Son's summer video conversion biz question - DVD label printing...

[Markiscool]

Another nod to Epson here. That R200 is the best printer I've ever had. The Printed Discs look WONDERFUL as well.


-M

[mjgkramer]

I also recommend printing on the disks rather than on labels. Some CD and DVD players don't like the labels and will refuse to play them. There is the chance of a label coming off, for example if a CD is left in the car player on a hot day. And there is the extra step of putting the CD on the alignment jig and applying the label.

I have had three Epson R-series printers and consider them junk. Unless they have changed their design, the carrier has a thin clear plastic leading edge that is very tender and if bent in any way gives problems printing. Two of the printers developed a problem with the mechanism that ran the disks in and out. Of course they always failed in the middle of printing on a large time critical batch of CDs such as the Christmas CD we send out each year (with legal music should anyone wonder).

Unfortunately Epson has the patent on CD printing printers in the US, but there is a very good alternative. Certain of the Canon Pixma printers can be easily modified to print on CDs and DVDs and are a lot more robust than the Epsons. I have a Canon Pixma iP6700D that cost $100 or so from Buy.com and am extremely pleased with it.

The disk carriers for Canon can be bought from eBay sellers for $20 or so with instructions. All you have to do is pop off the cover hiding the slot where the carrier goes in and out and put the printer in technician mode and tell it that it is a European model. This of course voids the warranty and there is some risk that you might screw it up but the results are worth taking the chance. The crucial thing is to get a Canon printer that can be modified. Here is a link that gives the printer models that can be modified and instructions on how to do it.

http://www.cameratown.com/articles/canon...inting.cfm

Here is the eBay link for conversion kits.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=canon+tray&category0=

Canon offers free label printing software but I had trouble getting it to work. Instead I use an application called Discus. Here is a link for it.

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/7501

Finally a word on printable CDs and DVDs. Be sure to get hub-printable ones. There are a number of sources, but I usually buy from meritline.com or supermediastore.com.

[voodoopenguin]

[quote mjgkramer]

I have had three Epson R-series printers and consider them junk. Unless they have changed their design, the carrier has a thin clear plastic leading edge that is very tender and if bent in any way gives problems printing.
Sorry you appear to have had problems but I bought my R200 about the time it first came out and recently estimated that I must have printed at least 1000 discs. I've mostly used non-Epson ink as well and it's as good as ever.

[mjgkramer]

If I had had bad experience with just one of them I would have just considered it an isolated problem but I had three bad ones which I blamed on both poor design and poor quality. Toward the end I bought an open box Epson from Radio Shack as a spare and experienced no more problems as is often the case. After I bought the Canon iP6700D I sold the Epson on Craigslist. I have been very pleased with the print quality, the solid design, and features of the Canon. As a result of my poor experience with those three Epson printers, I would never consider buying another Epson of any kind.

[bhaveshp]

Wow... thanks all for the input.

Seems like the overwhelming consensus is to avoid labels & go with direct print. That is probably over budget for the ~50 dvd's I expect he'll get, but maybe I'll spring for the printer for family use.

I've avoided epsons printers as I've had two clog up on me over many years, but at $100 it is not a huge investment if the results are good. I'll also check out the canon workaround as well.

[rz]

I see brand new Epson R2xx printers on Craigslist for $25 all the time. Anymore, if you buy a digital camera in the big box stores, you get a free printer. Most people just turn around and sell them since they already have a printer they like. So many people got the Epsons last Christmas that there seems to be a flood of them, hence the cheap price. I have an R300 that I use occasionally for printing onto CD/DVD's, and I have an R280 that's still in the box, just in case the R300 dies.

[BigGuynRusty]

Epson Stylus Photo R280 - Refurbished.:
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consu...Cookie=yes&oid=63074510
SixtyFive Bux.

BGnR

[bhaveshp]

Thanks rz. Just checked Craigslist and there are a bunch of R280's available new in box for ~$50 locally. Will probably pick one of these up.

[M>B>]

I would look at and bookmark this place...

http://www.cdrfaq.org/

More information then you would ever need to know!