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  1. Member
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    Hi guys, I haven't been on this forum for a few years and am looking at different options for printing to DVD. Back when I was printing discs I used to use a Canon ip4000 printer. That stopped working and I am now in the market for an all in one but have read that Epson print heads are narrower and are more likely to block. In the UK at the moment Canon all in ones with disc printing seem to be more expensive, but printers like the Epson Expression XP625 sometimes come down in price.

    As I am typing this thread I have Googled lightscribe, but I need professional looking discs and don't know what quality to expect from alternatives to the inkjet printers. Any suggestions would be welcome.
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  2. Member
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    I use Epson all-in-one printers to print directly to DVD and Blu-ray. As I wear one printer out I buy another Epson. Haven't had any major problems with them clogging. They do, on occasion, require a print head cleaning cycle when ink drys, but that has never been a problem. I wouldn't use any other inkjet printer.
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  3. Mod Neophyte Super Moderator redwudz's Avatar
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    I have a Epson Artisan 725 that can print to disc and I've used it for about a year and a half with zero problems. I like it.
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  4. Member
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    And do you guys ever use the replacement ink cartridges from ebay or only the OEM original ones. I am not sure what my business income might be at the moment so am anticipating I might need to use the ebay ones.
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  5. Member hech54's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by franco View Post
    And do you guys ever use the replacement ink cartridges from ebay or only the OEM original ones. I am not sure what my business income might be at the moment so am anticipating I might need to use the ebay ones.
    EBAY doesn't make ink cartridges.
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  6. Originally Posted by hech54 View Post
    EBAY doesn't make ink cartridges.
    You know very well what he meant.
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  7. Member
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    Originally Posted by mike20021969 View Post
    You know very well what he meant.
    I don't remember any wise guys on this forum back in 2002.
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  8. Member hech54's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by mike20021969 View Post
    Originally Posted by hech54 View Post
    EBAY doesn't make ink cartridges.
    You know very well what he meant.
    Well....if the value of cutting to the chase and asking "Which aftermarket printer cartridge manufacturers have a good reputation?" is lost on people....not much you can do about that then. All I know is that the answer won't be "Ebay".
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  9. Member
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    Originally Posted by hech54 View Post
    Originally Posted by mike20021969 View Post
    Originally Posted by hech54 View Post
    EBAY doesn't make ink cartridges.
    You know very well what he meant.
    Well....if the value of cutting to the chase and asking "Which aftermarket printer cartridge manufacturers have a good reputation?" is lost on people....not much you can do about that then. All I know is that the answer won't be "Ebay".
    Well, thanks for that. I had guessed you were annoyed people weren't buying the original cartridges for some reason. I had bought them from different sources for the Canon Pixma, but I suppose I was here mainly to find views on the Epsom and alternatives for printing. Good advice though. I will look somewhere aparet from ebay when I do get a printer.
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  10. Member hech54's Avatar
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    Again you are missing the point. Many retail stores also sell (or used to) sell through Ebay. You are not buying an Epson printer from Ebay, you are buying an Epson from a known, reputable seller(retailer) who just happens to be using Ebay.
    You may also be buying from a scammer who sells you a burned up toaster oven in an Epson box......either way you are not buying from Ebay.

    I bought a my Nikon D90 through Ebay via Nikon Munich:
    http://stores.ebay.de/Nikon-Service-Point-Munchen
    Brand New, never used, full warranty, etc etc etc.

    http://stores.ebay.com/Epson-Outlet
    http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/canon-pixma
    http://stores.ebay.com/Newegg
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  11. Here's another vote for Epson. I've had an Artisan 720 for a few years now and it gets used every day with never a problem. It does a good job printing to disc, though I don't do that every day.

    I use the OEM cartridges. Once I got some refills from InkGrabber (pretty sure that's the name) and the printer simply refused to use them. I told InkGrabber that either their cartridges were defective, or they had failed to reset the chips in the cartridges; they denied it, but in the end refunded. It's been so long now that I'm a bit hazy on the details, but I know I restarted the printer several times to see if the cartridges would get recognized as full and usable. But no, the printer insisted they were empty.

    I haven't tried to use refills since then. Maybe others have had success and can comment.
    Pull! Bang! Darn!
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  12. Mod Neophyte Super Moderator redwudz's Avatar
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    I've used refurbished Epson cartridges from the 'Inkcartridges' site and they seem to work well with my Epson 725. But I haven't tried them with printable discs.
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  13. HarpMaster
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    I've got an Epson Photo P50. It's not an all in one as I've a separate scanner, but I'm very happy with it and print a lot of discs,
    mainly CDs. This is my second P50 and I use a continuous ink supply system. I'm very pleased with the
    quality and also the cheap cost of the ink. If I don't print anything for over a week or so, I'll need to run the cleaning cycle, but that's about it.
    Epson now have cottoned on to ciss and have a number of models of their own with it built in, but what the print quality is like, I don't know.
    HarpMaster
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  14. The trick with Epsons is to use them EVERY DAY to print something in full color, even if its just a small low-res 2" x 3" web pic. In my experience, they are the single most clog-prone inkjets out there if not used regularly (they don't tolerate "occasional use" very well). We went thru many Epson models at my company: the designers and artists who printed with them for color work every day rarely had an issue.

    But the admin/clerks who used their lasers for most correspondence, and only used their Epsons once a week (or less) for the odd color page, cost us a small fortune in wasted ink. The "cleaning cycle" usually needs to be repeated at least twice if an Epson has sat unused more than a week, and if that fails to get things moving the entire cartridge might get drained or discarded because the clog is hopeless. Eventually, my suggestion to replace the BW laser + Epson color combos with color LaserJets was heeded, and the ink problem was solved for those non-Art departments. Didn't save much money, but saved a lot of wasted time and frustration. (An earlier foray into Xerox Phaser thermal-wax printers was... interesting.)

    All inkjets have some propensity to clog if not used constantly, that isn't solely an Epson issue, but Epson seems the most use-sensitive. Canons and HPs I've had weren't quite as bad. Some of the older HP inkjets were as clog-free as laserjets: could sit unused for months and fire right up with no problems. At some point HP must have realized they were missing out on the refill profits enjoyed by Canon and Epson, and newer HPs became nearly as twitchy about needing to print every day.

    It isn't a big deal, just something to be aware of. Printing a tiny "maintenance photo" every day or two uses less ink than a cleaning cycle, and keeps the heads in good shape. Of course if you need to print color every single day anyway, it isn't an issue at all.
    Last edited by orsetto; 9th Jan 2016 at 17:16.
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  15. Member p_l's Avatar
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    I had terrible luck with all the Epson print-to-disc models I've tried over the years. I mostly use Canon Pixma series and have been quite satisfied (even have an iP4000 still going strong). It's true you should print a little something in color every week or so; otherwise, you'll end up having to run a cleaning cycle or two. Toward that end, I've developed a little routine of choosing a "picture of the week" to print out on a glossy 4"x6", usually a family archive photo that randomly pops up in a sidebar photo widget. There's still something about a printed photograph, despite the convenience of everything being digital nowadays.

    I also have a 10-year-old HP Photosmart, which also has disc printing, that still amazes me by spitting out perfectly good color even if it's been sitting idle for a month or two. The last time I did a nozzle check/cleaning cycle on that one was about 7 years ago, and only because I felt I should. It didn't really need it. Ink is more expensive than for the old Canon Pixmas, though, so those are my workhorses.

    I get good deals on good quality ink here: http://www.123inkcartridges.ca/
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  16. I still have my Epson PHOTO R220, it works very well and has never been serviced. I´ve printed literally hundreds of discs over the years and stopped using original Epson cartridges a long time ago. Orsetto is (as usual) right about the importance of constant printing but I print less and less DVDs these days and try no to print paper sheets if possible (the internal mechanism has become a bit noiser with age and therefore I tray to keep use the printer mostly for discs)
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  17. Been using Epson to print cd's and/or dvd's for a few years. Use ink cartridges from LDProducts for years. If used rarely, then should print color picture once a week to keep ink moist.
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  18. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
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    I've been getting Linkyo ink and toner from Supermediastore for 10+ years now.
    The Epson branded stuff isn't special.
    Want my help? Ask here! (not via PM!)
    FAQs: Best Blank DiscsBest TBCsBest VCRs for captureRestore VHS
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  19. Member
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    I'm also looking to start printing my own discs again. Had/Have an Epson R220 I think it was (haven't used it in ages) but I remember that sometimes the printer didn't pull the tray through which was annoying. That being said, in your experience, which printer is the least hassle free with regard to the try you have to put the DVD in? There's so many choices out there, it's quite difficult to decide what to buy. And I haven't come across any blog that actually compares various printers with regard to disc printing either...

    Other thing I'd like to know is which printer is more efficient with its use of ink. I was considering going for the low end Primera disc publisher, however, it will be better for me to use a duplicator tower and separate printer. But what was cool about Primera is that they publish an ink test showing how many discs you can expect to print based on coverage examples.
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  20. HarpMaster
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    If you are going to do a lot of disc printing, then maybe you should consider going the
    CISS route. That's the continuous ink supply system route.
    I found the quality is fine and the cost is a fraction of Epson and also oem ink cartridges. The
    initial outlay for the system and the first set of ink bottles is very reasonable. My first set lasted
    about a year and a half, and that was with fairly regular use.
    I would not want to go back to using Epson or any other conventional cartridges, especially if I
    was going to do a lot of printing.
    HarpMaster
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  21. Member
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    Yes I actually discovered CISS yesterday when researching. I'm also thinking about changing all the artwork on the DVDs so that I can use the silver inkjet printables instead of the white. The question is, if I do that and not use color on the face of the disc, I guess I would still need to buy a color printer, am I correct? Are there any printers that offer a black ink well, or are they all multi-cartridge systems ?
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  22. I use Epson all-in-one printers to print directly to DVD and Blu-ray. As I wear one printer out I buy another Epson.
    Last edited by acheter; 19th Sep 2016 at 17:38.
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  23. aBigMeanie aedipuss's Avatar
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    i've always had good luck with cd/dvd printing with canons. no head clogging problems and aftermarket ink seems to work well. my ip4000 finally died and i replaced it with an 7520 all-in-one that came with the cd/dvd tray in the usa, no firmware fudging required.
    --
    "a lot of people are better dead" - prisoner KSC2-303
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  24. Lone soldier Cauptain's Avatar
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    Epson L355 for 4 years, 30k prints...0 problem.



    Claudio
    Last edited by Cauptain; 24th Apr 2016 at 21:01.
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  25. Member turk690's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by franco View Post
    Hi guys, I haven't been on this forum for a few years and am looking at different options for printing to DVD... but I need professional looking discs and don't know what quality to expect...
    Though results can look really good, on most inkjet-printable discs, the printed image gets smudged when oily fingertips get in contact, or worse, liquids splash on them. This is why vendors will also have glossy waterproof inkjet-printable media, which, while a bit more expensive, gets over this problem.
    For the nth time, with the possible exception of certain Intel processors, I don't have/ever owned anything whose name starts with "i".
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