Best Inkjet Printer for Direct CD and DVD Labeling?

[cmashieldscapting]

What is considered the best inkjet printer for disks designed for
direct labeling by printing on the disk's surface? Thanks for any help
or advice.

Cori

 

[Mark²]

What is considered the best inkjet printer for disks designed for
direct labeling by printing on the disk's surface? Thanks for any
help or advice.

Cori

My opinion:
Rimage 480i
http://www.rimage.com/products_detail_objectname_pr_rimage_480i.html

For cheap...Epson 300, or similar comes with a CD tray and works fairly
well.
The color vibrance of the Rimage leaves it in the dust, though.

I have the 480i printer, but its built in to the Rimage 2000i, which is an
automated CD/DVD duplication/labeling system.
http://www.rimage.com/products_detail_objectname_pr_rimage_2000i.html

-Mark²

 

[John H.]

I have the epson r200 that does a great job of printing on cds/dvds
John H.

 

[zakezuke]

What is considered the best inkjet printer for disks designed for

direct labeling by printing on the disk's surface? Thanks for any help
or advice.

If you are talking consumer inkjets, you have a choice between Epson or
Canon. If your in the states you'd have to e-bay a tray and press
buttons.

Technicaly I prefered the Epson in terms of color rendering and ability
to look pretty good on most media including verbatium silver discs. I
switched to canon as I found it to be more reliable. I have yet to
really try out my ip5200 but I would suspect the same is true.
Costo's TDKs seem to be the best media for canon though not full faced.
I believe RiData are the makers of the silvers which worked best in
the Canon but i'm not sure on that note.

 

[cmashieldscapting]

If you are talking consumer inkjets, you have a choice between Epson or
Canon. If your in the states you'd have to e-bay a tray and press
buttons.

It's for my own in-home use, to make copies for myself, family, and
friends, not professional copies on a large scale. Thanks.

Cori

 

[cmashieldscapting]

If you are talking consumer inkjets, you have a choice between Epson or
Canon.

Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place, but I checked Canon's site and
didn't see any products mentioning the ability to print an image
directly to a disk surface:
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ProductCatIndexAct&fcategoryid=105

Cori

 

[zakezuke]

Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place, but I checked Canon's site and
didn't see any products mentioning the ability to print an image
directly to a disk surface:

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ProductCatIndexAct&fcategoryid=105

The feature is not enabled on North American models, nor does it
function out of the box, but if you e-bay a tray (just search for canon
cd tray) and enabled the feature (press buttons) it will do it. Oh,
and pull a piece of plastic off the front.

http://pixma.allhyper.com/
http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Pro...ex.asp?ComponentID=25152&SourcePageID=25108#2

It'll cost you an extra $20 or $30 or so above and beyond the cost of
the printer. This makes even an ip4200 more spendy than a base model
r200.. but certainly a more reliable product and definatly the better
general purpose printer.

 

[Oldus Fartus]

Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place, but I checked Canon's site and
didn't see any products mentioning the ability to print an image
directly to a disk surface:
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ProductCatIndexAct&fcategoryid=105

Cori

Yes, as I mentioned in another post, I believe the Canon range of CD/DVD
printers are not available in the US.

Fortunately here in Australia we have various Canon models which can do
this .. see
http://canon.com.au/products/home_office/printers/colour_bj_printers/ip4200.html
for just one example.

 

[Don Stauffer]

What is considered the best inkjet printer for disks designed for
direct labeling by printing on the disk's surface? Thanks for any help
or advice.

Cori

Can't say which is BEST, I only have one. However, we bought the Epson
R200 for that purpose. It is a great printer. We have now set it as our
default color printer. The printing on disks is amazing.

We started out providing DVDs to a group, with one dozen disks with the
paste-on labels. Ten of twelve have now been returned as unplayable.
We have had none of the inkjet printable ones returned. It IS a bit
harder finding blank DVDs with the printable coating, so we buy in large
quantity.

Registration is great, printing is great. We love it.

 

[Jan Alter]

For the past year I've been using an Epson R1800 to make at least a 100
printed DVDs and it's worked very nicely. The R1800 is the wide version of
the R800 (which will also print CDs). The comparitive difference in price of
the R200 to the R800 is substantial.

 

[measekite]

zakezuke wrote:

need to buy an epson so you do not have a mickey mouse printer.

 

[zakezuke]

For the past year I've been using an Epson R1800 to make at least a 100
printed DVDs and it's worked very nicely. The R1800 is the wide version of
the R800 (which will also print CDs). The comparitive difference in price of
the R200 to the R800 is substantial.

If your in the states, the epson store offers referb r800s for $199
with free shipping, and it looks like the referb r200 is back in stock
for $59. The referb r200 is less than the ink.

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/BuyEpson/ccHome.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes

 

[zakezuke]

zakezuke wrote:

It's for my own in-home use, to make copies for myself, family, and
friends, not professional copies on a large scale. Thanks.

Cori

I'd lean tward Canon. They won't waste as much ink, the build quality
is good, and it's the better general purpose printer. The major
advantage to the canon line is they have more options for printers
which will print on CDs, though not out of the box in north america the
feature is easily enabled. Expect to spend about $100-$120 currently
though it's still onsale for about $80ish shipped from newegg.com or
amazon.com . The ip5200 is the next step up and floats at about
$150ish, amazon.com seems to have the best price. It's basicly an
ip4200 but with a larger head and more weight. The ip5200 also comes
in a wireless model (ip5200R). A pure photo printer is next up, the
ip6600D feauring card slots and a screen, 6 tanks but you lose the
large pigmented black. Not so good for text, and cost per print will
increase because any printer which offers light cyan/magenta uses the
ink like candy.

Also in the Canon line are their all in one units MP500 MP800
MP830(fax/sheet feeder) MP950. ranging in price from about $220 to
$450 or so. The mp950 is based on the ip7500, a model not sold outside
of japan. It features the 6 tanks of the ip6600 plus the pigmented
black of the ip4200/5200. The older mp780(fax/sheet feeder) is still
sold for $300ish and can stll use aftermarket ink with ease.

All of these require purchace of a tray off e-bay, yanking of a front
panel, and some well documented button presses.
http://pixma.allhyper.com/

----

Epson, in all fairness, only offers cd printing on their photo
printers, and one multi fuctional (rx700) the last time I checked. If
you consider an epson, consider an external waste ink tank. It needs
it.
http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=51595&forum_id=40
The models which print on CDs are limited to the R2x0, R3x0, R800,
R1800, R2400.
In all firness the r2x0 tends to be sub $100, or $59 for the referb
edition ($10ish less than the ink costs and free shipping) and is a top
notch photo printer, The r3x0 offers card slots and a screen. The
r800 is their base pigment ink printer, the prints will last an age
over dye models, and is $199 for a referb at the epson store.

 

[cmashieldscapting]

Thanks for clearing that up about the Canons. I wonder why that is
that they are not sold in the U. S. all ready to print CDs. That would
make me lean towards an Epson as it (the RX700) is (sold already
enabled to print CDs plus do a lot of other things I need as well as
some I don't), but if the Canon wastes less ink and the ink is more
economical I would lean towards a Canon.

Why would I have to buy a CD tray for a Canon off eBay? Doesn't
Amazon.com or any of these computer parts stores sell them?

Cori

 

[cmashieldscapting]

The first five of these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...13&Submit=ENE&Manufactory=1213&SubCategory=38
are all under $100.00. Would any of them work for this purpose with a
CD tray and what should I expect to pay for a tray?

(I suppose a CD tray for the Epson Stylus Photo RX500 I already have is
absolutely out of the question?)

Cori

 

[zakezuke]

Thanks for clearing that up about the Canons. I wonder why that is
that they are not sold in the U. S. all ready to print CDs. That would
make me lean towards an Epson as it (the RX700) is (sold already
enabled to print CDs plus do a lot of other things I need as well as
some I don't), but if the Canon wastes less ink and the ink is more
economical I would lean towards a Canon.

Why would I have to buy a CD tray for a Canon off eBay? Doesn't
Amazon.com or any of these computer parts stores sell them?

From my understanding, it's a licensing issue with Philips... as in

Canon would have to pay money for this feature to be used in America,
Canon for what ever reason doesn't want to pay it, so the feature is
not enabled. There were a varity of mainstream parts dealers who
carried this part but, according to 2nd hand info, were asked by canon
not to. In fact you could order this part from Canon for a short time
december 2005, but they stopped selling it.

You gotta go e-bay because to get this part, some joe has to buy it
overseas, or you buy from some joe overseas. It's like a $5.00 to
$7.00 part sold for $20 to $30. While Canon can ask Partsnow or Amazon
to not sell this item, they can't ask regular joe to not sell it.

You can go with the rx700 if you like. It supports this feature out of
the box and there is a new Epson tray which from my understanding
actually works longer without failing. There is a $100 rebate on it so
you could get one for the $300 range. There is an obvious benifit to
the rx700 over the r2x0/r3x0 series in the fact it uses smaller drops.
IIRC this printer supports scan to memory card, a handy feature. It
will waste ink, and unless there is a means to reroute the waste ink
tube you will have to get it serviced to replace the waste pads.

If price is no object, the mp950 does photos *well* and offers lower
cost text printing. The rx700 in all fairness is purely a photo
printer. The price mark is about the same.

I would reccomend you take your digital camera down to your friendly
neighborhood shop and print off a couple of test images using either
your favorite paper, or the OEM reccomended paper and judge for your
self. If all in ones are your back, do checkout the rx700, the mp800
or the wireless edition mp800R, and the mp950. They will usually agree
so long as you leave your prints there.

 

[unrecoveredchocoholic]

Since it looks like you need only light duty, the Epson R220 (or its
ilk) may be a good bet. I got one when it was on sale and used it to
print a few dozen DVDs and CDs with very good results. I also got
gorgeous photographs on Kodak Ultima paper. There are some downsides.
One is that the longevity of the printer is questionable--but when you
consider that on sale the printer costs about the same as a full set of
ink cartridges, and it comes with a full set that changes the outlook.
Another downside is that it will only print CDs/DVDs from its own
software which has some nice features but is a little clunky. It also
requires installing a memory hogging application on your computer, but
at least that is much less invasive and bloated than, say, the crapware
that HP printers require you to install. Finally, the ink is not
waterproof and runs easily. On the plus side, the printer is cheap, the
ink is only moderately overpriced, the printing is gorgeous for the
price, it comes ready to print CDs out of the box (and even with a
practice disk!) and it is very easy to use. As for waterproofness, I
experimented with fixing spray (the kind you buy in art supplies store
to fix pastels) and I got excellent results, by being extra careful to
spray evenly and lightly.

 

[zakezuke]

The first five of these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...13&Submit=ENE&Manufactory=1213&SubCategory=38
are all under $100.00. Would any of them work for this purpose with a
CD tray and what should I expect to pay for a tray?

(I suppose a CD tray for the Epson Stylus Photo RX500 I already have is
absolutely out of the question?)

A cd tray for the rx500 is out of the question.
On this page, your options are limited to
ip4200, ip5200, ip6600D (tray type C, though B is known to work, but do
get C), mp500 , mp800/mp800R, mp950.(tray type D)

The sub $70 models don't support this feature, and are not ecconomical
at all, as is the case with their MP models mp450 and lower.

 

[J. Clarke]

I'd lean tward Canon. They won't waste as much ink, the build quality
is good, and it's the better general purpose printer.

In what way is Canon "the better general purpose printer"?

The major
advantage to the canon line is they have more options for printers
which will print on CDs, though not out of the box in north america the
feature is easily enabled. Expect to spend about $100-$120 currently
though it's still onsale for about $80ish shipped from newegg.com or
amazon.com . The ip5200 is the next step up and floats at about
$150ish, amazon.com seems to have the best price. It's basicly an
ip4200 but with a larger head and more weight. The ip5200 also comes
in a wireless model (ip5200R). A pure photo printer is next up, the
ip6600D feauring card slots and a screen, 6 tanks but you lose the
large pigmented black. Not so good for text, and cost per print will
increase because any printer which offers light cyan/magenta uses the
ink like candy.

Also in the Canon line are their all in one units MP500 MP800
MP830(fax/sheet feeder) MP950. ranging in price from about $220 to
$450 or so. The mp950 is based on the ip7500, a model not sold outside
of japan. It features the 6 tanks of the ip6600 plus the pigmented
black of the ip4200/5200. The older mp780(fax/sheet feeder) is still
sold for $300ish and can stll use aftermarket ink with ease.

All of these require purchace of a tray off e-bay, yanking of a front
panel, and some well documented button presses.
http://pixma.allhyper.com/

----

Epson, in all fairness, only offers cd printing on their photo
printers, and one multi fuctional (rx700) the last time I checked. If
you consider an epson, consider an external waste ink tank. It needs
it.
http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=51595&forum_id=40
The models which print on CDs are limited to the R2x0, R3x0, R800,
R1800, R2400.

Are you sure the 2400 prints CDs? I can't find anything about it on the
Epson site.

 

[J. Clarke]

Thanks for clearing that up about the Canons. I wonder why that is
that they are not sold in the U. S. all ready to print CDs.

There is a legal issue. I don't recall the details offhand but Epson has
relevant intellectual property rights in the US that would require that
Canon pay them a license fee that Canon chooses not to pay.

That would
make me lean towards an Epson as it (the RX700) is (sold already
enabled to print CDs plus do a lot of other things I need as well as
some I don't), but if the Canon wastes less ink and the ink is more
economical I would lean towards a Canon.

Why would I have to buy a CD tray for a Canon off eBay? Doesn't
Amazon.com or any of these computer parts stores sell them?

They're gray market, either purchased outside the US or removed from dead
printers, they aren't something that Canon puts in a box to be sold in the
US, lest they incur the wrath Epson's lawyers.

MITI really should beat some heads together over that one.