Disc labels - leave paper for documents

Have you ever taken a disc (CD or DVD) out of its player and noticed how warm, even hot, the disc might be? This is due to the speed at which the disc is spinning inside the player and the fact that there are lasers being beamed that the disc trying to read the contents.

Because of the heat that can be generated, it is advisable to not use paper labels to identify the contents of a disc. The heat generated by a spinning disc can cause the glue on a paper label to become less adhesive and come off the disc while in the player. Yes, there are some great programs to help you design some very cool labels, but consider how cool those labels will be if the adhesive on the label breaks down while the disc is being played and gums up your player.

If those labels come off while playing, not only will you lose the disc but you will also lose the player that is being used. If the player is a $30 DVD player, maybe that is not so much of a loss, but what if that player is a $1000 computer? Is it worth the risk? No.

Our recommendation is to use a felt marker to label your discs, or use direct-print discs in conjunction with an ink-jet printer designed for printing discs. The felt marker may not be as pretty as creating a label, but the risk to disc and player is zero. Direct-print discs and a dedicated ink-jet printer, while a more expensive method initially, can still provide those great looking discs also with no risk.

Both Epson (http://www.epson.com/) and Hewlett-Packard (http://www.hp.com/) make some affordable consumer level printers to help you achieve some very good results.

All of God’s blessing on you this week.

Chris