Microboards GX 50 Disc DVD/CD Publisher

Pros:
Best Uses:
Describe Yourself: Quality Oriented
Primary use: Business

not recommended

I run a small, in-home production company. I often have jobs which involve mass duplication and immediate turnaround. I purchased this machine in hopes that I could produce quality DVD's quickly. However, I am quite disappointed with my results...First, to be fair, the pros:1) Nice printerOf several printers I've used, this one ranks among the cleanest in its price range. The label quality is nice, and that certainly adds a professional edge.The cons:1) It lagsLet me begin by saying that my PC has a dual-core processor (3.7gh) with 4 gigs of ram- in other words, I do not normally experience lag in computer performance (I generally can run Adobe Photoshop, Premiere, and After Effects at once without a problem). However, this system generally slows down my operation considerably- enough so that I cannot use my computer while it's duplicating- which costs me post-production time.2) Very error-proneFurthermore, the device is very finicky. The complexity of the mechanism-the tiny arms which deliver the DVD in the trey, the conveyor belt-seems to hinder the machine's functionality. It is easy for the duplication process to lose sync- more often than not, the device may not properly drop the DVD into the trey, or the belt may not deliver the DVD to the printer. On my biggest jobs, I've found myself babysitting the device overnight, manually removing blockages and placing the DVD's into the printer. This completely defeats the purpose of having a mass duplicator- twice in the last 3 weeks I've had to forfeit a night's sleep in order to stay up and monitor its assembly line.3) Software is unsatisfactoryFrankly, the software appears to have been cheaply designed. The software has a crude interface which doesn't lend itself to intuitive use. Moreover, for all the many types of errors and blockages the machine experiences, the program is not equipped to specify where the problem has occurred. For instance, the most common error message is, "Blocked, please remove disk from hopper." This can refer to anything from multiple discs dropped into the trey at once, the disc is caught on the conveyor belt, the disc has not dropped from the trey onto the conveyor belt, ect. For something so complicated, it would be nice if the software could at least guide the user through the troubleshooting process.4) Hopper is not suited for large jobsFinally, the product is marketed as having a 50-disc capacity. However, as you can see from the picture, the hopper has a three-pronged opening in which the DVD's are loaded. These prongs are spaced too closely together, and a stack higher than around 15 DVD's will not fit comfortably into the machine. I've simply unscrewed the front prong in order to fit larger quantities, but there are problems still. I've found that the larger the stack of DVD's, the more likely the mechanism is to accidentally drop multiple DVD's at once, causing blockages. It doesn't appear the hopper is designed to support even the weight of 30 DVD's well enough to efficiently duplicate. I would not trust the machine to duplicate 50 DVD's unattended.In summary, I have yet to have a customer complain that the DVD's have not worked in their DVD players, nor have I had any complaints of general playback errors on discs. So I can honestly say that the burner is effective. Additionally, I often receive compliments about the DVD labels- they do indeed look nice. However, I have found myself explaining to customers on several occasions why their orders arrived a day or two later than promised. When the machine is working properly (in rare form I might add), I can duplicate 12 DVD's an hour (for longer videos; for shorter videos, I've done up to 20). However, the majority of the time, I spend hours troubleshooting and therefore usually have no idea how long a job will take. As may be expected, this can really hurt business when I can't even safely estimate the completion date for a project.This is not worth a $1,500 investment; I bought this on a bad tip. I regret this purchase, and I am currently looking into other products.