Primera Bravo 4100 AutoPrinter

• Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 4 reviews
• My rating: 0 stars

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• 5 stars

  This printer could be FANTASTIC, but......

  by vbwood on June 11, 2012

  Pros: Great idea!

  Cons: PTPUBLISHER is the biggest problem. Can't find the robot, semi freezing, not really easy to use when you have problems.

  Summary: This printer could be FANTASTIC, but is restricted by ******* (not allowed to swear!) awful software. PTPublisher is a joke, even uninstalling it doesn't fix it.
  As noted by others, ...

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  Summary: This printer could be FANTASTIC, but is restricted by ******* (not allowed to swear!) awful software. PTPublisher is a joke, even uninstalling it doesn't fix it.
  As noted by others, it doesn't stop when it runs out of ink, so you have to keep watching it. Last week the software half froze so even though i kept refreshing the cartridge page, it wouldn't refresh how much ink was left! Gee, even our old 5200 Canon printers would stop when empty, and they were 5 - 8 year old technology.
  Primera also do not have a forum for their products, so you can't easily find out if you have a common problem or whether you are the only one having robot problems when they inevitably occur.
  I have had much more success with the unit by just using the SureThing CD editing software to print with, but then you are missing out on the cartridge info.
  Just wasted 40 discs with excess ink appearing on the discs, so I'm not happy today!
  
  (Could be) Excellent printer, but let down by CRAP software!
  
  vbwood

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• 8 stars

  Works great with a few reservations.

  by RLW16 on April 30, 2012

  Pros: Beautiful print quality.
  Fantastically fast.

  Cons: Unit will stop printing one of the colors without notice. Head clog.
  Cost of ink is high.

  Summary: This unit replaced three Epson cheap disc printers that just took too long to print my requirements. These simpler and cheaper printers were not made for runs of 50 to ...

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  Summary: This unit replaced three Epson cheap disc printers that just took too long to print my requirements. These simpler and cheaper printers were not made for runs of 50 to 100 discs. Also they would take about three minutes to print a disc and needed to be loaded one at a time. When first received my 4100 disc tray would not move. After manually moving it in and out a few times it has been working perfectly ever since. The biggest problem is that a color will just stop printing (probably a head clog as cleaning corrects it) but this could be fairly costly as a good part of a run could print bad. Since there is no way to align and print just one color (believe me I tried) one tends to watch over the printer rather then let it work alone. This happened during my first set of cartridges.
  
  Blue light looks cool but you cannot see true print colors. This is important as the unit will stop printing one of the colors without any notice. If this happens at disc 25 out of 50 you will have 25 bad discs. Bad for the bottom line. A bright white light over the machine corrects this but why does this need to be done in the first place.
  
  I could go on about the price of ink as one would think that a printer of this cost could use larger cartridges but I guess that is how they stay in business.
  
  Would I go back? Never! Even having to check the unit often to make sure all the colors are printing, it is a God send. I've had it over a year now and do one major project (for me anyway) of about 200 discs at a time every month. The printing would take me two to three days and required my undivided attention. Now, with a quick check every five minutes or so, I can be doing other things and get the entire print run done in about three hours or so.
  
  I just did a run of 250 discs this morning and it worked with just one black head clog. I can usually count on one problem like this per major print run.
  
  It is a great machine for the medium user. Just keep you eye on it.

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• 2 stars

  Continued problems...man I want this to work well.

  by longsincelost on May 5, 2011

  Pros: Fast, great print quality.

  Cons: Ongoing software issues on the Mac. Printer has slowly gone out of alignment due to hardware failures on printing tray. Extended down time.

  Summary: My first review of this product describes the problems with the software on the Mac side. Now after solving that problem FOR Primera (Apparently they will be fixing this in ...

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  Summary: My first review of this product describes the problems with the software on the Mac side. Now after solving that problem FOR Primera (Apparently they will be fixing this in an update to their software), I have begun having hardware problems with the printing itself. I felt it necessary to write another review with a lower star rating to reflect my experience.
  
  While printing multiple discs, the printer would slowly slide out of alignment. This caused two problems. The first, a disc would be actually ejected, or shot out, of the printing tray by the spring-loaded mechanism used to keep the disc on the tray. While I described the problem to tech support as being able to hear the print head actually rubbing on the back end of the discs occasionally, they suggested removing tape from the printing tray. Removing the tape (which is used to keep discs secure on the platter) would cause the discs to sit lower on the tray, preventing them from being ejected.
  
  Once the tape was removed, it exacerbated another problem, with the printer now unable to print straight lines due to the disc shifting on the print tray while printing. Without the tape there to keep things in place, it shifts laterally, and causes all sorts of problems on the print.
  
  Their solution, send me tape to put back onto the machine. I can't wait to call back and describe the ejecting problem again. I've had more downtime with this machine than I ever imagined, and that was after weeks of troubleshooting the software to get the printed diameter adjustable. See more about that in my other review.
  
  I am not the characteristic unsatisfiable customer, who complains to no end no matter if a solution is found or not to a purchased product. This, however, has wasted so much of my time, I feel it necessary to share my experience. It is possible this is just a fluke, or my unit is specifically defective, but honestly, I'm beginning to wonder.
  
  Updated on May 17, 2011

  Primera has offered to exchange my unit for a newer one. The newer units do not use tape on the trays, and have apparently gotten rid of the ejection and print problems. Changing discs for our organization wasn't really an option, and frankly, shouldn't have to be the only option.
  
  Luckily, they have been very helpful along this process, and I very much appreciate the customer service they are providing.

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• 8 stars

  Despite major software probs - still the best for the $

  by Sakatoa on April 1, 2011

  Pros: Incredibly fast, CMYK individual cartridges, 50-100 disc capacity, replaceable print head, small-ish footprint compared to Microboards GX series. Print quality is very good, and can be adjusted. I believe it is 6 seconds for Medium quality --up to 12 or

  Cons: Mac software is awful. In order to get PTPublisher to adjust diameter settings on discs, you must enable read & write permissions on DP4100 folder. HD > Library > Printers > Primera > DP4100 (be sure to apply to all enclosed items). The

  Summary: Having used several different disc publishers, from inkjet, to thermal. This thing rocks. Hopefully in an update to their software they can fix these problems.
  
  Updated on May 17, 2011...

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  Summary: Having used several different disc publishers, from inkjet, to thermal. This thing rocks. Hopefully in an update to their software they can fix these problems.
  
  Updated on May 17, 2011

  I've been in contact with Primera about these issues, and am still waiting for a response. They will be sending a new unit to take care of the hardware issues described in my other review, now I'm just waiting for the software fix.
  
  Unfortunately, it looks like things got cut off in my initial review. So, if you're on a Mac, and you need to change the diameter settings, here's what you do.
  
  Enable 'Read/Write' permissions on the folder here: HD > Library > Printers > Primera > DP4100 -- and be sure to apply to enclosed items. Do not apply these permissions to the 'Primera' folder, as this causes the program and printer to not respond.
  
  Fyi, Verbatim DVD-R, white inkjet discs need the settings 'Inner Diameter = 210', and 'Outer Margin' = 4.
  
  Updated on Jun 28, 2011

  Well, here we go again. My print head has now clogged up. Magenta will not output. Have tried cleaning it through the software, and manually. New cartridge, etc.
  
  This is in addition to only being able to print acceptable quality DVD's on the 'Best' Print Quality setting. This is however, the first time I have lost the ability to print a disc. I have performed some cleanings through the software as we've encountered banding on prints, etc.
  
  Maybe we can get a new print head. Who knows.

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