Best CD/DVD Colour Printer

[Chris King]

I am looking at buying a printer capable of printing direct to CD/DVD.

I did a search on Google first, but the words I was using came back with a
load of emails that were not exactly the topic I was looking for.

Firstly..Which is the best printer to go for, and what printer model/make is
in your opinion the best, cheapest/dearest (so I have comparisons/pros and
cons).
Secondly: Cost of replacement cartridges, is there any printer where
cartridges are relatively inexpensive, and do you find that if you own this
printer, you tend to use up any specific colour quicker (except black which
I would think would be used more).

I have currently been looking at the Epson R200 and Epson R300, I have found
some good prices on the Epson R200, but am trying to see if there are any
other models avail, or cheaper printers that print direct to the CD/DVD.

I currenly have tubs of 50, 25 CDs/DVDs.. Do I need special DVDs/CDs to
print on, or are CDs / DVDs with "white" tops ok? some of my CDs are white
unprinted, others are coloured or have manufacturers details/names etc.

Currently I use very good software by ExpressIt, which has pre-cut labels
the size as DVDs/Cds, and a basic Epson C42 colour inkjet printer.

Any help is much appreciated


Chris

 

[Michael Doherty]

I can only comment on the Epson Stylus Photo 950.
I have had this printer since it was released and it is fantastic.
The only time I ever had any trouble with it was when I used compatible
inks. Simply replacing the compatibles with genuine Epson restored the
previous excellent behaviour.

I find that all cartridges are empty at roughly the same time. Obviously
Black Ink is used much more than any other, but the 950 has 2 black
cartridges.

You will need Inkjet Printable Media to use this printer. These are cheap
enough at sites like www.bigpockets.co.uk

This printer comes with Epson PrintCD.

You won't want this printer as it is not cheap, but I would expect the same
performance from the R200 and R300.

 

[Chris King]

Cheers Michael

I got my R200 yesterday, and took the plunge, whilst I could have bought it
online/cheaper from mail order, I just went and got it from PC World
(convenience).

Sales guy there was actually very helpful (scary for PC World!), not only
did he track the printer down on the shelves when I failed to find it, he
also gave me a black Epson cartridge free of charge (value £11.99), to
offset it against the "cheaper web price". i.e. Web Price £69.99 (not
including postage), and store price of £84.99. So it was more swings and
roundabouts as to the extra cost I paid. Then he helped me track down all
the PC World Compatible cartridge (E35-E40) - not used theirs before, but he
did say they had improved the quality of ink on them in the last few years
(typical sales speak I expect!), and also spent a long time with me checking
all the CDRs finding me a box of Inkjet Printable. This was one thing that
threw him, as he did not even know they existed - tut tut! However he learnt
something, and we did find a box of 10 for £6.99. Anyway, the printer is
brill, and I am running it alongside my C42 (since I have loads of spare ink
cartridges for it and can use it for more generic printing etc) I managed to
order a tub of Inkjet100 DVD+Rs for £20 (exc postage) and 50 Inkjet CDRs
for £10 (ex postage), and have now looked at the web address you posted..

This web site looks very good, and definately undercuts prices I have been
finding.. I assume you order from them yourself? If so what is your opinion?
Are they fast delivering? Any problems?
I do however see the compatible cartridges they sell for the Epson R200 are
just over £3 - reduced from £5.75 - WOW! I will definately go here in future
(just got my PC World set as spares). Only thing is the pic of the cartridge
is the wrong shape, but I assume they are just using a generic pic for the
web.

Many thanks for the web address!!

Chris

 

[Michael Doherty]

I often buy from PC World myself. They are so convenient, and, although very
rare, on occasion they are just as cheap if not cheaper than you can find on
the web. Their Media is always expensive though.

Yes I use BigPockets all the time and have never had any problem with them,
although I've never bought Ink from them (for ink I generally use
www.inkfactory.com). Whenever I order from BigPockets I get next day
delivery.

They use Generic pictures for Cartridges and CD's/DVD's, but you will get
the right product.

I hope you're going to be as happy with your new printer as I am with mine.

 

[Chris King]

Never had a local PC World until last year, our nearest was in Canterbury,
nice to get one in the home town, although in the past in my store, had a
distinct lack of staff, and staff that knew what you asked, either that or
they never had what I wanted (i.e. it was on the web site, but when you got
to the store it was sold out or not in that branch!). I suppose I was lucky
they had at least 10 Jewel Cases Inkjet CD-Rs, as least it has given me
10Cds, at least the rest are on order. Gosh I am going to have loads of
CDs/DVDs, as I already have 100DVD-Rs, 100CDRs, and 5 each of DVD-RW and
DVD+RW. At least I can use these up with lablels etc! I notice they now do a
good cheap range of PC Line CDRs etc, but not Inkjet printable though.

Looking at Inkfactory, I see their Jetec colour cartridges for the Epson are
about £10.99 (compared to Epsons own price in PC World at £11.99), and
whilst they are selling them as "buy one, get one free" on each colour, I
see Inkfactory are charging £14.99 for each original Epson R200.

I checked the R200 cartridges on BigPockets and found they had a whopping
saving on there.
Firstly they normally charged £5.75 for each colour, but were now selling
them at £3.15 to £3.70 each.
Plus they were selling them as a bundle of 6 cartridges with 1 extra black
one free (making 7 in total) for £18 (which included P&P / Delivery - Cost
is £15 inc vat with no delivery cost!).
I have ordered the set at £18, I will let you know how they perform, but it
might be a while since I have the supplied Epson ones in the printer new at
present.

Chris

 

[Michael Doherty]

Looking at Inkfactory, I see their Jetec colour cartridges for the Epson
are about £10.99 (compared to Epsons own price in PC World at £11.99), and
whilst they are selling them as "buy one, get one free" on each colour, I
see Inkfactory are charging £14.99 for each original Epson R200.

I checked the R200 cartridges on BigPockets and found they had a whopping
saving on there.
Firstly they normally charged £5.75 for each colour, but were now selling
them at £3.15 to £3.70 each.
Plus they were selling them as a bundle of 6 cartridges with 1 extra black
one free (making 7 in total) for £18 (which included P&P / Delivery -
Cost is £15 inc vat with no delivery cost!).
I have ordered the set at £18, I will let you know how they perform, but
it might be a while since I have the supplied Epson ones in the printer
new at present.

Chris

I realise that InkFactory are more expensive than BigPockets, but BigPockets
do not sell Genuine Epson cartridges, only compatibles. I have had trouble
with my prints when using compatibles, so now I only use genuine and that's
why I use InkFactory. I believe the ink used in your printer is Dye based,
whereas, my ink is Pigment based, so you may find that there is no real
difference between the compatible and the genuine cartridges. In fact there
are a lot of very happy compatible ink users around, and it's definately
worth a shot at using the cheaper cartridges since they have the potential
to save you a lot of money.

 

[DaisyCutter]

Chris,

I did have the same problem with expensive cartridges for my Epson R200
before.
Even I bought OEM one, it is still expensive.

I have very good experience with some bulk ink system I obtained from
http://www.InkRepublic.com

It really saves me a lot!

I have heard that some bulk ink system is not good for printer, that's
because of the sponged system, but InkRepublic.com's kit is spongeless
which also doesnt cause the clogging or leaking. (of course, you have
to do the head cleaning once a while)

Check it out then:
http://www.InkRepublic.com
http://www.inkrepublic.com/VideoClips.asp
http://www.inkrepublic.com/Installation.asp