The Oddly Enjoyable Casio CW-50 Thermal CD Printer
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Date: 2023-08-11
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Comments and reviews: 19
lazygamereviews
That decade-ish span of time where CD burning was a vital part of being a computer enthusiast is still etched in to my brain.
Especially in those early days you had all those rituals to make sure your burn went well. Small buffers, no underrun protection, scsi voodoo, and the general sketchy of IO on windows PCs of the time really increased the chance of coastering your precious blanks!
Remember preparing your burn job, doing a clean reboot, then carefully starting the burn and walking away slowly to make sure you didn t shake the floor? Remember doing test burns with the laser off? Remember biting your nails during the post burn verification?
Burning a disc is an occasional experience now, and is usually for a retro computing project - But I STILL think about making sure I have blank media and a good drive and mode 1 vs mode 2 and cue sheets and cd binders and wallets and all that.
I LOVE all of the cool gadgets and schemes and software for labeling your round media. Special sharpies, inkjet printers boasting trays to hold that weird media with a dusty top that got all over your fingers, boasting integration with Roxio so you could master and burn and label all in one go.
Remember how Pioneer made the best drives? THEY STILL DO! You can go pick up a sata or USB3 drive that supports the latest crazy multi layer blu ray formats all they way back to plain old red book written to a CD-r. (The list of supported formats and media is like 10 pages long it s insane. I got tired of cheap no name drives randomly doing strange things so I picked one up. If you need to work with optical media in any capacity I highly recommend!
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That decade-ish span of time where CD burning was a vital part of being a computer enthusiast is still etched in to my brain.
Especially in those early days you had all those rituals to make sure your burn went well. Small buffers, no underrun protection, scsi voodoo, and the general sketchy of IO on windows PCs of the time really increased the chance of coastering your precious blanks!
Remember preparing your burn job, doing a clean reboot, then carefully starting the burn and walking away slowly to make sure you didn t shake the floor? Remember doing test burns with the laser off? Remember biting your nails during the post burn verification?
Burning a disc is an occasional experience now, and is usually for a retro computing project - But I STILL think about making sure I have blank media and a good drive and mode 1 vs mode 2 and cue sheets and cd binders and wallets and all that.
I LOVE all of the cool gadgets and schemes and software for labeling your round media. Special sharpies, inkjet printers boasting trays to hold that weird media with a dusty top that got all over your fingers, boasting integration with Roxio so you could master and burn and label all in one go.
Remember how Pioneer made the best drives? THEY STILL DO! You can go pick up a sata or USB3 drive that supports the latest crazy multi layer blu ray formats all they way back to plain old red book written to a CD-r. (The list of supported formats and media is like 10 pages long it s insane. I got tired of cheap no name drives randomly doing strange things so I picked one up. If you need to work with optical media in any capacity I highly recommend!
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Aditya
I know why they not print well on the first CD, is due the height level of the surface is different between the lacquered and the one that didn't, as Thermal printer need a even height surface to print.
For The Casio CD surface why they not stick, but not on the data side, I only came with 2 theories:
1. It is due the lacquer that they use, which as I know more thicker and had more durable and withstand time compared to normal ones, which common for most CD driver that time. I remember write with permanent marker & erase it with alcohol and not flaking off, while other CD lacquer actually can crack or flaking.
2. The Ink formulation it self is seems not able to adhere on certain material surfaces, which making the ink acting like fried egg on hot teflon coated surface. So, when heat applied, the ink is actually melted but due the surface not allow the ink stick properly, then the ink is basically lifted up and stick again to the ink ribbons again.
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I know why they not print well on the first CD, is due the height level of the surface is different between the lacquered and the one that didn't, as Thermal printer need a even height surface to print.
For The Casio CD surface why they not stick, but not on the data side, I only came with 2 theories:
1. It is due the lacquer that they use, which as I know more thicker and had more durable and withstand time compared to normal ones, which common for most CD driver that time. I remember write with permanent marker & erase it with alcohol and not flaking off, while other CD lacquer actually can crack or flaking.
2. The Ink formulation it self is seems not able to adhere on certain material surfaces, which making the ink acting like fried egg on hot teflon coated surface. So, when heat applied, the ink is actually melted but due the surface not allow the ink stick properly, then the ink is basically lifted up and stick again to the ink ribbons again.
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K6
I used to sell blank media as a bit of a side business back in the day as I helped out my friend and their stationery stall every week at the car boot (flea market to you Americans) sale and there were often some weird and wonderful media designs by the manufacturers themselves on the non printable stuff, for some reason the bright pink was one of the more popular choices for the DVD pirates stocking up (probably because it was one of the cheapest, there was also a company called Tuffdisc which was basically a lucky dip spindle of 'reject' media from various manufacturers where they had then gone on and slapped a pebble like Tuffdisc branded coating on the top of the media to try and hide the original manufacturer markings! (which you could sometimes see underneath depending on the batch) - the Epson R200 and R300 were super popular at the time too as they could do the direct media printing and compatible cartridges were super cheap
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I used to sell blank media as a bit of a side business back in the day as I helped out my friend and their stationery stall every week at the car boot (flea market to you Americans) sale and there were often some weird and wonderful media designs by the manufacturers themselves on the non printable stuff, for some reason the bright pink was one of the more popular choices for the DVD pirates stocking up (probably because it was one of the cheapest, there was also a company called Tuffdisc which was basically a lucky dip spindle of 'reject' media from various manufacturers where they had then gone on and slapped a pebble like Tuffdisc branded coating on the top of the media to try and hide the original manufacturer markings! (which you could sometimes see underneath depending on the batch) - the Epson R200 and R300 were super popular at the time too as they could do the direct media printing and compatible cartridges were super cheap
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Brett
This is amazing. I never even knew this existed back then, or I didn't pay attention to it enough in the ads to even really take it in, so to speak. As I don't remember these AT ALL. I too used lightscribe when it was relevant, and beyond. .. But this. I'd have honestly really rather had this. A bit more effort and interaction to do it all, but those results. man. They're freaking great! I even like that crunchy sound of the print head doig its aggressive and hot thing. I wouldn't even consider the patterns to be messing things up all that much. They all have their own way with the process, and I'd imagine that back in the day, one would have found their ideal cd's for all kinds of different prints. These would have been great back in the download and burn days. Heck, I imagine one would actually find all sorts of things to thermally print on in general.
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This is amazing. I never even knew this existed back then, or I didn't pay attention to it enough in the ads to even really take it in, so to speak. As I don't remember these AT ALL. I too used lightscribe when it was relevant, and beyond. .. But this. I'd have honestly really rather had this. A bit more effort and interaction to do it all, but those results. man. They're freaking great! I even like that crunchy sound of the print head doig its aggressive and hot thing. I wouldn't even consider the patterns to be messing things up all that much. They all have their own way with the process, and I'd imagine that back in the day, one would have found their ideal cd's for all kinds of different prints. These would have been great back in the download and burn days. Heck, I imagine one would actually find all sorts of things to thermally print on in general.
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LotoTheHero
This is really impressive! I didn't expect this to work so well. I'm curious how it would work if you printed some text (0r an image) then swapped the cartridge out for a different color. Like red text over blue text for example. Would the result be purple, would it not work, or would it just produce some weird unsatisfactory result. I'd also be curious as to how well the prints hold up over time. Too bad they didn't produce a machine that could print over the entire area of a cd. Still a really cool piece of tech though!
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This is really impressive! I didn't expect this to work so well. I'm curious how it would work if you printed some text (0r an image) then swapped the cartridge out for a different color. Like red text over blue text for example. Would the result be purple, would it not work, or would it just produce some weird unsatisfactory result. I'd also be curious as to how well the prints hold up over time. Too bad they didn't produce a machine that could print over the entire area of a cd. Still a really cool piece of tech though!
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Penguin
This is actually really good, I wish I knew you could get hands on these back in the day. For our first game I made 20 promo copies by hand, printed the covers, burnt discs, etc. For the discs I used LightScribe discs - ones you could burn the label on with a DVD-R drive. The results weren't nearly this good and took bloody ages. This one would've cranked them out no problem, ten times better to boot.
The whole adventure was so time consuming that for the sequel I had the physical promos made in a professional factory.
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This is actually really good, I wish I knew you could get hands on these back in the day. For our first game I made 20 promo copies by hand, printed the covers, burnt discs, etc. For the discs I used LightScribe discs - ones you could burn the label on with a DVD-R drive. The results weren't nearly this good and took bloody ages. This one would've cranked them out no problem, ten times better to boot.
The whole adventure was so time consuming that for the sequel I had the physical promos made in a professional factory.
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Vyxel
I have one of these, I usually prepare my images with high-contrast and utilize a few other techniques to get the best result.
I know once upon a time there was a Canon? It printed color on discs but the discs probably had to be used w/ paper tops but I could be wrong.
(I would wonder if inkjet could print on discs. but you'd probably have to finish it with a spray of some kind so that the ink would set quick and couldn't be smudged)
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I have one of these, I usually prepare my images with high-contrast and utilize a few other techniques to get the best result.
I know once upon a time there was a Canon? It printed color on discs but the discs probably had to be used w/ paper tops but I could be wrong.
(I would wonder if inkjet could print on discs. but you'd probably have to finish it with a spray of some kind so that the ink would set quick and couldn't be smudged)
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gen\Eric
OMG, you're going to Long Island! That's where I'm originally from, though I live elsewhere in NY now. The LI Retro Game expo is a load a fun, plus it's in an aerospace museum! I need to plan to go that show more often, I can't make it this year. Maybe next year I'll go, and make it an excuse to visit my parents.
Also, don't do what I did and leave the expo with 100s of dollars of retro video games. Or do, I can't tell you what to do.
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OMG, you're going to Long Island! That's where I'm originally from, though I live elsewhere in NY now. The LI Retro Game expo is a load a fun, plus it's in an aerospace museum! I need to plan to go that show more often, I can't make it this year. Maybe next year I'll go, and make it an excuse to visit my parents.
Also, don't do what I did and leave the expo with 100s of dollars of retro video games. Or do, I can't tell you what to do.
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Robert
Hi Clint,
I actually had one of these except it was badged TDK here in the UK, WOW, takes me back.
I used it for labelling mix cd's for the car, and as we saw, I never had any problems labelling ink jet compatible media.
Now I have an Epson all in one printer with a CD/DVD Tray which does not get used a fraction as much as the in my case the TDK.
Love your videos, looking forward to your next one.
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Hi Clint,
I actually had one of these except it was badged TDK here in the UK, WOW, takes me back.
I used it for labelling mix cd's for the car, and as we saw, I never had any problems labelling ink jet compatible media.
Now I have an Epson all in one printer with a CD/DVD Tray which does not get used a fraction as much as the in my case the TDK.
Love your videos, looking forward to your next one.
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AreaNinety
Oh man what a flashback, my Dad had a CD stomper to go with his Studio Tascam CD recorder from the mid 90s. He copied any CD he could get his hands on, took pictures of the album art with his Sony Mavica floppy digital camera, and printed his own inserts and labels. Had to be careful with the printed labels as our slot loading player in the car tended to cause havoc on those CD stomper labels. Good times.
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Oh man what a flashback, my Dad had a CD stomper to go with his Studio Tascam CD recorder from the mid 90s. He copied any CD he could get his hands on, took pictures of the album art with his Sony Mavica floppy digital camera, and printed his own inserts and labels. Had to be careful with the printed labels as our slot loading player in the car tended to cause havoc on those CD stomper labels. Good times.
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The
I CD Stomped _a lot_ of discs back in the day and never had any of the dreaded, alleged, issues. I chalked it up to people using inferior grade labels and/or techniques. The actual CD Stomper branded stickers would have been just about impossible to remove even if you want to.
I did that for a few years until I discovered Sharpies. I never had any of the dreaded, alleged, issues from using them either.
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I CD Stomped _a lot_ of discs back in the day and never had any of the dreaded, alleged, issues. I chalked it up to people using inferior grade labels and/or techniques. The actual CD Stomper branded stickers would have been just about impossible to remove even if you want to.
I did that for a few years until I discovered Sharpies. I never had any of the dreaded, alleged, issues from using them either.
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Logan
Hello Clint. I did have the CW-75 for awhile before mine broke although mine was second hand, and I think it just ran out of ink. That being said it was cool I labeled a ton of discs some that where even retail discs that the oe label was hard to see. The labels are still there. What was cool about the CW-75 is it rotated the disc and printed line by line which could be seen when it encountered errors
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Hello Clint. I did have the CW-75 for awhile before mine broke although mine was second hand, and I think it just ran out of ink. That being said it was cool I labeled a ton of discs some that where even retail discs that the oe label was hard to see. The labels are still there. What was cool about the CW-75 is it rotated the disc and printed line by line which could be seen when it encountered errors
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Paul
Never tried them, printed cds or sharpies or stick ons worked for me: )
Light scribe not even: (
Thermal, that's just MAGIC: )
Though I did make some NICE/ Professional inkjet CD/DVDS and they were Nice, but sharpies, worked for me: )
I had to use blank white matte cd/dvds to make it look nice, it never worked right, wasted to many/cd/dvds just to get it right. Sharpies for the WIN: )
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Never tried them, printed cds or sharpies or stick ons worked for me: )
Light scribe not even: (
Thermal, that's just MAGIC: )
Though I did make some NICE/ Professional inkjet CD/DVDS and they were Nice, but sharpies, worked for me: )
I had to use blank white matte cd/dvds to make it look nice, it never worked right, wasted to many/cd/dvds just to get it right. Sharpies for the WIN: )
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Alexx
Problem is, the data layer on cds is on the top side, right under the lacquer coat on blank cds, unless there is a silkscreen art covering the top side, which adds another layer of protection.
I wonder if this printer could damage the topside lacquer coating, which would lead to data layer degradation as air and moisture attack the mylar and organic coating of the data layer
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Problem is, the data layer on cds is on the top side, right under the lacquer coat on blank cds, unless there is a silkscreen art covering the top side, which adds another layer of protection.
I wonder if this printer could damage the topside lacquer coating, which would lead to data layer degradation as air and moisture attack the mylar and organic coating of the data layer
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nucflashevent
This reminds me of a lot of cheaper fax machines I've seen which use the full sheet sized thermal ribbon. They work fine UNLESS you have them in a hot office and then you wind up with a non-working fax and when you remove the ribbon holder to find out what's wrong, it pulls out like taffy leaving gooey black s___ inside the printer (ask me how I know about that LOL)
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This reminds me of a lot of cheaper fax machines I've seen which use the full sheet sized thermal ribbon. They work fine UNLESS you have them in a hot office and then you wind up with a non-working fax and when you remove the ribbon holder to find out what's wrong, it pulls out like taffy leaving gooey black s___ inside the printer (ask me how I know about that LOL)
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Stephen
I ve used the cd stomper. Never had any issues with it either. Since the one I had was used, I got mine usable with nothing more than a template for Microsoft Word. Sure the label that is used can be an issue if it ends up installed incorrectly. I ve never had that happen. Even in the harshest conditions the label survived better than the data.
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I ve used the cd stomper. Never had any issues with it either. Since the one I had was used, I got mine usable with nothing more than a template for Microsoft Word. Sure the label that is used can be an issue if it ends up installed incorrectly. I ve never had that happen. Even in the harshest conditions the label survived better than the data.
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screamengine
Casio have stood the test of time. Honestly, I've NEVER encountered a Casio product that didn't work unless it was seriously & physically damaged. I collect old Synths / Keys etc and have dozens of them. However I've had several Roland synth keybeds go tits up in only a few years. But never once with a Casio! Such an under rated company.
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Casio have stood the test of time. Honestly, I've NEVER encountered a Casio product that didn't work unless it was seriously & physically damaged. I collect old Synths / Keys etc and have dozens of them. However I've had several Roland synth keybeds go tits up in only a few years. But never once with a Casio! Such an under rated company.
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Michael
I actually kinda want one now for some reason, even though I don't burn CDs and DVDs very often. Still I use to and it was a pain when the marker I used would smudge, or we wouldn't wait for it to dry before sticking into something. This would have been super helpful back then, but now I probably only use my CD/DVD burner a few times a year.
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I actually kinda want one now for some reason, even though I don't burn CDs and DVDs very often. Still I use to and it was a pain when the marker I used would smudge, or we wouldn't wait for it to dry before sticking into something. This would have been super helpful back then, but now I probably only use my CD/DVD burner a few times a year.
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Joshua
The DVD came out softer because the writable and label side are sandwiched in between plastic. Where as on a CD it sits right on top of the plastic. Its the nature of the medium. You can see it if you look at the edge of the disk. This is the reason why if you scratch the label side on a CD you can actually ruin the disk.
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The DVD came out softer because the writable and label side are sandwiched in between plastic. Where as on a CD it sits right on top of the plastic. Its the nature of the medium. You can see it if you look at the edge of the disk. This is the reason why if you scratch the label side on a CD you can actually ruin the disk.
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