Printer for CDs/DVDs?

[Kov-Ice]

Epson and Primera seem to be the only makers to tap this market. Epson seems to have expensive and rapidly disappearing ink, if you read the reviews. Primera makes mostly higher end, expensive stuff.

Is Epson really that bad for ink usage?

Are Primera's lower priced home units low quality?

It seems HP makes THIS ONE (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16828104523). Any thoughts on it, and do they have any others worth looking at?

Thx.

[not important]

I have two of the Epson R220's and they use the inks very conservatively. I use them to print on DVD's. Cartridges can be purchased online at a very reasonable cost. I get mine at Meritline (http://meritline.stores.yahoo.net/epson-stylus-photo-r220-inkjet-cartridge.html) for about $5 per cartridge and they run specials on a regular basis.

[Kov-Ice]

Thanks for the reply. All newegg has is the Epson R260 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16828103071). I usually take the reviews with a grain of salt, but there are a couple that rip the 260 (one in comparison to the 220), and several gripe about its use of ink. I will print discs in bunches at times, so if ink is inordinately expensive I'd want to avoid that. Has anyone experienced that aspect of use?

I already have a good all-in-one that does everything I need it to do... except print to discs. So really, that's my only reason for looking into this.

not imp, have you had lots of experience with Meritline? They appear to be waiting for the R260 cartridges, but if I need ink they're solid? They have a 6-pack listed at @ $18 on sale, while newegg charges nearly that much for one color cartridge plus shipping... what gives?

[Hi Ho]

I just bought a Canon Pixma 6700D (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16828102034) and I love it. It prints amazing photos at amazing speeds. It also prints on CD's, though not officially in the US.

I followed the directions HERE (http://pixma.damnmachine.com/137/2006/10/28/canon-mp500-mp800-mp830-mp950-and-ip6600.html) and bought CD Tray C on Ebay for $20 including shipping. I couldn't be happier with the results. I am using Verbatim inkjet printable media.

[Kov-Ice]

Hi Ho, so you modded your printer? hehe, that's cool. Dunno if I'd go that route. I don't really need the photo-printing capabilities of something that nice, as what I have does well for the few photos I print at home. That may be a little expensive for a printer dedicated to labeling discs.

The Verbatim is one of the better media to get, tho, isn't it?

[Hi Ho]

The Verbatim is one of the better media to get, tho, isn't it?
Verbatim and Taiyo Yuden make the best media aout there, in my opinion.

[not important]

not imp, have you had lots of experience with Meritline? They appear to be waiting for the R260 cartridges, but if I need ink they're solid? They have a 6-pack listed at @ $18 on sale, while newegg charges nearly that much for one color cartridge plus shipping... what gives?

I have purchased cartridges twice from Meritline. The first time was the 6/$18 deal and the last was a 48/$30 deal. I have also purchased Verbatim "Print to Hub" +R media from them. They have been a reliable vendor for me.

[glc]

Staples has the R220 in stock.

[Kov-Ice]

OK, here's what I've boiled down to...

I've found an R220 from an amazon.com Marketplace seller. They've got a good feedback rating, but the printer would be around $135 plus $12-15 shipping.

BestBuy has the R260 on sale until the weekend. It's normally $130, but it has a $55 instant rebate. I can pick that up in-store, so it's half the price of the R220 (incl. shipping).

Is the R260 enough of a dog (or is the R220 good enough) to justify that? What do you all think?

[glc]

Hmm - after doing some research, the R220 does a decent job without totally killing you on ink, the R260 does a beautiful job but ink costs are a disaster. The refilled cartridges and continuous inking systems for the R260 aren't here quite yet. This is probably why the prices are so high for the R220 and why they are already dumping the R260. A lot of places are listing it for around $75.

However, I found this:

http://www.shopping.hp.com/store/product/product_detail/Q7091A%2523ABA/1?jumpid=in_r329_personalization/browse1/home_PDP

It uses the same cartridges as a lot of other HP's, 3rd party carts and refill kits are widely available. Only downside is the color cart is a tricolor.

[jayb1234]

Have you considered a Lightscribe burner? No printer or ink needed, so no worries about ink drying out, but disks are more expensive than regular ones and the printing is monochromatic instead of full color?

[Kov-Ice]

The reason for the printer is to label DVDs I produce, like wedding and sports highlight videos. I was using stickers (ugh!), but that's obviously not the best long-term or otherwise.

Lightscribe just wouldn't look as sharp as I'd like, and it's awfully slow.

[Stuey]

I just bought a Canon Pixma 6700D (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16828102034) and I love it. It prints amazing photos at amazing speeds. It also prints on CD's, though not officially in the US.

I followed the directions HERE (http://pixma.damnmachine.com/137/2006/10/28/canon-mp500-mp800-mp830-mp950-and-ip6600.html) and bought CD Tray C on Ebay for $20 including shipping. I couldn't be happier with the results. I am using Verbatim inkjet printable media.
When I bought my Canon printer last year I knew that European versions could print onto CDs. I never would have thought that US versions could be modded to do the same. I'm going to look into that link you provided. Thanks!

[KnightCrawler]

Hi Ho, so you modded your printer? hehe, that's cool. Dunno if I'd go that route. I don't really need the photo-printing capabilities of something that nice, as what I have does well for the few photos I print at home. That may be a little expensive for a printer dedicated to labeling discs.

The Verbatim is one of the better media to get, tho, isn't it?

If your looking for cheap and yet want more ink mileage I'd recommend the Canon IP4300. It can be bought for $50 when on sale and prints great cd's and dvd's.

I recommend TY watershield media, they are great but they do cost more: http://www.rima.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=R&Product_Code=1778-50&Category_Code=DMRTY

[glc]

Hmm - follow Hi Ho's link - it looks like a whole bunch of Canons can be modded with the Euro CD trays. Looks like the IP4300 takes Tray F.

[not important]

Stuey
I see the refill cartridges are $12 apiece on Newegg. Do they have a long life and have you found any cheaper prices for them?

[Stuey]

I use the Cli-8 ink and I'm not sure which black ink.

Office Depot sells them in-store for $43 for all four photo inks and $25 for two black text inks. Every now and then they have a $10 off $50 coupon and that makes it even lower. I believe Best Buy has the 4 pack for $45 or so, or at least every now and then it's on sale for that price.

Don't forget that Newegg charges shipping on the ink. For about $13 a cartridge, you can always buy them separately if you print photos and images casually.

Also, don't replace the cartridges once you get a low ink warning - I can usually squeeze a lot more out of them. Staples and I believe OD stopped offering $3 coupons for Canon ink cartridges, so there's no discount there. BUY.com has the bundle for $47 or so after shipping.

I just stock up when I have a coupon to use, but in the long run I pick them up for $14 a piece or so at the local electronics/office supply store. The wholesale club near me hasn't offered these inks yet, so I'm afraid these are the best prices out there.

The cartridge lives are pretty long, and I'm quite the fan of the multifunction photo printers since they have a black cartridge for text and one for photos. In one year of moderate printing, I have not yet needed to replace the printhead either.