Microboards GX-1 Disc Publisher
I like devices that take raw material and spit out a finished product at the end – no messing with multiple steps or multiple machines. Thus, I always enjoy playing with disc publishers when we get one in the office. In this case, the Microboards GX-1 (MSRP $2,295, street price averaging about $1,795) showed up just in time for producing the many copies of the Church Production Magazine Video Production Awards discs to be shown at the WFX conference and trade show in November.
Sporting a stylish case design, the GX-1 was intriguing right from the beginning. It’s capable of duplicating both CDs and DVDs, and can burn CD-R at 48X and DVD-R at 16X speeds, and can print on printable-surface media. Printing can be done at up to 4,800 DPI. Software is available for both the Mac and PC, and comes with the Zulu2 disc publishing software for the PC, Charismac Discribe for the Mac; SureThing CD Labeler 4 SE is the label creation software. I did my testing with a PC. According to Microboards, printing a full-color, full-coverage disc at 1,200 DPI costs about 20 cents per disc.
Initial setup was pretty straightforward, with a quick-start guide to direct the user through hardware setup and software installation. The hardware setup consisted of installing the print cartridge, power cord and USB cable, and attaching the output bin to the front of the unit. While simple to do, two things became readily apparent. First, this is a long piece of equipment at 26-inches long for the unit, plus an additional six-inches for the output bin that hangs in front of (and below) the unit, and some extra space in the back for cabling. As the output bin hangs below the feet of the unit, it does necessitate placement so that the output bin can hang over the edge of the table or counter it’s placed on. This, combined with the length of the base unit, prevents it from being securely placed on a standard countertop area – the front feet can’t rest on the countertop. I had to place the unit in a corner, sticking diagonally out from the corner of the wall, with the output bin blocking one of the drawers. If one had a standard sized desk available, it would fit on that – but a countertop-width space doesn’t work well for this system. The second thing I noticed is that the output bin also makes things a bit awkward – with it having to stick out in front of the furniture it’s placed on, it beckons to get hooked onto articles of clothing – and did so several times in my testing. Usage in a cramped space would be difficult.
On to the software – software installation went quite smoothly, installing the multiple device drivers, burning software (Zulu2), and disc label creation software. The disc label software is typical of what accompanies disc publishers – it enables quick creation of labels from stock backgrounds and provides a variety of text layout options on the disc, including text that is laid out in a circular pattern and a radial pattern. The graphic design functions are minimal, but as any image can be used for a disc label, programs such as Photoshop, Illustrator or Paint Shop Pro can be used to create impressive labels for use with the disc labeling software. The disc publishing software can’t use a JPEG file directly as the image for the disc; you must generate a disc label file from the SureThing label software to be later used with the disc publishing software. I have found this to be the case with other disc publishing systems I’ve reviewed as well.
The disc publishing software, Zulu2, is a functional (if not elegant) application. It didn’t take too long to figure out, and it did get the job done. I have two complaints about the software as installed from the disc accompanying the product. First, when I tried to use the audio disc ripping software that is built into the application it failed on the last track, with no warning, or error message. While no “check for updates” option was available with the software there was an option to go to the Zulu2 website, which I picked. Which leads me to my second gripe — it took me to a website that was all in Japanese, with no English-language version.
I was able to obtain a software update from the very helpful tech support staff at Microboards, who also helped fix the website issue by directing me to the Microboard’s website instead. Though, the update tech support provided was not available on their website and was emailed to me. I did try to rip two other CDs, and it did work successfully on those. But I could not get it to work consistently. Of course, no one buys a duplicator because they want to rip audio CDs – they want to burn and print discs, and in this department it worked quite well. All the discs I burned passed data verification with flying colors, and the robotics worked reliably. With 48X/12X write times, burning occurs very quickly, and I appreciate the auto-verify option the software has to ensure the burn happened successfully. Printing was also very fast. The output bin made me nervous when I first saw it, because it’s an unpadded sheet metal, and I had visions of discs getting scratched as they dropped into the bin — but those fears were unfounded, as all discs were un-marred. There are some slight lines present on the burned surface of the disc from the rollers that the disc passes over on its way to the output bin, but that doesn’t seem to affect the playability of the discs.
The quality of the print on the discs was outstanding. Colors were clear and vibrant, and it’s so nice to be able to turn out a sharp-looking disc for any purpose at the drop of a hat. So, is this the right unit for you? If you’re looking for a fast disc publisher, it works well for what it’s designed to do. Just make sure you have a place where it fits, where the output bin won’t be in the way.
