Hi, I am in the market for a printer that will print reasonably nice on
disks. I have been using a laser printer and stick-on labels and that is
somewhat problematic and the results are a bit unprofessional looking as
well.

I've seen some printers that cost upwards of a thousand $ and I have alo
seen robotic systems (that also cost a lot), neither of which I can afford
nor need. I'm hoping to find something inexpensive. One model of printer
that I've seen is the Epson Stylus R280.. that is actually under $100. If
that is a good unit I may get that but I can go a bit higher than that if
there is something a little more "middle of the road". I would also like it
to be capable of printing on paper as well, rather than a dedicated disk
printer.

Any experience and advice is appreciated.

Thank you,
sailor

"sailor" <lost@sea.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9A8556C2731FBlostseacom@130.81.64.196...
| Hi, I am in the market for a printer that will print reasonably nice on
| disks. I have been using a laser printer and stick-on labels and that is
| somewhat problematic and the results are a bit unprofessional looking as
| well.
|
| I've seen some printers that cost upwards of a thousand $ and I have alo
| seen robotic systems (that also cost a lot), neither of which I can afford
| nor need. I'm hoping to find something inexpensive. One model of printer
| that I've seen is the Epson Stylus R280.. that is actually under $100. If
| that is a good unit I may get that but I can go a bit higher than that if
| there is something a little more "middle of the road". I would also like
it
| to be capable of printing on paper as well, rather than a dedicated disk
| printer.
|

I've been using the Epson R220 for several years now with very satisfactory
results.

Steve King

In article <Xns9A8556C2731FBlostseacom@130.81.64.196>,
sailor <lost@sea.com> wrote:
I bought an Epson R200 a few years back. I made the error of buying
refilled ink cartridges which clogged the print heads after a couple
of sets. Before that, I was happy with the results on discs. After
that one I bought a R280 which I still have. I've been buying Epson
branded ink on Ebay even though it is more expensive than the refills/
So far the R280 has held up. I'm pleased with the disc printing from
it and it prints well on paper for a $100 printer even at the higher
quality levels. Occasionally the disc feed tray gets out of sync and
I need to power off/on the printer to settle it down. The software
that comes with it for control and monitoring seems to work as needed.

There's a quirk with the OS X driver that requires the default paper
size to be reset to "A4" rather than the default "letter" size or
else some of the printing options are not available, notably "disc"

I'm not sure if that quirk exists with other drivers as well...
I've been using a product called "Discus" to lay out the art and text
for the discs, and have been pleased with it as well. Version 3.12
seems to work better for me than the newer version 4.

"sailor" wrote ...
I've been using an Epson R300 now for 4-5 years.
Printed hundreds of discs over that period of time.
I use a continuous ink retro-fit system to make
printing costs reasonable. I bought the ink system
from a guy in HongKong on eBay. (Shipping from
HK is frequently faster than across town!)
This guy: http://stores.ebay.com/JLWsales

sailor wrote:
been using canon printers, never had a problem - great printing. only
problem is they have chips on the ink cartridges so no 'generic' cheap
ones. then again, when i did use cheap replacements, the printing never
look as vibrant....

On Apr 19, 7:30*am, sailor <l...@sea.com> wrote:
I have the R220 at home and the RX680 all-in-one on my desk at work.
I am very happy with both. We also use the Epsons in the office for
those who prepare printable CDs and DVDs for clients.

As a side note, my local SAM's Club has started stocking Verbatim
printable DVD-Rs again, 100 for $30.00. Woo Hoo!

Cheers...

On Apr 19, 5:30*am, sailor <l...@sea.com> wrote:
I've used Epson 200 series and the 300. The early models had problems
with slippage with the DVD tray. I used both Epson and 3rd party ink
with good results. I finally got tired of nudging the trays and
purchased a Canon ip4200. The US model is crippled so they don't have
to pay royalty for printing on discs, but Google and you'll find
instructions to enter the service area of the firmware, then change to
New Zealand model. Instructions to make your own tray (from
posterboard) are also included, which I did with good results, but
still purchased a professional Canon tray which is better build
quality. While the Canon uses a chip only available on their
cartridges, I purchased 3rd party, remove the old chips and stick them
onto the replacement units. Gotta work with the Canon software for a
couple minutes, then it relents and prints. Personally, I like the
Canon over the Epson printers as the tray has not slipped a bit.
Quality of print was good with both, I prefer the Canon. I print
about 1,000+ discs a year. The Epson units lasted 1-1.5 years before
having problems. For software, both companies didn't have great
stuff. I now use Acoustica which has a lot of flexibility and works
well. Now I print cheap, high quality. Eventually I'd like to go to
robotic, but they are expensive and require proprietary ink cartridges
which I haven't seen replacements for. With the Canon, I have it
beside my workstation and can continue using the computer for other
programs, occasionally interrupted to change discs. That, combined
with my 7 unit duplicator, makes for a very efficient process. Then I
buy 7mm thin cases (take up less space), print wrappers, and have a
professional looking presentation. I use only Taiyo Yuden media,
usually around $0.35 each on sale as they are consistently good
quality and stopped all my problems of playing on all the different
DVD players out there. Ritek/Ridata are also good choices. Verbatim
is fair. Memorex is worst as they buy from cheapest provider and
change sources every week with inconsistent results. My total cost is
under $1 (sometimes under $0.75), with ink, which can be a major
factor with brand name cartridges, and shipping of ink and media.
With Canon I found the amount of ink in the cartridge is about 1/3
with Canon brand compared to 3rd party (eBay provider); more $$, less
ink. I've only been doing this for 7 years (3 Epson printers, 1
Canon), however, so experience is limited. All printers also print on
paper.

Scubajam wrote:
very much my own experience too. however, i relented and buy canon
replacement cartridges, i just can't be f'ed pissing around with the
chips then arguing with the bloody software ;-)

leslie

In article <du-dneEGpfJ-bJTVnZ2dnUVZ_jOdnZ2d@comcast.com>,
"Steve King" <steveSPAMBLOCK@stevekingSPAMBLOCK.net> wrote:

I've been through 4 Epson 200 series printers.

When the last one's disc tray got screwed up (the clear plastic feed
strips on the end of the tray got mangled and came off) I wanted to try
something different.

So I went with the new DYMO DiscPainter.

So far I'm VERY satisfied.

It 's a LOT smaller than a full sized printer. There's no disc tray to
hassle with. It uses a single cartridge 3 color ink cartridge which runs
about $40 and I haven't had to change it yet and I'm about 50 discs into
using it with many of them "full coverage" labels.

There's no long "get ready" cycle which was typical with the Epson.

I'd judge the print quality GOOD - not EXCELLENT - but GOOD. Easily good
enough for client proofs which is what I typically use it for.

It spins the disc as it prints, so there's no "carriage return motion"
like with the more traditional printers, so I'm hopeful that it will be
more mechanically robust.

I'd judge the speed as Better than my old Epson system, particularly
since there's no prep or "find and insert the tray" time.

It ran about $300 from a mail order outfit.

So far so good.

You guys might want to check it out if you get tired of using the
multi-purpose Office Printer style rigs but don't want to invest in the
much more expensive Primera engine units.