Which inkjet printer for on-cd/dvd?

[nzo]

Locally, the following printers are available:

Epson R210
Epson R310
Canon i865

Have you used any of these models and can you recommend one brand over the others?

Are the printed results waterproof? IOW, if someone with damp hands picks up the media, will the printed surface remain stable. If the inks are not waterproof, is there a surface treatment that will make it so.

Also, what's your advice on replacement inks, when the original inks in the printer run out.

PS: I don't want one of those $2000plus printers - that's beyond my reach.

Any help much appreciated!

Thank you ~ John

[lordsmurf]

If I were you, I would browse posts in the MEDIA forum. These things have been covered over and over and over and over again.

[iooi]

No the disks wont be waterproof in fact even damp hands can be enought to smudge the ink..... You can spray disks with a clear coating, but personally i dont think the hassel is worth the gain. Too much chance of spray getting on the wrong side and thats it you got a coaster.....
Never used any cannon's so cant say on them... but have a old epson 900. Which is a great printer for disks...
As you inks i have always found that compat carts are as good as the epson origonals but a hell of a lot cheaper...

[deck]

I think the canons have alot quicker drying time than the epson. I have the canon PIXMA IP3000 and they are dry instantly why i've seen plenty of people on here complain that even after 24 hours the ink is still wet on the epson. Though that gives no guarrantees that the canon your looking at will dry as quick as mine.

[offline]

There is no difference in the drying time between
Canon or Epson. Its a media and settings issue.

I see you are from NZ
Get the canon. The i865 does a great job and
you will save money on ink. If, however, you need
photo quality prints on photo paper - The Epson r200, the i965 or one of the replacement Pixma's with 6-7 colours is an option.

[Dosdan]

I'm from Australia. I see that only the Canon i865 is available in NZ. If I were you I would enquire from Canon in NZ when the next-generation replacements, the iP3000/iP4000, will be released. I have both. I originally bought the iP3000 (3 colour carts / 1 big black) and liked it but realised that for printing family photos the iP4000 is a better choice (3 colour carts + 1 small black cart / 1 big black) as it will give deeper blacks in photos (rather than the very dark grey of 3-colour only printers - the big black is only used for text).

So I gave the ip3000 to my young daughter and bought an iP4000 too. Both have:

* lovely duplexing
* relatively low purchase and running costs
* print well on CDs and DVDs
* very fast printing speed
* good print quality
* sheet feeder + 150 page tray. You could place A4 or 15cmx10cm (postcard) photo paper in one and plain paper in the other

Here's two reviews:
http://www.tomshardware.com/consumer/20041025/index.html

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/canon_ip4000.html - site unreachable at the moment but I think this is only temporary - this is a major site. The review is from the US where for some perverse reason they don't get disk printing in these models so you won't see it mentioned.

[nzo]

Many thanks for your replies folks

I did what lordsmurf suggested and read a lot under MEDIA.

Sounds like the i865 or ip3000 may be the way to go for starters.

The i865 is currently on special locally at $NZ 238 inc gst, and the Canon ip3000 $NZ 278.00 inc gst.

[Sifaga]

Ive had the i865 about 6 months now and its been great

Ive just started getting low on ink, genuine cartridges are about $20 each ive seen dodgey cartridges at the market for about $6 each, not sure yet what i'll get

i dont do photos at home so im thinking the dodgey ones would do me as long as they dont clogg up the nozzles on the printer

[jimmalenko]

Ive had the i865 about 6 months now and its been great

Ive just started getting low on ink, genuine cartridges are about $20 each ive seen dodgey cartridges at the market for about $6 each, not sure yet what i'll get

I've had mine for about 8 months, and I couldn't be happier. I buy my inks from a wholesaler and refill them myself - I got 500mls of black, photo black, and the three colours, 5 syringes and plugs for $260. You can do the math for their "street" value in cartridges.

[Goober57]

I'm from Australia.
So I gave the ip3000 to my young daughter and bought an iP4000 too. Both have:

* lovely duplexing
* relatively low purchase and running costs
* print well on CDs and DVDs
* very fast printing speed
* good print quality
* sheet feeder + 150 page tray. You could place A4 or 15cmx10cm (postcard) photo paper in one and plain paper in the other

This is really strange.

I live in the USA and have the ip4000 also. However, our version can't
print on DVDs!!!

I even looked at Canon's website. The US version can't but the UK
version can. (Didn't see an Australian version)

How do you load the DVDs into your ip4000?

______________

[jimmalenko]

Apparently there's a patent issue with Canon and Epson, such that Canon's products released in the Americas cannot print onto CDs/DVDs.

[Goober57]

Apparently there's a patent issue with Canon and Epson, such that Canon's products released in the Americas cannot print onto CDs/DVDs.

Thanks Jim.

I was curious.

_______________

[arklab]

I'm in the US also, but just HAD to get the Pixma, so I bought from a firm in the UK.
I can't really comment on it as yet as it is in transit as I write this.

I really have two points to make now, however.

1) You (in the US/Canada/"Americas") can get a Canon WITH CD/DVD Print, IF you are willing to PAY and WAIT.
Figure about twice what the equivlent Pixma costs in the US (which includes shipping).

2) Should you decide it's worth the cost and hassle, you should REALLY get to know the differences in the Pixma line, as they are many and profound.

I'm going to do some kind of review when mine gets here, but until then go to the UK Canon web site and download ALL the brochures and manuals (they are in PDF), and compair VERY carefully.

Good Luck!

[mccoady]

Arklab do you have any idea how much longer it will be before your Canon ip3000 arrives? If I decide to order a Ip4000 from T4 Cameras how do I go about doing it? How can I tell how much it would cost plus shipping?

[sync]

arklab, How will you deal with the power issues once you get the printer?

[hugabone]

The only issue I see with the power is they seem to run on 220v 50/60hz.

[Goober57]

He can check out this website..........

http://www.110220volts.com/power_converters_Voltage_Transformer.htm

That was just a quick Google search.
Converters seem to be reasonably priced!
_____________

[Dosdan]

Here is a picture of the Canon iP4000's disk caddy in use.



There is a drop-down flap that exposes a slot in the front of the printer. You put the caddy in and when instructed, push the caddy into the slot and then either click on the OK button of the CD label program or press the Online/Form Feed/Continue button on the printer (the way I usually do it). The caddy is then sucked into the slot and as it is printed it slowly comes out again. I didn't time it but I think it's around a minute.

[Goober57]

Yes, that's different than my USA version.

Looks like you can only load paper from the top.
The USA version can load from the top or bottom, and print
on both sides of the paper, instead of printing DVDs.

_________________

[Dosdan]

The iP4000 in Australia is the same as the US version except that it can print on disks as well. There is a bottom tray just visible in this photo and the iP3000/4000/5000 do duplex.

[arklab]

Quick update ... I'm still waiting for delivery, but I'm not really suprised.
Anybody ordering just about ANYTHING from just about ANYWHERE and using the CHEAPEST possible shipping method over the CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS has just got to be NUTS!
A position for which I am uniquely qualified. :P

As to power issues (UK 220v vs US 110), ether a transformer should work, or in my case I plan on replacing the UK built-in power supply with a US one - only $12 plus shipping.

As to obvious differences between US and UK (and Austrailan/New Zeland) versions there are NONE AT ALL save for the CD Print ability.

I'll have more when it gets here...

[jaxxboss]

arklab , would you kindly start a new thread when you post your findings. It would be easier to find. Im sure many of us are waiting jst as much as you are.

Goober57, u should have a piece of plastic covering the slot for ur dvd feed. its there, u just dont have a tray nor the software. Its been discussed , but no conclusion as to whether u could buy a tray and D/L the software and see if it will work. do u wanan be a gunni pig? lol

[arklab]

arklab , would you kindly start a new thread when you post your findings

Good idea, I will.
But it dosen't really make sense 'till I GET the darn thing!

Goober57, u should have a piece of plastic covering the slot for ur dvd feed. its there, u just dont have a tray nor the software. Its been discussed ....

I am still hoping to find a way to "convert / hack" the US to use the tray, however I found a review in UK that said some required parts/firmware are MISSING from the US Pixmas; therefore this may not be possible.
We'll darn well give it a try, though.

[scotty47]

I am wondering if anyone has played around with the inks when printing onto DVD's, I have the IP3000 and use Ridata inkjet printable disks, what I find( like a lot of others) the ink is not waterfroof and smugges easily for quite some time after printing ( I am thinking of the spraying process if need be ). My question to anyone with this printer, have you tried the photo ink cartridges that is offered and would it be better on the smooth surface of the disk. Thanks...........................scotty

[averyisiah]

ok,I have been looking into this for the past few weeks, I am in Canada, and Canon cd/dvd printers is only available in Europe, and to buy one on ebay from there after conmversion and shipping will equal over $300.00 at least. I love CAnon I have always had one and it broke my heart that I finally gave in and got the Epson R200 (same as R300). I only paid $100.00 for this at Office Depot. The canon ip4000 is more expensive yet the the only benifit of the Canon I have nociced after tons of research and review reading is speed. Now when it comes to quality, which is most important me. Epson is the way to go. I know Cnet gave it a bad review but they are a biased site, I check a independent photographic website and he compared the Pixma 5000, 2000, Epson R300(exactly the same as R200 but it has the Pic Bridge screen so you don't need the computer to print. A waste of money if u ask me.) LexmaRk Z816, Hp Photosmart and Epson C66Photo. After the complete test, which checked all printing, speed, text, photo, cd, etc... the R300 was considered the best quality, the pixma5000 was next. The speed of the R300 is slower but by a few seconds, which is not a big deal. But for the price, features, quality and price, the R300 is the way to go, the Epson R300 was in third when it came to overall costs of ink on a yearly basis and this was a diiference of only about .02 cents a page.
I just used it today and printed my first cd label, and HOLY SH!T it looked like a real DVD bought in the store, and the photos are ten times better then the Canon I850 that this replaced...so trust me when I say get the R200 if you want an awesome photo/Cd printer for a great price. I am happy I did not get the CAnon. The quality is better, the drying time is longer but the ink lasts longer than Canon & Hp and will not lose color, very important on all types of photos.
The ink for the Canon = $18.00 a cartridge and only $16.00 for th Epson, which really surprised me... so I hope this save u some time to decide what to get....

[kazen64]

Very interesting, im thinking of buying a new printer that could print on cd/dvd but wasnt sure at all, but what i really want is a multifunction printer, does anyone know a multifunction printer that also prints on cd/dvd, i cant seem to find any, btw im in australia.

[jimmalenko]

Very interesting, im thinking of buying a new printer that could print on cd/dvd but wasnt sure at all, but what i really want is a multifunction printer, does anyone know a multifunction printer that also prints on cd/dvd, i cant seem to find any, btw im in australia.

http://www.canon.com.au/products/all_in_one_printers/all_in_one_printers/mp780.html

Available for $475.20 from here

[ricky1756]

i have the epson r200. have printed over 300 covers without a problem. when the printer is done with the dvd just set it on a paper towel, let dry for a few hours, and then give it a light spray with clear acrylic. i've never had the acrylic get on the other side of the disc

[kazen64]

thanks for the help. jimmalenko, but is there anything else maybe in the $300 or less price range.

[kazen64]

Im also new to this clear gloss spraying thing, personally most of the dvds i make are anime dvds from fansubs resulting in a 6hour+ dvd, playing the whole thing makes alot of heat, is there a risk of the gloss melting and splattering all around inside my dvd player, or am i just paranoid?

oh yeah for u CIS lovers in australia check this site out
http://www.ausmedia.com.au/cis.htm#MULTI