OT: CD/DVD Printer Recommendation

el.

I haven't used one yet but what about those LightScribe drives? Print the label from the drive. Sounds like it's perfect for backups. (Avoids the "did I switch the discs yesterday?" problem.) Might be moreexpensive media (again I haven't yet used one)

Ed

Lightscribe has already been mentioned and does have a certain level of convenience, but it is quite slow. Stick on labels are fiddly when all the steps are taken into consideration as well - designing the print, loading the printer with the sticker, printing it and carefully applying it the right place. Not insurmountbale but hassle. The dedicated CD printers help, but like Lightscribe they are particular about their media.

At the end of the day does it really matter? How much is your time worth? For quantity one internal jobs such as this is simply labelling the disc with a CD marker so abhorrent?

I bought the cheapest CD printer I could find. At that time it was the Epson R200. Works like a charm ... One of the best purchases I have made. Not the fastest, but fast enough. We bough a much more expensive CD printer at work. A Canon 4000 something. If one multiple copies of a specific disc, then the Canon is MUCH faster than the Epson. If one prints only one copy of each label, then the Epson is about the same speed. The Epson starts almost immediately, while the Canon goes through a whole sequence before starting the print. The Canon software also has more options, but one can use a bitmap from an external program for the label.

Regards Anton Erasmus

Thanks for the heads up. I did spot that printer.

I'm probably going to go LightScribe. The simplicity of the system (slow or not) is alluring.

The Lizard

Colour is very nice. The printable media is also a lot cheaper than the lightscribe media. Here in South Affrica the lightscribe media is

Regards Anton Erasmus

I wasn't sure of the prices you quoted (because I was so fascinated by the cool technology that I wasn't looking at price). I went to

Yep, large price difference.

I'm a low volume user (and I use mostly DVDs) ... part of the balance in my case would be that I don't need labels (which I use now), which will save me a bit of money. I also wouldn't need to buy a printer or ink cartridges.

I did have an LG external drive, and I discovered that it is LightScribe capable (so I didn't have to buy any hardware). I only needed some media to try out.

Here is a photo of a test disc I did:

Seems to work fine.

I'm too lazy to do a full cost analysis to see how the cost of ink cartridges and so on partially compensates for the price difference of the media.

The Lizard

I use an Epson Stylus Photo 380 for the same. I don't remember the price, somewhere in the $150-250 range? I picked the higher quality photo printer because it could do my photos as well. And it does a fantastic job. Inks not cheap, but it never is. It's what it costs.

The one problem I have is printable DVDs are not too popular yet, especially DL DVDs. Like you, all are low volume so the price-per is not an issue.

Print time is a minute or two. I don't pay attention. It's in the other room on a server.

Scott

Since I'm a low-volume user, the question seems to be then how much I'm willing to pay for color.

The Lizard.

Some of the fairly inexpensive Epson inkjet printers include a special CD adapter. For example, the Epson Stylus R280 costs around $100. I'm using the older Stylus R300, and have found it to be great for low-volume use.

Look for Canon inkjet printers. I've got a MP970 which gives excellent prints on white prinable CDs. This is a multifunction device with 7 inks that has the same print engine and the same inks as the iP5xxx/iP6xxx printers. And it's much faster than Lightscribe and looks better.

I see a Canon iP4600 here in my local online shop for 88 euros. Different inks (and only 4), but cheaper. Avoid buying ultra low cost printers - you don't really buy them, but you rent then by having to buy rather expensive inks costing more than the entire printer.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

Frank-Christian Krügel