Direct printing onto cds/dvds

[cryptonomium]

Just wondered what experiences anyone may have had using a printer with this capability?

I'm thinking of replacing my second printer with something cheap. It won't see a lot of use so I'm not too fussed about ink costs etc...

One thing I would like is to be able to print directly onto cds though, as I burn quite a lot and printing out labels is a hassle.

I usually use HP printers but have seen an Epson Stylus R210 at a great price and it apparently offers the feature I want. Any thoughts?

 

[Osage]

Sadly most USA canons lack the capability to print to cd's. The just of it is that
the printer was designed with the capacity but Canon USA declined to pay a royality to phillips and left the final implementation off those printers.

However, its fairly easy for the owner to enable that cd printing capacity
with some work-------see long threads on the subject on Steves digicams
and the nifty stuff forums. Nor am I positive about the new Canon line with chipped cartrdiges. I recommend boycotting those for other reasons--namely why pay more for a chip that rips you off?

Epson printer do come with the cd printing standard.--however, they suffer from two defects---shoddy construction on low end printers and being prone to head clogs when not used very frequently.--even with OEM ink.

Not sure about the HP line as they tend to be hopeless on per page ink consumable economy---but that may not be a factor given you won't do much printing.

Nor am I sure about Lexmark----they are even more hopeless than HP.

JUst my take on the matter-----maybe someone else will come along with other advice.

 

[cryptonomium]

Thanks for that, Osage

As it happens, one of my reasons for posting the question is that I'm wary of buying another Epson, the last one I had some years ago also suffered continual head clogging... Seems some things never change!

I'm actually in Australia so maybe we get the Canon printers with CD printing, I'll have to check them out.

It would seem the manufacturers have a different pricing structure for consumables here, as HP often are cheapest for ink etc, especially when doing photo printing.

Never looked at Steves Digicams forum before but I see what you mean, that's a heck of a thread on the subject.

Thanks again for your reply.

 

[Osage]

Was not aware that you come from downunder---if so, do check out nifty stuff
forums also as they have good threads on foreign ink suppliers---as well as
some fellow aussies you can commeserate with as us blokes in the USA have
wider ink choices. But those downunders can probably give you better regional advice as availability is super important.

Good luck and glad to help.

 

[cryptonomium]

Actually I'm British, but living in Oz now. Could get ink sent over from the UK if necessary at little cost, but to be honest I don't mind the price of cartridges too much. Yes they're stupidly expensive but I have access to a laser for big print jobs and my HP Photosmart's cartridges last ages.

Took a look at the nifty stuff forums... So much info to take in. I take it you'd recommend a Canon using non-chipped ink tanks then? Any particular model? Sourcing older units is fairly easy here as the market doesn't move as quickly as the US (or the UK for that matter).

 

[Osage]

Its my understanding----could be wrong------but that numerous British Canon Models have cd printing already built in--the reason they can't be used in the US is that the power supply would have to be swapped as the plug in current is different.

But if you can find one of the non-chipped canon's with cd printing already enabled you are way ahead.

But for non-chipped Canon's that are also good at text and will do really decent at photoprinting, you are looking at the Canon pixma ip3000, 4000, or 5000. And as the number goes up, so does the cost.

But as my wife owns an ip4000, I can say its a great printer. The ip5000 adds smaller ink drops and is often regarded as slightly better than the 4000 at photoprinting. The ip3000 lacks a photoblack cartridge but that only comes into play in rare instances with photoprinting.-----so I would say go with price and availablity-----and make sure you can bring it home
and still use it.

 

[cryptonomium]

Thanks again, I shall look for one of those models.

Incidentally, most consumer electronics now have power supplies which auto-sense 115v/60hz or 220-240v/50hz, as it's cheaper to build in the necessary electronics than set up separate production runs for different markets. Except where the psu is actually built into the plug itself of course.

Dunno if that's true for the Canon models but it wont matter to me as Australia uses the same voltage/frequency as the UK anyway.

 

[KnightCrawler]

The USA version can be enabled to print on cd/dvd and they don't need a different power supply.

http://pixma.webpal.info/

five easy steps to make it work


The only two models that I have run into a snag are the 6600 and the MP800 which seem to require slightly different trays. Still trying to fix that problem.