Not at all impressed with lightscribe DVDs

I broke my old DVD writer so decided to try a lightscribe one, the Benq 1625. You can read more about lightscribe at www.lightscribe.com . I bought a few blank DVDs at nearly two dollars a piece and gave it a shot. The output is very weak. Very low contrast that would remind you of a very old, yellowed black and white photograph. The whites are not very white and the darks are not very dark. I am not impressed at all. I think if one did not want to use labels, you would be better off going with an Epson printer that will print on cds such as the R200 and printable blank cdrs and dvdrs. The printable media costs more then the regular type but less then the lightscribe type.

i always wanted one geep cause my hand wrtieing is worst then my typeing .thanks for the heads up geep

raggie33 said:

i always wanted one geep cause my hand wrtieing is worst then my typeing .thanks for the heads up geep

Click to expand...

Another thanks for the heads-up. I've been considering one of the LS drives as a replacement for a failing drive, but I've never seen a lightscribe'd disc in person. I bought a pack of 10 blanks just to have them in case I ever bought the drive, but now I think I'll hold off.

Would you say that the photos of lightscribe'd discs that are printed on the packages are an accurate representation of the results, or are those photos tweaked to make the results appear to have higher contrast than they actually have?

Photo wrangler, I'll try to take a picture of one later on and see how accurate it is and post if I think it is an accurate representation. It seems to me the examples I have seen online have the contrast settings tweaked.

You're using a benq drive - do you have any idea how the actual HP lightscribe drives are?

I was considering a LS drive before, but when I saw the actual product...I passed. I don't think it is nearly as great as its been lead up to be. I purchased a NEC 3540A drive for $42 from Newegg.

the nec drives make awsume burns but i dont know about there light scribe

evan9162 said:

You're using a benq drive - do you have any idea how the actual HP lightscribe drives are?

Click to expand...

I was told in the DVD forums that the HP640i is a rebadgered Benq 1625.

If you're looking for a good burner, check out LiteOn. I've used them and built lots of systems with them. Fast, reliable, accurate, great value!! Dell uses them too. They'll do about anything.

i hack my liteons

The Epson R200 is nice, but slightly over-rated. If you are looking to buy an Ink Jet and you like it's other features, than the CD printing is a plus, but if you are buying it just for CD printing you'll be disappointed.

My friend purchased one The problem is the surface of the ink-jet printable CDs is not as good for printing on as decent quality Ink Jet labels. He gets banding and other nasties. Not terrible, but he still prints quite a few Ink Jet labels.

Thanks Saaby, I thought about the cd surface imperfections as well. I think I will stick with my Canon I960, ink hog that it is, and trusty neato labels. The lightscribe method might be ok for basic text labeling when you do not need artistic impressions.

Here is one example of a lightscribe cd I did which is a reasonable replication of what my eyes see. The text was formatted to be pure white.

And how long did it take to "scribe" that in? I hear the scribing process is slower than tar.

Is the "pure white" lettering an UN-scribed area of the disc?

Oh yes, I forgot to mention, this was at "the best" setting. It took about a half an hour. Remember when Yamaha had the drives that would engrave on the data side of the disk? That technology didn't last too long.