DVD Printer reccomendations

[kia75]

Our 10 year old CD Color Printer IV is 10 years old and about to die, any recommendations on what to replace it with?

We print anywhere from 5 to 50 cd's per months (depending on how customers want their orders), and manually loading a cd\dvd and lining up the arrows seems like it would be too time-consuming so I'm thinking of avoiding buying an all-in-one printer. Unfortunately that doesn't leave us with much options.

The current front-runner is the Primera autoprinter 100 but at $900 its a bit expensive.

Is there anything cheaper that would suit us for the next 10 years?

 

[gsaldivar]

http://www.amazon.com/Laser-CD-DVD-L...dp/B005W83V74/

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71JGxjGBQuL._AA1500_.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61DidbokNOL._AA1286_.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51jWDCxam5L._AA1316_.jpg

Easy and cheap. $80 for 1000 labels with free shipping ($0.08 per disc). They also have glossy and inkjet kits.

50 discs per month x 10 years = 6000 labels or $480.00. That's about half the cost of the printer you're looking at, less the cost of ink.

Good luck!

 

[corkyg]

I sense an apples-oranges problem. I interpret OP's query to relate to printers that directly print on optical disks, and not the use of adhesive labels. I strongly discourage the latter. Long term storage can render them useless, as the adhesive can leach into the media over time.

There are direct disk printers available. Searching them depends on how you define the search. IOW, something like this:

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/CDLanding.jsp

 

[fatpat268]

Yea, your best bet is one of those Epson printers. I had an Epson R200 a few years back, and it produced some excellent looking discs. Spray a layer of glossy clearcoat after the ink dries, and it looks even better.

Looks like the Epson R200 isn't being manufactured anymore, but I guess this is the replacement.

Edit: Also, I'd like to add, that lining up the CD/DVD isn't a huge deal with these printers. You print a pretty small amount of discs per month according to your OP, and those dedicated disc printers are really only for those who print a lot more per month.

 

[wirednuts]

i print directly onto dvd's with my old pixma ip4000. works great, no issues lining things up like there used to be with epsons.

never use sticky labels. they WILL ruin your disks over time. lots of first hand experience here.

they used to make black and white thermal printers that are really the most ideal, but if you need color then i think inkjet is all youre left with.

 

[kia75]

Yes, I'm looking for a printer that prints directly to a dvd\cd.

There are direct disk printers available. Searching them depends on how you define the search. IOW, something like this:

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/CDLanding.jsp

Are the all-in-one printers any good at printing to cd's? When looking for reviews of the Epson Artisan 50 I keep on reading stuff like this:

So far, of the first three disc labels I printed, it rejected two repeatedly. I had to reinsert and press the Paper button multiple times and eventually it printed. Could be because it's a new printer but I don't like that symptom because that was why I eventually diitched the R280.

Read more: http://reviews.cnet.com/inkjet-prin...inter/4505-3156_7-33680067.html#ixzz1ffk0XePN

Yes, 5 dvd's a month isn't alot and I suppose that we could go through an hour of troubleshooting to print each dvd, but on months where we're printing 50 dvd's, those sort of issues just aren't acceptable. If I can find a low cost printer that prints dvd's\cd's with little to no fuss then i'd be ecstatic.

The quality of the printer isn't very important, our CD color IV is a 10 year old re-badged hp inkjet printer, I'm certain any cheap printer will be similar or better printing-wise. What we need is something that will print to cd's every time without having to handhold the dvd through the whole process.

 

[kia75]

i print directly onto dvd's with my old pixma ip4000. works great, no issues lining things up like there used to be with epsons.

Does printing to DVD's just work or do you have to go through a song and dance step every time? Does it accept every dvd you put it or does the printer mysteriously reject a few cd's for some un-known reason?

The latest version of your printer, the IP 4920 seems to be getting good reviews for printing on cd's\dvd's. I might buy that.