Epson 900 printable DVD-Rs Appearance?

[Gritz]

Can anyone post a picture of what a DVD printed with Epson's 900 or 960 looks like. I have yet to see a picture of the finished quality and I've read all the reviews I can find. I've read that it's hard to get the print centered, they smear easily, and that the colors are flat! Seeing a picture might verify or dispell some of that ...........

[Bob W]

I don't have any way to post you a picture (I have the 900) however I can tell you that I have had no problems centering the image on the disc, and the ink doesn't smear (unless you handle the disc right after printing). As for the image being dull, well it's not going to look like a picture printed onto glossy photo paper for sure but it sure looks good to me. Remember the printable discs are a dull surface to start with so the ink will stick, so the final image is going to be something less than you would expect on a glossy surface.

I should also say that the Epson 900 is the quietest printer I have ever ran across.

[Gritz]

Bob W,
Thanks for the reply. The information I had was from PC Magazine and Maximum PC reviews ...... but the printer still rated quite well. I think it's a go for me on this ....... I'm tired of the paper labels and sharpies! Can you recommend some printable media for DVDs?

[SLK001]

I also have a new 900. The quality is very good (they look professional), once you get the ink volume setup properly (the surface of the printables is somewhat porous, so the ink soaks in - you just have to increase the ink volume). With this printer, I'll never use another label - anyone want to buy a bunch of Neato labels?

I spent the past weekend transfering a lot of my audio CDs that I backed up on generic CD-Rs to printable CD-Rs with an artfully done label.

New toy. Still playing with it. Perfect results.

[arcorob]

PC mag really said that ? I am shocked. But not really. I found out a long time ago they they tend to be the BESTBUY of PC information. Meaning all hype and no true knowledge.

if they had smears, then they were NOT using printable DVD's. The dang things are dry (for me anyway) quicker than a photo glossy picture. In other words I handle them in under a minute without issue.

As to aligning .DUH . If it was any easier you would be able to slip it in a paper tray. I mean you take the plastic holder, shove in the back, line up a BIG white line with the end of the roller and you are aligned. Now print. Am I a cm off sometimes ? Yes. Does it matter ? No. They come out beautiful.

Unlike PC mag, I took more than 5 minutes (maybe 10) to figure out how to adjust print settings to BEST PHOTO (My you have to check a box) and then set to VIVID HIGH under advanced.

Perhaps I performed more tests than PC mag ? I did 4 tests initially. Maybe they only did two....LOL

Best 199 you'll spend if you make many DVD's

[Bob W]

Bob W,
Thanks for the reply. The information I had was from PC Magazine and Maximum PC reviews ...... but the printer still rated quite well. I think it's a go for me on this ....... I'm tired of the paper labels and sharpies! Can you recommend some printable media for DVDs?

I bought 100 Princo 4x printable DVD-R which burn at 4x on my Sony DRU500ax here.
http://www.yesbuy.net/prinwhitinpr.html

[Firewire]

Wondering how many 'full coverage' discs you can print out from one color cartridge on the 900?

[leebo]

According to Epson, the 900 and the 960 use different print heads.

I've seen the in-store display of the 900, complete with a printed disc. It looks OK, but text wasn't that crisp, in my opinion.

The 960 is supposed to have a very fine print head (4 picoliters). I've given up on finding a disc printed with that printer though. But I'm probably going to go with the 960 when I can afford it.

Obviously, discs with a matte top wont print glossy.

[bacardi/avt]

Since I live in Europe I can't say anything about the Epson 900 and 960 but I have an Epson 950 (which I think is the same as the 960 in the US) and it is very good.

I also made a simple webb page with scans of some of the prints I have made, If U want to se them go to:

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/bacardiavt/index.html




By the way the 950 printheads use 2 pictoliter drops....

[leebo]

That link doesn't work for me.

[bacardi/avt]

@Leebo

Strange I just tried it and it works fine for me, but I will try to post the page somwhere else also...

try this link instead:

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/bacardiavt/index.html

[leebo]

That link works, but I notice the original link you posted is now changed completely!

Oh well. Impossible to tell the exact quality of those prints due to the scans (only 100dpi), but I do notice that you can read the fine print along the outer circle of the discs. I don't think the 900 can match that!

When I saw the first scan, I thought "Why did he post a scratched up disc???"
Then I realized which movie it was. Wow, that just came out in the States about a month ago and you guys already have it on DVD. I plan on getting it when it comes out in NTSC.

Here in the States they're showing it with the alternate ending after the ending credits. Guess the director put up a fuss and made them include it.

I hate to say it, but I think the studios decision to go with a more positive ending works better.

[overloaded_ide]

First I'll say I have NEVER printed a disk with an ink jet!
So,

IF you can print on gloss paper, t-shirt transfers, and even vinyl, why not a gloss disk? Had anyone with a disk printer just tried a cheap disk like printco with the all white gloss top at all?
If so, what happened and what printer and disk did you use?

As I said I have never printed a disk, but I don't see why it would not work considering the various medias I have printed with normal inkjets like cannons and hps.

I think a friend actually printed on vinyl for a banner once with decent results.

SO has anyone tried this? I would, but I don't own a disk printer yet! I am thinking on the Epson 900 for $200. I want really nice disks (better than sharpie pens) without the problems I been reading about with labels, but still cheap disks.
I still have about 50 printco white gloss top disks, plus I would run the already used disks though the printer too if it works. Even though they been written on with a sharpie they would look better printed.

I'd like to know about this BEFORE I buy the printer if anyones been trying it. I figure the worst that would happen is maybe the ink would rub off with handling, but I don't think it would.

If I buy the printer in a week or so, I will try it and see what happens myself if no-one else has or does.

Thanks

[Bob W]

I think it would be possible to print on a regular DVDR with the Epson 900 then use something like Krylon clear coat spray on the printed label to protect it but I haven't tried it myself.