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REVIEWS
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Contrary to what you might expect, the Bravo system is fairly compact, measuring 17.25" W x 16" D x 7.25" H, which means that it occupies about the same space as a standard-format inkjet printer with paper trays extended. In its basic configuration (without Kiosk Mode extras), it includes disc input and output bins situated on either side of the vertically stacked DVD burner and printer. The device's robotic arm and ink cartridges are mounted above these components. And the whole thing is housed in a beige chassis with a smoked, semi-opaque lid, which must remain closed during operation. (More on this below.)
[an error occurred while processing this directive]As for mechanical functionality, the device works like this: The robot arm picks up a blank disc, sticks it in the burner, pulls it out when it's done, moves it to the printer, then moves it finally to the output bin when it's through. (Of course, you also have the options of printing only or burning only.) Simple enough conceptually. So how well does it work? The robotics themselves operate without a hitch, as you'd expect. And the DVD burner, well, it's a Pioneer, so you know how it functions--same as the SuperDrive inside your Mac. It gets the job done in 15 to 20 minutes for a full DVD at maximum speed with nary a botched job to be seen.So, when it comes down to it, the only real question about the hardware in this unit is its four-color (CMYK) printer, and I have mixed feelings about it, though on the whole positive. It's fast, producing a border-free CD/DVD label with full ink coverage in a little more than four minutes at 2,400 x 1,200 DPI. If you're batch-processing DVDs, the print jobs will be done will before the next disc is even burned, so there's no issue there.
For print quality, it is possible to get good results from this unit, but, as with all disc label printers, it depends on the surface you're using and how many discs you're willing to burn through to assess its color reproduction capabilities. For my tests, I used three different types of surfaces. The worst by far with this printer was Verbatim's DataLifePlus line with White Inkjet/Thermal surface. I burned through literally 25 of these before I found something resembling a sweet spot between accurate color and and smooth gradients, and I'm still not sure I could get the results I'd want in every case. Following this color disaster, I tried out two different coatings, both from Primera: the Tuff-Coat Silver and Tuff-Coat White. What a difference! The Tuff-Coat Silver coating absorbed ink like no surface I've ever seen before in any medium, producing color that may not have been brilliant on its own but that certainly was accentuated with the metallic sheen of the coating. Every color except for pure black took on a metallic quality somewhere between a tin-type photo and an anodized rim, resulting in gorgeous effects, especially on grayscale images with spot color overlay elements. I don't know whether it would be possible, but if Primera put this coating on standard inkjet paper, I'd line up to buy it! Finally, I also tried Primera's Tuff-Coat White surface, which obviously lacked the brilliance of the Tuff-Coat Silver but resulted in slightly more accurate colors and much smoother tonal gradations than the Verbatim surface.
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