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MillimeterEdit Review: Primera Bravo SE
May 1, 2007 12:00 PM, Reviewer: Tom Patrick McAuliffe
Disc publisher offers affordable automation for DVD and CD creation.
The Primera Bravo SE can burn up to 20 DVDs or CDs at a time and can print directly on compatible discs.
Because of my lifestyle, work, and the ease of portability, I use laptops for the majority of my video and audio work. Before I got a disc duplicator, I burned a lot of DVDs and CDs on my laptops, and I went through three drives in a little over a year. Sure, a burner in a laptop or tower will burn CDs and DVDs, but it isn't practical for it to do so over hours and hours for mass duplications. Now, for less than $1,500, I can duplicate as much as I want, on demand, without racking up the wear and tear of repeated burns on my computers.
The bottom line has always been creating the best possible product — be it video, audio, or any other type of creative endeavor. But once the shooting ends and the postproduction is over, handing off our projects to third parties for duplication can be a hit-or-miss proposition. With independent video creators and AV departments alike feeling the economic pinch, adding the ability to do small-run DVD and CD duplication can be just plain smart. Until recently, the only problem was the cost of a quality duplicator. Primera seems to have solved that difficulty with the newly updated, lower-cost Bravo SE disc publisher.
An automated solution able to burn up to 20 DVDs or CDs at a time, the Bravo SE also prints directly on compatible discs and comes with everything you need to get started. The Bravo SE has a DVD-R record speed of 16X and a CD-R record speed of 40X. It supports all of the DVD and CD formats (i.e. DVD-RW, DVD Dual Layer, and CD-RW), and the Bravo SE Blu model also supports Blu-ray Disc duplication.
Looking and weighing like a large laser printer (it uses standard inkjet color cartridges), the Bravo SE uses a Pioneer DVR-111D for disc burning — you can even use it as just an external burner with your computer if you want. It is bundled with software for both Windows 2000/XP and Mac OS X (10.2+). The included CD-ROM has Primera's own PT Publisher 1.0 burning software and drivers for the unit. On the PC side, SureThing CD Labeler takes up the label creation duties, while on the Mac side, it's Discribe 5.3 (which does much more than just labels). Both apps are quick and easy. Choose a font, maybe import a logo or picture, and you're ready to “publish” a DVD or CD. I usually create my disc labels in Adobe Photoshop 7, but from now on, I'll use these apps.
Installation and set up of the Bravo SE was quick and easy. The duplicator uses a USB 2.0 connection to either a Windows PC or an OS X Mac for operation. It will work with a 1.0 USB port — just not as quickly. I used the Bravo on the PC side with a Pentium 4 2.8GHz running Windows XP and on the Mac side with a new Mac PowerBook G4 with OS 10.4. On both platforms, the drivers installed with no problem, and I could select the Bravo SE just like a printer or hard drive. But the Mac was faster, so I used it for the most part.
Once I got everything hooked up and the software installed, the goal was to make 15 copies of the local senior citizens' dance group DVD. If you are doing a disc-to-disc copy, the unit software will prompt you for the source disc, which it records an image of and then burns all the subsequent discs from. Operation is a breeze. Fill up the blank disc bin; then, use the software to choose which label to print, hit the Publish button, and the robotic arm uses its suction to pick up a blank disc, place it in the record drive and then into the print bay, and put the burned and printed DVD or CD in the finished pile. Once you start the process, you can walk away. Theoretically.
I started the process, but the unit would not function properly, and the printing was fuzzy (maybe due to shipping), so I needed to adjust the arm and print head of the unit. The included utility software makes it a snap, and it functions much like that of any other printer. And I can also report that the manual is one of the better ones: It covers all operations and has comprehensive illustrations.
Once I was fully operational (took about 15 minutes), I burned copies of a six-song demo CD. Total size was a little more than 500MB, and it had a simple label, so I was able to create 15 finished CDs in less than 40 minutes. It's not the fastest, but the unit is well built and I can see how it would just chug right along pumping out the discs for a long time. Primera's one-of-a-kind, patent-pending AccuDisc technology uses advanced LED optics, which, according to the company, eliminates mis-feeds. In the two to three weeks I used it, the Bravo SE never dropped a disc.
The final DVDs and CDs played in the more than half-dozen players I tried at a local electronics chain store, and the waterproof labels looked fabulous. In addition to idiot-proof operation, being able to print full-color, photo-quality graphics (4,800dpi) directly onto the disc can't be overstated. You'll never want to fool with labels again.
Even though I would have liked the Bravo SEbetter with a 50- or 100-disc capability, and I wish it offered standalone operation without a computer, I'm sold for the second time. Having used the company's products before, I know Primera knows how to do it right, and the Bravo SE is another illustration of that feeling. Despite any limitations, one can't deny all the entries on the plus side of the list for the Bravo SE: unattended operation (go to lunch!), on-disc printing, cross-platform compatibility, good post-purchase support, DVD and CD functionality, and near-flawless results. You may only need to burn a dozen or so DVDs and CDs two or three times a year or, like me, you may need to do much more than that. Either way, you will be impressed with the value and performance the Primera Bravo SE disc publisher provides. Producing multiple DVDs and CDs has never been easier or more affordable.
Tom Patrick McAuliffe is an award-winning videomaker who lives in Hawaii.
bottomline
Company: Primera
Plymouth, Minn.; (800) 797-2772
www.primera.com
Product: Bravo SE
Assets: Works with Windows or Mac, automatic operation, good history of customer support, low cost when compared to other products.
Caveats: You must hook it up to a computer for it to operate, must have special discs to print on.
Demographic: Anyone looking to duplicate DVDs or CDs
PRICE: $1,495
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