Ordered a DVD printer !! Okay , new thread here

[arcorob]

After weighing the issues, and being a STICKY label proponent, I have broken down and ordered 100 Printable DVD+R's and an EPSON STYLUS PHOTO 900. Why ?

Well, for me and my movies, I trust the labels. If I have a problem, then its my problem. But I have a wedding video business. If my customer has a problem then its another story. So as a business investment, I went the DVD printer route.

The printer is not in stock anywhere (you guys all beat me to it) but I ordered from www.jandr.com who assures me they will be in shortly.

And since it is 199.00 plus shipping, I can live with it. Also got the printable Riteks on an EBAY firesale...150 for 100 disks, plus 10 dollars shipping.

Not bad.

So for those who told me so, go ahead and said TOLD U SO ...LOL

[doom969]

hey arcorob, if u have a minute, would you post back say how its going ???
I'm thinking about buying one but i'd like to know what you think
thx

[arcorob]

Sure will...I dont expect to get the printer for a week or two. I did alot of research. EZCDPRINT, Signature II, Signature IV, Epson 960 and then there was the self built.

I paid 7 dollars to learn how to convert a straight feed printer using a LABEL template from your favorite labels. I chose the EPSON because it is SUPPOSSED to do the DVD's. The conversion method reuires shimming the feed, possible printer MODS, building the template, potentially damaged DVD's.etc

I figure it HAS TO work with the EPSON as it is a printer feature and I can always get support. Plus, it is a slight step up from my Photosmart P1000 so worth the investment.

I will keep you posted. Rob

[eazeaz]

I hope you are not using the "Ebay Blowout Special" Ritek's to store people weddings on.

[cplevel42]

Why, are the Ebay blowout Riteks bad? Do you have 1st hand info? Please give more details.

[ezzye23]

How are you getting it for $199.99. It's listed on jandr.com for $349

[eazeaz]

I think he is talking about the epson 900. It lists at 199, I too am waiting for one.

Not that the Ritek's are necessarily "BAD". I'm sure they are fine for stuff "Around the House" but something like a wedding video is not something you put on bargain DVD-r's. Atleast not if you want to keep happy customers.

[Bob W]

I think he is talking about the epson 900. It lists at 199, I too am waiting for one.

Not that the Ritek's are necessarily "BAD". I'm sure they are fine for stuff "Around the House" but something like a wedding video is not something you put on bargain DVD-r's. Atleast not if you want to keep happy customers.

What's the difference between the 900 and 960? I was thinking of getting the 960 for about $324 online.

[leebo]

Anyone know whats the difference between the 900 and the 960???

[Jerry]

Hi,

My Epson 900 just arrived today but my Ritek dvd's I ordered from Rima won't come till next week.

If you're thinking about ordering this printer, I went to the Espon website last week and checked notify me when available. On Monday they sent an email saying it was in. I know on their website it says May. Anyhow I ordered it on Tuesday, it ships from Indianapolis and arrived in Nashville today. The ups shipping is just 9.95 and there is no sales tax except in California.

Thanks, Jerry

[Jerry]

I just checked the Epson websiite and they don't have the "notify me" button on the 900 anymore.

Jerry

[neonflx]

Does the 900 has the cd tray like the 960 does?????
I'm looking at getting the 960 for 349.00 but if the 900 has the cd tray i would get that one instead.
TIA

[ezzye23]

Apparently they both have the tray but the 960 prints in 2880 x 1440
and the 900 prints in 5760 x 720. I wonder which one would make the
best looking label?

[BJ_M]

i have the 960 (built into a Bravo DVD duplicator/printer) and print on ritec printable blanks ..

the quality is amaizing - really good .. full coverage printing will eat up your color cart. pretty quick (about 100 dvd's) - but partial coverage will give you 100's and 100's ...

you should hit the clean button about every 100 disks i found (make sure a dead disk (use a old coaster) is in the machine though)..

i have no problems with ritec g03's .. whats wrong with them ? Ive burned about 1000 of them now on pioneer 104's and 105's (its 105's in the duplicator)
..

I found on dvd's (cd's it doesnt matter) that you should never do a really dark print in one corner -- a really heavy black for example.. it causes unbalance .. a lot of ink can go on and it takes forever to dry also ..

the ink is not water proof -- and can be smeared on the ritec's white back with a wet finger - after a day or so it is much tougher to do ..
the cd's i print on have a silverish back for printing and "hold" the ink better right away -- but after a few days both about the same .. the silver backs give a nice metalic effect to the printing though ..

The white backs have more a proffesional look to them.

[DaveS]

how did the setup / installation go - what OS are you?

I am searching for the right printer (hobby / wedding videos for friends) - on cnet the main complaints on the 960 seem to be (a) difficulty of setup (b) colors not coming out correctly or needing a lot of adjusting to get them to come out right (not sure where this would adjust) and (c) some complaints about print quality.

Can you comment on any of the above? The other 'complaint' was that the printer isn't super speedy, which I don't mind for this purpose...any info would be really helpful....

[leebo]

Someone posted a link last week to an on-line store that sells CD printers. the site also sold a special water-proofing spray for the discs.

Unfortunetly, I don't remember the site. I'm just mentioning it to let you know that a water-proofing spray is available.

[neonflx]

Bj_M thanks for the info it seems the 900 will do just fine for what I want it.

[BJ_M]

yes you can spray artists fixing spray on the disk -- but since im doing 100's , i dont want all that spray around in the air .. i just trust when i send them to clients thay dont have wet hands (i dont do porno dvd's so it should be better chance of staying dry) .. no one ever complained so far anyway..


i use the printer (duplicator) on a xp pro sytem , it has two connections , one is a firewire which is for the dvd duplicator and the other is a USB which is for the printer and the robotics ..

i just pluged in and turned it on and installed the print drivers found on the net - it uses a special version of prassi for the robotics and duplicating and also prassi handles the printing ..

you can also print directly from the cd label creator app (Sure Thing CD label Creator 3.1 special version) ..

i dont have any problems with color other than some reds look a little washed out - but i just changed that red to a darker color ..

only two settings really ever need tweaking -- if its going to be dithered for photo or for graphics .. i print at 1200 instead of the max to save time and other than some very tiny horz lines on full coverage only - there isnt a lot of difference on graphics -

text is very very sharp - 6 point txt prints perfect even ..
colors and coverage is vivid and sharp , like printing on glossy ink jet paper ...

the label app works just fine for me as i dont make most of the labels .. the graphics dept creates them in photoshop and imports them into the label maker program ..

if i didnt have the duplicator - you can print of course directly with photoshop or paint shop pro ..

this is the unit (which i assume uses the epson 960 print engine as the cart. are the same)

http://www.primeratechnology.com/bravo/bravo.asp

[leebo]

i dont want all that spray around in the air ..

i dont have any problems with color other than some reds look a little washed out - but i just changed that red to a darker color ..

The spray is half the fun!

BTW, how do you make sure the disc is lined up? I'd hate to burn a disc and ruin it because the printer dosn't line my label up correctly.

[BJ_M]

nothing to line up -- the disk drops into the print tray and everything lines up automatic , the print tray is like a dvd burner tray - looks the same / acts the same

[arcorob]

I am a bit confused about those speak of BARGAIN RITEKS. I said I got them for a bargain, not that they were inferior grade. They are the standard grade you can buy anywhere(yes I'll take the challenge). I am unaware of any sub-grade or economy DVD+R Riteks. Now DVD-r's are another story...

They were a bargain because the person orderd a ton for a project that never panned out.

Here are the specs
http://www.ritek.com/ritek_e/product/storage/product/dvd+r.htm

Here is the auction
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11163&item=2723031007&rd=1

I normaly only pay about that for the NON printable RITEK purple bottom DVD+R's. I like to deal with Johnnycdr as he is fast and I have ZERO coaster out of over 200 disks.

[arcorob]

For those who have a 900 (or a 960 for that matter) already, does it come with software or can I use my own ? I use Click and Design 3d and a 2UP method which I know is not going to fly now. SO how do I get that designed label onto their template ? Thanks in advance......

[Jerry]

As far as the software I'm a mac user so this probably won't help. It's Discus EP 2.72. I'll try to check the dsic when I get home and see what the pc software is. The mac software seems to work really well. This is what came with the Epson 900.


Jerry

[arcorob]

Thanks Jerry !!! Everywhere I looked seemed to be the DISCUS software (ezcdprint, etc) all seemed to use it ...

Can you import your onw pictures ? That is my biggest need....I just hope they are not too backordered. Must be a stampeded because everyone is out of stock and they pulled from stock on Epson website also....Uggg

[Nolonemo]

You know, if I were selling DVDs for a profit, I think I would pay a dollar or two more and get name brand media rather than Riteks, the price difference has to be negligible compared to what you're selling the wedding package for. The printer is a class touch, though.

If I'm wrong tell me why (not a troll, I would like to know).

[arcorob]

Now I am confused. I thought with over 50% of DVD media MADE by Ritek, they were a name brand...What am I misisng here ? I am not being facitious...I actually am confused ....Are there any other brands I should look at ? Remember two things :
1) This is DVD+R
2) I currently have a 0% failure rate

But let me know so I can investigate..THANKS !

[BJ_M]

i have no problem with over 1000 riteks used -- but thats nothing , the dvd duplication house near us have used over 30,000 for small orders (that are not stamped because to small a run)

no problems ..

I do Make dvd for authoring and for masters on different brand ... but that is just for other reasons ..

[Nolonemo]

arcorob, maybe I'm the one that's confused, not you. . . .

[hunghuynh]

Can anybody tell me what author software you use to do DVD wedding? Thank you.

[arcorob]

Thats easy ..I use VEGAS video 4.0 for Capture/Edit/Render
Then DVD movie factory II to create the DVD

Okay, thats not 100% true.

I like ADOBE premier capture better so I use that to capture.

I use Vegas to edit and render as an AVI file.

I use TMPGenc to convert AVI to MPEG 2

Then DVD movie factory

Why ? Especially when Vegas will do almost all ?

Premier captures clearer I think

Vegas is awesome editor

TMPGenc does a better render...

Sounds like alot but I give quality to my customers...