Bulk CD or DVD ink jet printing suggestions needed

[Frank Broughton]

I was wondering if any here have used any of the more expensive ink jet CD/DVD printers available (Microboards, Primera, etc)

I currently use my old Epson R200 and it is getting old sitting all day doing it. I am in the middle of printing label information on 60 CDs and so many hours later I an determined I have to find a better solution.

I have heard of daisy chaining a number or these r200 r22o's together, but one still needs to see that each disk feeds as misfeeds are often.

Anyone do CD DVD production? I do not need a burn and print combo I have a 1 to 11 DVD/CD Duplicator I built. Just need a printing on CD solution that works without jams.

Anyone....

Thanks!

[jason]

We use a Rimage single disc thermal transfer printer at work. The color takes a bit of work to get just right and you need to sit there and manually change the discs, but it prints the labels pretty fast and does a great job at it.

I can give you the name of a sales contact I have at a local dealer here in Rochester if you'd like. They are a mass-producer/duplicator and equipment vendor for several lines of duplicating and printing equipment that we use quite often at work. I'm sure they'll have something that meets your needs.

--Jason

[JJPrice]

Although the Rimage and other thermal transfer units are fine, the are quite expensive. I use the Dymo DiscPainter for smaller runs of discs. It prints nice color images and text on discs at 600 dpi in just 1 minute and 1200 dpi in 3 minutes. At less than 1/10th the cost of even entry level thermal disc printers, it is a great bargain for those who need professional results but do not want to make a major capital investment.

[Frank Broughton]

I am using three R200's for now. I like the concept of the DYMO printer but it seems pricey as the review from http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2243325,00.asp suggests.

The DYMO DiscPainter CD/DVD Printer makes it easy to print professional-looking labels for one or a few discs at a time—if you can justify the price.

Prints full-color, professional-looking CD and DVD labels on the discs. Includes software. Works with any program.

Pricey. Estimated price per disc—just for printing—is 39 cents plus the amortized price of the printer.

How durable is the printing with this unit? Does the ink scratch off?

Using the 3 R200s is pretty fast now. I also have a r320 I need to reset the counter on and will have four units running. Should be able to do 70 - 80 disks an hour with this set up.

Still looking for anyone's experience with the Microboards or Primera ink jet bulk printers for "hands off" printing.

[Don McLeod]

Hi Frank,

I'm not sure if this will help or not, but here is some info on the printer I have used for the past year. It is the Canon PIXMA iP4300 multi-purpose printer with CD/DVD tray purchased for $150. So far in a year I have printed ~450 DVDs. Aside from some BW printed pages and a few pics, most of the printing has been the DVDs. It is a single load operation but prints rather quickly; I think I can print about one per minute. The printer has software for printing on CD/DVD's that is easy to use. I have been using Memorex printable DVDs. The printing quality is excellent. I had investigated the purchase of a more automated printer but the price range was $1000 and up. Would have been easier on me but I wasn't printing enough to justify the expense.

Don

[Frank Broughton]

It is my understanding that Canon can sell their CD/DVD printers outside of the USA only. In the USA a couple hacks are needed to get them to print on CD /DVD's. The US models come with a cover on the CD/DVD slot. A registry hack is also required. Epson holds the US patent on CD/DVD printing. Thus that is why I am using the r200's.

I would love to get a couple Canons already set up with trays.

Here is a how to hack page for US Canon printers. Trays available via Ebay: http://www.cameratown.com/articles/c...d_printing.cfm

Does your tray ever refuse to feed or does it feed properly each time you print on a CD DVD?

[Don McLeod]

As long as I follow the directions - works flawlessly. The rare occasion that the tray was rejected was due to operator error in not inserting the tray correctly. The tray has some wear marks on it but appears to be holding up well.

The US situation of product not available - what's up with that? Are there any regulations bearing on this? If you want some help sourcing them up here, let me know.

[Frank Broughton]

Epson holds the US patent and Canon does not want to challenge is what I have read on it.

How close to Fort Erie are you in Ontario?

[Don McLeod]

A quick on-line search at the usual local electronic outlets and one phone call to the store where I bought my printer = disappointing results. It would appear that the iP4300 has been replaced by the iP4500 and guess what? no CD/DVD tray! I wonder if it is due to the patent issue you mentioned?

I did find that the iP4300 + tray is available from a few Canadian online-only stores, none of which I have had experience with and therefore cannot recommend with confidence. I assume their inventory is older stock.

We're about 3 hours from Fort Erie but do pass through Buffalo about once a year when we travel to the US for car races and horse events.

[Rob]

If its just for black and white DVD's you could maybe think about using LightScribe - I have one of these recorders and the quality is amazing.

For Colour DVD's we currently send them off the the printers to be recorded and printed - Although I have thought about getting our own system.

How did you build your unit Frank?

[Frank Broughton]

How did you build your unit Frank?

I scrolled down to my woodworking shop and built a shelf setup out of 3/4" pine planed down to 1/2" and used a USB hub to connect the 3 R200's to my 'puter:

Here is a picture:



The 1 to 11 duplicator I built from parts from ocie.com (copystars.com same company) and from newegg.com.

These places have the best prices I have found. Stand alone duplicators are coming down in price but you still save big when you build your own.

The quality of the case is great. Six fans in the back that come out (two at a time) with a thumb screw for easy dust removal.

I used the Copystars 20x 1 to 11 controller for this unit. I have another unit I built a few years ago that uses the Wytron DVD 399 1 x 10 controller (I just have 5 drives in that unit - as I haul it around). Wytron makes a newer controller now - the DVD 688. Wytron is supposedly the best unit as far as quality and returns. I like the Copystars interface better though (I think these are custom Acard controllers).

I also used a Seagate 160 GB hard drive, 10 pioneer 115d DVD 20x drives (need to get one more thus the old tan drive in the bottom of the unit as filler, no covers come with the case) and a Sony DVD reader.

As far as the printers go, the R200 is obsolete replaced by the R220 which is now the R280. You can get R280's for $79.00 each. I use the Epson Print CD Software and have the printers named R200-1 , R200-2, R200-3 and then simply pick the printer and hit print. Do it for each printer. It is not hands off, but I like the speed now. I can do around 20 disks or so an hour per printer. It would be easy to add more printers to the setup.

[Rob]

Frank,

That is actually really cool Thanks for the Picture as well.