640C	CWO-2600c
EDM-2600c	EDMG13C	CWO-5200c
EDM-4100c	EDMG23C	CWO-9100c
EDM-4800c
EDM-5200c
EDM-8600c
EDM-9100c

Sony is the largest manufacturer of MO discs in the market, so this price increase will hit online resellers and end users at some point in the 2nd Qtr of this year.

We have heard rumors of a possible second price increase by Sony in Q3 of 2013. More to come.

Sawatdee To Open a Thai Restaurant in Eden Prairie

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Kevin

Sawatdee will be opening a new location in the southwest suburbs soon.

It looks like the new location may be in the spot that was formally occupied by D. Brian’s across the packing lot from Southwest Transit Station in EP.

This spot is a popular corner in Eden Prairie for other restaurants. Namely Chipotle, Noodles, Dickey’s, Caribou, Culvers, Santorini and Ruby Tuesday.

Great news for lovers of Thai food. Other nearby Thai establishments are Na’s in Chanhassen, and the Bloomington location of Sawatdee.

Many of us at Techware are looking forward to the shorter drive to enjoy some #4 spice Pad Thai, Massaman Curry and fresh spring rolls on a regular basis. Visit their home page for more information. “Thai it, you’ll like it!”

Rimage Everest 600 Printer Face Lift?

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Kevin

It looks like Rimage gave the Everest 600 printer a new paint job (see picture). It appears this is strictly a cosmetic change given that all of the major specifications are exactly the same.

Same 60 second print time
Same 600dpi print quality
Same print modes – photo and graphics
Same dimensions and weight – 45lbs – 9.7”x9.5”x23.8”
Same USB 2.0 interface and Power requirements – 100 – 120V, 500W or 220 – 240V
Same operating and humidity requirements 59 – 86 degrees, 30%-80% non-condensing

The Everest 600 printer has been a real workhouse printer since it was introduced in late 2008. The Rimage E600 is still our top choice for brilliant, eye-catching, thermal on-disc color printing.

The best recommendation I can give is that this Rimage system is our color thermal CD/DVD/Blu-ray printer of choice in our disc production room here at Techware Disc Duplication, Inc. What more can you say? We use what we sell.

I like the “new look” Everest 600, but I like the overall ease of operation, reliability and high-quality print output even more. Same old E600 printer which is a good thing.

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