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I went through their tech support and they concluded mechanical failure on the first two printers. The third one failed out of the box after two prints. I gave up. I have been through three of the Signature Z1 with all having mechanical problems. The latest and third one worked two times before failing. There are other options and this printer is going into the recycle bin.
Sure, if you need color and don't mind smearing, an inkjet would be better. Most online retailers sell a variety of media that have no markings on the top surface.When used properly, the output is really quite impressive, as far as it goes - or at least I think so, and my friends agree. It has worked quite well for me since the day I got it. But I dare you to find anything better for the price, or even four times the price. I find it best to lower the image contrast and raise the brightness by about 30% or so before trying to print an image.
Most of the time it does OK. Importing graphics and such is easy, so it's possible to harvest clipart from DVD covers and online images to create pretty good-looking discs.Some people have complained about the grayscale graphics quality. To date I must have put 500 discs through it.The Z1 uses a monochrome thermal ink cartridge to mark the disc. Each quadrant is a rectangular area.
Unfortunately, there is really no way to know if the printer will print effectively on any given type of disc. To me, this is a big advantage over inkjet.The software only allows printing inside of four quadrants on the disc - upper, lower, left and right. Printing completely around the disc circumference is therefore not possible. Sometimes it does good, and occasionally it does really well.
Truth be told, the printer does not do well on high-contrast images, or images with a lot of black. I don't know what would happen if you tried inkjet-printable media in it, as the thermal printing only sticks to certain types of surfaces. Image manipulation outside the printing program can really help the final graphics output.So yes, it's limited in some ways.
I've had my Z1 for several years now, and gone through many discs with it. You can get single colors other than black, although I've never tried them.The printer is designed to take normal - that is, non-inkjet-printable - media. Here's my experience, and tips for getting the best out of your Z1.Overall, I love this printer.
Still, this is better than some similar printers, which only allow you to print in two areas on the disc (top and bottom).Since the print mechanism uses a ribbon-type cartridge, and not an ink cartridge, full-color printing is not possible. Unlike inkjet technology, the thermal print is not water-soluble, and will not rub or wash off. Even hard scratching with fingernails is not enough to damage the print.
But for me, this little gadget is just what the doctor ordered.
But now that it broke after the 1 year warranty of the original purchase, I'm SOL. This last one lasted almost a year. I first one I got lasted 6 months. The customer service was good and they sent me out a brand new one. If you want a disc printer that will last more than a year, look elsewhere.
It's always been the ribbon. The take-up reel is very unforgiving and, if you get twists in the used-up ribbon, the print job won't be very good. I've printed hundreds of discs with this printer and, when it works correctly, the finished product is great. With the exception of one ribbon that I could never get to feed correctly, I've always been able to solve the problem by pulling the used ribbon out and rewinding it on to the take-up reel with a pencil. I shouldn't have to do that, but it isn't like these things cost a fortune, either. However, it doesn't always work correctly and, on occasion, the output is a mess.What I have discovered is that the printer isn't really at fault when I get a bad print job. You get what you pay for, and I'm fairly satisfied with this printer.
The good news is that their customer support seems to be aware of this as they readily replace my unit. They all seem to end up malfunctioning one way or another. I think there is a year warranty, so I imagine this will last only so long. Originally, this seemed like a good low cost solution to CD/DVD labeling. I have used the product (or should I say three of them, and waiting for number four) for about six months with little success. The expense of shipping it back and the time down is not worth the hastle though. In theory it is wonderful; however, when put into practice there are just too many faults. Buyer be warned-search elsewhere.
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