Galeng,

I was encouraged to read your message about positive experience with the EZ/CD Printer Plus. What was the additional labeling software you got for it? Thanks very much.

JCG

Has anyone found the Canon printers available in the U.S? I checked Amazon and newegg and couldn't find the I865, I965 and I905D models. Froogle had listings but only in Autrailia.

Pardon me for interrupting here but now I remember seeing one of these EZ/CD printers at a trade show. From memory it was a reworked Epson C70 printer, it was quite a bit more expensive than the current Photo 900 which prints at higher res, is a current model etc. I remember pointing this out to the saleman who looked a bit shocked that I'd imported a 900 at 2/3rds the price of what he was trying to sell.

What is the attraction of the EZ/CD printer?

BTW the Epson 900 comes with some half decent label design software, will import most graphics files and wmf.
It is a bit more expensive than the Canon and this is only a subjective evaluation as I have never tried the Canon but the way the Epson does it seems a bit quicker than the Canon, I've done runs of 150 DVDs on it, I'll admit it got a bit tedious but once I got into the flow I could other things while it chugged away. I find if you've got to burn the media as well it's not such a drag.

I got an idea, im going to use my DSC to make an MPEG of me printing a CD on this canon printer. so you can see how easy it is. To see it working might help you in your decision making.


I have been uming and ahh ing about buy the EZCD printer, but importing it to australia was an issue, i felt uncomfortable buying something that was an aftermarket modified printer. (warranty /support etc ). I gues americans wont have that issue. Also I didnt like the fact that I can buy the standard version of that epson printer for a fraction of the price ! there is a huge premium to be paid to enable it to print cds. The ink cartridges were also an issue, i like the fact that the I905D has 6 indiviaual ink tanks and i can replace one at a time.

anyway ill try and do this mpeg by the weekend, hey ill edit it with vegas ! ;-)


if you want a canon i905D visit www.programmersparadise.com.au and email jill, tell her jaime sent you and inquire if she can ship to the USA.

note 1 AUD now = 0.73/0.74 US

Cheers
JC

Jamcas,
I've imported several Epson 900s into Austrlia from the US, no problems at all. US dealers at first wouldn't ship here, claimed contracts with Epson wouldn't let them but after a bit of argy bargy they got here in a few days.

Jaycar trannys are about $80 so no real dramas and cartridges are availabel everywhere, even Officeworks! You could also import the UK version and not need the tranny BUT dealers in the UK CHARGE for freight. If you really want one I can get someone in the UK to run out and buy one and ship it much cheaper.

But with the Canon available here I don't know if the Epson is that mcuh better to justify the effort.

BTW, individual color ink cartridges don't make that much difference, all the colors seem to run out at once anyway!

I was under the impression that unless the ink density was kicked up thereby wasting a lot of ink, the Epson 900 made dull prints, particularly with photo backgrounds. Also, I understood that the print speed was incredibly slow and the disks are fed from the rear. I was actually thinking of buying one were it not for those caveats.

Anyone who owns one care to comment on this?

Thanks,

John

John,
in no particular oder;
1) Yes the tray feeds in from the back. Does mean you need clearance at both the front and rear of the unit. Not exactly a show stopper for me.

2) If you want really dense color you may need to wind the ink density up, this is true but this isn't an issue with the printer per se. The media is coated with a porous paint finish so you need a lot of ink to fill the pores I guess. This will be the same with any ink jet printer. Only alternative is to go to thermal printing but firstly the printers are damn expensive and then you are up for the thermal ribbons. The inks for the 900 are not that expensive, I did around 150 DVDs with full color over the whole surface and still had ink left. I'd say ypur looking at around $0.30 per disk for ink. I was printing at +2 density and it was corporate logo and photos. Client was very happy with the results.
3) Print speed. Again yes it's not that fast but ink jets printing at HiRes are never fast, I'd reckon under 3 minutes to fully cover a CD/DVD with 100% coverage. It takes a lot longer than that to burn either a CD or DVD so I cannot see this would be an issue. If its just a few black labels and a DVD logo much less time.

jcg,

Will check on that and get back to you. The light version was included with the printer, but I upgraded it from there.

Galen

Hi Farss,

Thanks for the offer, but I just bought the canon i905 (see my earlier posts in this thread).

Im very happy with it and didnt have to worry about frieght, transformer or customs tax and warranty

Jc

The canon is front feeding you dont need rear end clearance.

I cant comment on the ink consumption yet, the quality of the output also depends on the media surface too

The print speed of the canon is reasonably quick I havent timed it though.


Cheers
Jc

JCG,

" I went ahead and ordered the EZ/CD. If I don't like it, I'll send it back (Meritline will take it back) and get one of the Epsons. "

If you do decide to get an Epson, consider the Epson 960. It is better than the Epson 900, it also is capable of printing on printable CDs and DVDs, and it is available for a very attractive price ($199 with a cable and free shipping) as a refurbished model directly from Epson. I believe the refurb has an Epson warranty and some people say that refurbs are more reliable than new because they have been through more quality inspections.

Besides the CD/DVD direct printing capability, the Epson Stylus Photo 960 has a 6-color Photo Ink system with individual ink cartridges, very small 2-picoliter ink droplets for great detail, and three paper paths for a wide range of media, including sheet paper, roll paper and poster board. Its dye inks are quite durable for dye inks, with a light resistance rated up to 27 years. For more information, check out the Epson offer:

Epson Stylus Photo 960 - Refurbished

-- Seeker --

farss,
Thanks for the input on the Epson 900. It doesn't appear that Canon even sells CD/DVD printers here in the United States. I don't understand why.
Some of the aforementioned Canon printers seemed to be worth a look, but it appears that the only company in the lower price range which sells CD printers here in the US is Epson.
I am wondering if it isn't worth waiting until the Printer Copmpanies get their act together. I have been successfully printing DVD labels up until now which cannot be removed (Avery Permanent Labels), but I wanted to try a direct printer.

John

Dear Seeker,

I did order the EZ/CD Printer Plus about a week ago now - hasn't arrived yet as I only wanted to pay for ground shipping. I originally negotiated the price down from $339 to $299. In the end, they only charged me $239! I THINK it will do everything the Epson 960 does, plus more. We'll see. It does have the 6 ink system, etc. However, thanks very much for your message and I will keep it in mind should I decide to return the EZ/CD.

Farss, I think the model of EZ/CD Printer you saw at the show may have been the first model, which did not have a lot to offer. There are three models (4200, 5700 and Plus), with the most recent being the Plus.

Best regards,

JCG

Hi,

goto the following URL www.zip.com.au/~jaime/cdprintingdemo.wmv

to download a simple movie of the canon i905D printing on a disc. 3mb

the front loading feature turned out to be a bonus for me because i have put the printer on a shelf in my closet and run a 5m USB cable from my PC to the printer it saves me alot of space on my desk !


cheers
JC

Ive boosted the volume on the file so you can hear it printing, the printer is not noisier than other inkjets

regards
Jaime

"Ive boosted the volume on the file so you can hear it printing, the printer is not noisier than other inkjets "

I think you must have boosted the volume a lot to make it audible - in real life, this printer is q-u-i-e-t!

Richard Hunter

well atleast 1 person has dloaded and watched it (its only 3 mb)

yeah i did the maximum vegas would let me and i fiddled with the audio compressor. you can hear the low bit rate artifacts in the sound ;-)

btw that was filmed with a sony DSCP9 DSCam, gee its handy to capture little things like this.

Jc

jcg,

Sorry for the delay to get back to you on this. Out of town. The software is called Discus. A lot of graphic stuff, but doesn't let you too much customization.

Galen

So how good does the Epson R300 print on DVDs and how good of a photo printer is it compared to the Epson 960?