CD / DVD Printer Recommendation

[Chino]

Can anyone recommend an affordable CD / DVD printer? I had an Epson R800 which worked well for six months then quit. Dealing with Epson was a nightmare to say the least so, long story short, I’m not interested in Epson. Is there anything else out there in that category?
Thanks!

[faqvideo]

Try PRIMERA BRAVO:
http://www.codespro-online.com/PRIMERA-BRAVO_SE_Publisher.html

Shoot-It-Yourself Wedding Video Guide

[Chino]

compusolver Wrote:

HP just came out with a cheap printer that does DVD/CD blanks, but its resolution isn’t as good as the Epson R200 series. Your best bet is to swallow your anger and look for R220’s that may still be out there new on eBay, etc. for $100. Even at six months each, its a good deal.

What happened with Epson is when my (still in warranty) R800 quit (DVD tray wouldn’t load), I took it to the nearest factory service center which was 100 miles away. They said they fixed it but they didn’t. At least they admitted they couldn’t fix the problem and told me to contact Epson Tech Support. Long story short again, tech support accused me of printing too many DVDs. They said the unit is not meant to print lots of DVDs, and said they would not honor my warranty. I had printed less than 40 DVDs. I had never even changed the ink cartridges! Also, I spent three hours on and off hold with their tech support and it was not an 800 number.
Okay, the violins are playing for me, LOL. But I thank you for your information! The members of this board are what makes it a great place to get quality information
Thanks again.

[Chino]

faqvideo Wrote:

Try PRIMERA BRAVO:
http://www.codespro-online.com/PRIMERA-BRAVO_SE_Publisher.html

Shoot-It-Yourself Wedding Video Guide

Thank you! I will check them out!

[Chino]

faqvideo Wrote:

Try PRIMERA BRAVO:
http://www.codespro-online.com/PRIMERA-BRAVO_SE_Publisher.html

Shoot-It-Yourself Wedding Video Guide

Thank you for your info. However, I print maybe a hundred discs a year. I hope I don’t have to spend that kind of money to get something that works! 😀

[Microchip]

Amazon seems to have them, or have sellers who have them:

http://www.amazon.com/Epson-Stylus-R220-Photo-Printer/dp/B000AYA588/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-8424821-6376808?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1172853645&sr=8-1

I bought a new R220 in December. It’s excellent printing on DVDs, looks professional. From the outset I’ve had a very slight problem with the loading tray but this is so negligible – you must line up the arrows on the tray with the arrows on the feeder or the DVD won’t be pulled in to be printed on.

Once you follow the instruction manual and the suggested Tips in the Epson program which prints the DVDs, you should be good to go.

[Chino]

Microchip Wrote:

Amazon seems to have them, or have sellers who have them:

http://www.amazon.com/Epson-Stylus-R220-Photo-Printer/dp/B000AYA588/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-8424821-6376808?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1172853645&sr=8-1

I bought a new R220 in December. It’s excellent printing on DVDs, looks professional. From the outset I’ve had a very slight problem with the loading tray but this is so negligible – you must line up the arrows on the tray with the arrows on the feeder or the DVD won’t be pulled in to be printed on.

Once you follow the instruction manual and the suggested Tips in the Epson program which prints the DVDs, you should be good to go.

Thanks! I just ordered an Epson R260 for $80. That way if anything happens to it I can throw it away and get another!

[Anonymous]

I have Epson 800, 200, and 220 and print hundreds of CD’s using them all. There has always been a feed problem but, as suggested above, a gentle push at the right time and they print wonderfully. They are CHEAP and can’t be expected to perform as well as a dedicated printer. I have been very pleased by my Epsons for CD’s and most everything else. Give yours another try.

Regards,
W Fenn
http://www.fennfoto.com

[Chino]

wfenn Wrote:

I have Epson 800, 200, and 220 and print hundreds of CD’s using them all. There has always been a feed problem but, as suggested above, a gentle push at the right time and they print wonderfully. They are CHEAP and can’t be expected to perform as well as a dedicated printer. I have been very pleased by my Epsons for CD’s and most everything else. Give yours another try.

Regards,
W Fenn
http://www.fennfoto.com

Thanks for the input! Actually, the tray feeds properly but when I try to print I get a message saying either the printer is out of paper or the tray is not positioned properly. I’ve printed enough DVDs to know the tray is properly positioned, and should be no paper in it when I am printing DVDs. Epson refuses to honor the warrantee. They accuse me of printing too many DVDs. I have printed maybe 40 or 50 DVDs. I haven’t even had to chang the orgninal ink cartridges yet.

[Microchip]

It could be just that particular customer rep’s response. They have a warranty on how many DVDs you’re allowed to print??? 😯

[Anonymous]

My old R200 is still ticking. I have printed thousands of DVDs with it, but it has the common problem of having to nudge the tray. The clear tabs at the edge of the tray got messed up early on, so I cut them off. There is a sensor located somewhere under the left bottom of the ink cartridge assembly that may mess up the process. I cleaned it once, that seems to be the fix. I’ll see if I can find that link from a year or so ago.

OK, here it is! http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/forums/inkjet/27268

[Chino]

Well, I’m a moron. I did not record the conversation. I do not have any way to record the converstion. In this situation, all I could do is try to endure and hope I would get some sort of customer support. It didn’t happen. The way they deal with you is to leave you on hold for twenty minutes or more, and wear you down. Remember, this is not an 800 number. I was paying full long distance rates all the time.
I’m not here to complain. I appreciate your input and information!
Thank you!

[brandon0409]

Personally, I use Lightscribe to produce my final DVD’s. My customers love them and find them extremely professional looking. Plus the ink does not come off on your fingers because there is NO ink.

The downside is that I have only been able to find Lightscribe DVD in DVD+R. No DVD-R. At least not that I’ve found. But I have had no problems.

[Anonymous]

Lightscribe has a nice look but if you select the high quality setting (if you don’t the shading is very light) it takes about 20-30 minutes to print one disc. I still offer it as the default but I also have an Epson Stylus R260 to print full color (5760 x 1440 optimized dpi ) as an upgrade option. The print time goes from 30 minutes to 30 seconds and is a world apart form the gray shades of lightscribe. The Epson printer was $75 ish from Sams but they are available at B&H Photo and similar suppliers.
I had an I/O Magic Lightscribe drive that worked flawlessly for just over a year but has since stopped working. I will replace it since I like the presentation.

[Chino]

Thanks for the info everyone. I did buy a Epson 260 for $80. If anything happens to it I won’t be out much!

[Anonymous]

At the end of last year when I was looking for media printers I checked and found the usual RImage and Primera companies pushing their $1500 printers. These are fine for people who are printing thousands of CD/DVDs and would like to step up to automation and don’t mind purchasing all their ink supplies from the original manufacturer.

I have wanted to get a CD printer for a while, and it seemed like Epson was the only game in town for a sub $500 CD printer. I had been looking for a Hewlett Packard brand because I have a bunch of HP inks for other printers. I did see one by something called Verity Systems in England for about $1100. And for the short metal cover which allows you to print on miniCD it’s an extra $130 charge.

I was very surprised to see HP has come out with a very inexpensive CD photo printer, with a price range of about $89. It seemed to have been put out with no fanfare in November of 2006 or so, called the D5160. It’s like they didn’t WANT anyone to know they are now printing on CD/DVDs. I stumbled across it while looking for HP inks at a neighborhood store. Sadly a lot of COMP USAs are closing, and I snagged one there for about $62 before taxes. The marketing for these claim photo printing, CD printing, miniCD printing, and a pretty wide range of benefits/features.

I have printed some really good glossy documents. Media printing is a bit fussy, but for a $60 pricetag, I don’t mind fussing a bit to get the media tray working. Its tray holds both full sized and 8cm disks. I can’t get the rectangular CDs or hockey rink ones to align properly, as there is no adapter for business card sized media.

I see printer prices going down; but with the cost of a single 19mL HP 56 black ink cartridge selling for $19, I wonder why the complaints are still about the prices of milk and gasoline. At that price I calculate the price per gallon of black ink, for 19mL, to be $71,922.82 !!!

1mL = 0.000264172051 Gal
1mL/0.000264172051Gal*19mL = 71922.82

I do think it’s important to be price conscious about your printer purchase, but the unspoken costs are ink and media used to print.

I ran across an interesting article/news section from a company which primarily sells media. I would caution you that they are in the business of selling product, so beware that the end of each story has a link to products they sell, but the information contained in these stories is pretty concise and important for printing on media. It’s varied information, but seems like the inkjet companies are beginning to tackle the smaller problems, like what happens when water runs across your disc. They seemed to have solved the main problems, so now they are reaching for niche markets, it looks like.

Inkjet Printable Vs. Thermal Printable – Which is best for you?

Waterproof Inkjet Disc Printing, Part One: The Smear Factor

Taiyo Yuden WaterShield Media Test

Verbatim Takes Printable Media to Next Level With New Glossy Inkjet Printable CDRs, DVD+/-Rs

_________________________
virtualscribe
http://www.sharingmyjoy.com

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