printing on DVD's

Peabody said:
Epson Stylus R200 is all you need. Buy two or three,---dependable and cheap.
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Actually, that's a good idea. A set of 6 replacement ink cartridges runs about 75 bucks.
 
dmcgill said:
Actually, that's a good idea. A set of 6 replacement ink cartridges runs about 75 bucks.
Click to expand...

Looks like the prices have come down on the cartridges: If you go to costco they sell the original Epson replacements for around $55 for the entire set..

And.. If you don't care about brand name cartridges then check this out.

Epson Compatible Ink combo for Epson Stylus Photo R200/R300/R300M/R320/RX500/RX600 Printer ( T048120, T048220, T048320, T048420, T048520, T048620 one each) - Free Ground Shipping

$18.00 (originally $29 when I posted a while back..)

http://www.supermediastore.com/epson-r300.html
 
I am starting to do wedding videos and am trying to settle on a good DVD printer with a shoestring budget. In reading other forums and online "guides," it seems the consensus on inkjet printers is that the initial product looks great and allows for more design creativity than thermal, but that the ink tends to fade more quickly than thermal. Well, I tried the Primera Signature Z1 (small, ~$130 thermal), and the results were horrible. It left certain areas of the disc blank and smeared others. The one time I tried to print an image, it smeared the entire thing. And this was tested with two different printer ribbons and two types of disc surface (silver shiny and white thermal printable). The silver shiny actually yielded better results than the other, which I found strange--but they were both subpar. The next up thermal printers cost $1500+.

I recently learned of a technology that is actually only 1-2 years old. It's called LightScribe. Included in some DVDRW drives, this allows you to turn over a disc after burning, and it will use the drive's laser to burn a design on the other side of the disc (http://www.lightscribe.com/). Has anyone had any experience with this?

Otherwise, what are your recommendations besides the ones already listed here on the Epson inkjets?
 
DCERVENKA,
Beware off brand cartridges for the R200, (especially stuff from the inkjetking99 ebay site)! These are NOT compatible with the R200 and can really mess up your printer. Seem that the electronic chip on these doesn't properly communicate with the printer, causing nothing but trouble, even if the other cartridges in your set are Epson originals. (Still trying to get a refund from that outfit).
Also, some off brand carts are only half full!
I've found the stuff at think4ink.com to be very reliable, they test everything they sell with the target printers.
Hope this helps.
Ken
the Screen Skins guy
 
Vinnie03,
Interesting note about fooling the printer. I've been trying to get it to print at a lower resolution than Best Photo...regular photo would be fine. This printer uses a boatload of ink and Best Photo res is 2,880dpi. Photo res is 1,440, which would be great for the stuff I produce and use far less ink in the process.
I also have a 10 year old Epson Stylus Color 600, which prints a smoother picture at 720 than my R200 with better dithering! Go figure.
Ah, progress.
Ken
the Screen Skins guy
 
kplo said:
DCERVENKA,
Beware off brand cartridges for the R200, (especially stuff from the inkjetking99 ebay site)! These are NOT compatible with the R200 and can really mess up your printer. Seem that the electronic chip on these doesn't properly communicate with the printer, causing nothing but trouble, even if the other cartridges in your set are Epson originals. (Still trying to get a refund from that outfit).
Also, some off brand carts are only half full!
I've found the stuff at think4ink.com to be very reliable, they test everything they sell with the target printers.
Hope this helps.
Ken
the Screen Skins guy
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up. Yeah I'm well aware that there is lot of junk floating out on the web. I actually have had good result from the spuermediastore and pacificink.com. Though they both sell off brands the ones from supermedia are less expensive..
 
Gary, They're not labels. The disk are actually manufactered with a white top or just left plain silver, so in reality you should never have an issue with something coming of the disk. Now the DVD player having a hard time reading them is another story. Each disk is made a little bit different and some read better in a certain dvd player than others. Research which disk you prefer and go with that, most sites sell a sample pack of dvd's so you can check different disk out. For more information go to VCDhelp.com.
 
Okay, after sticky labeling a bunch of discs, and then having some problems with those discs playing correctly, I checked out this thread (or another one, I don't remember) and went out and bought an Epson R220 and a bunch of printable discs. I bought Verbatim 16X discs.

The results were gorgeous and I was very happy until I tested a disc on a friends older DVD player which has been known to eschew certain -R discs that I've produced. The DVD skipped, broke up and generally played terrribly, although it plays flawlessly on my own player (but then everything does).

I'm very concerned about this. I realize that home burned discs are not going to play on every player (which really annoys me), but I need to have some confidence that the discs I produce will play at least on MOST players. My friend's player had no trouble with an un-lableled and non-printed -R disc, and it's not that old or inexpensive. I basically look to my friend's player as being the common denominator to which I should try to calibrate what I produce.

I'm wondering if the ink on the disc was too heavy and therefore caused inbalance. My design had a lot of coverage and used a gradation, so I guess it's conceivable that one side would be ever so slightly heavier than the other.

Any ideas? I'm thinking of going with minimal text only. Better that than have the beautiful looking disc not play. Or is it the 16X? My G5 can handle it, but isn't burning at a slower speed better insurance?

Damn.

Robert
 
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Robert, did you test that disk before printing? At least that would tell you where the problem is.

I always test my DVDs between the burn and the printing. I've only had one bad burn, but I don't want to risk wasting the ink.
 
powerdog said:
Robert, did you test that disk before printing? At least that would tell you where the problem is.

I always test my DVDs between the burn and the printing. I've only had one bad burn, but I don't want to risk wasting the ink.
Click to expand...
I did, but the problem I have is that my home player so far has played every single thing I've put into it. That's great for me as a viewer, but not that helpful in determining if Joe Schmoe's player is going to like the DVD. The recent disc that I put out with a lovely, full coverage direct to disc inkjet design has refused to play on 3 out of 4 players (my own being the 4th, where it played flawlessly), so I'm going with minimal plain text. Not sure what else to do.
 
I'd suggest that you burn another disk, same as before, but NOT print on it. Try the unprinted disk on those 3 other players. If none of 'em work, your problem wouldn't seem to be the printing.

I can tell you that I've been printing disks with about 70 percent coverage, and definitely not a symmetrical design, and haven't had a problem.

Anyway, Verbatim's one of the best brands, so that's not an issue.
 
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