that looks fascinating, but what exactly are they selling and how much is it??

Chris

I was in the same boat, but decided to go ahead and buy an Epson Stylus Photo R200. It sells for only $99 last time I checked, and it does a great job printing on printable CDs/DVDs.

Obvious drawbacks are having to buy the printer and printable discs, but I had an old printer anyway and I just was not impressed with the results on the sticky labels stuff. Not to metnion lots of people's experiences where the discs wouldn't play because of the labels!

gogiants, what specific brand of printable DVD are you using? I was just Googling this subject and found a few people who complained about the image smearing three days after they had printed to it. I (and they) suspect it had to do with the brand of disk they were printing to.

Dang, and I wanted to avoid buying more hardware...

Chris

HP owns the lightscribe technology but they are licensing it to several vendors to produce the DVD burners, software and media. HP is selling 2 PCs that include DVD burners with lightscribe on there website. Toshiba & Pioneer are producing DVD burners.

I'll give another vote to the Epson R200 & R300. I just use generic printable DVDs, but there's been no problem with smudging.

<Edit>

According to DVD Identifier they're Prodisc SO4s

Ian G.

I've used varioius brand names, and more "generic" discs, all with good luck; never had a smear and I can't say I've been wildly careful about it.

The Epson printer software that comes with the printer has settings that allow you to modify the amount of ink that is used when printing to the disk; I'm betting that people who've had problems might have put too ink on the disk. That said, I've never touched the settings and I've had great luck.

Well I have been reading up more, the smearing only happens if the disk gets wet. How often does THAT happen? Not often.

However, it makes me wonder if some of the ink might be coming off inside the DVD player/burner at some point? Who knows...

Folks at Amazon pretty much rave over these Epson printers you are suggesting.

I'd like to know more about this laser etching technology. I was at the Toshiba site and they made no mention of it...I wonder how pricey that is going to be.


Chris

I read the lightscribe FAQ... it's not really laser etching. There is a film on label side of the special disks you have to use. It appears that the label side film is light sensitive especially to sunlight so they recommend storing in cool dark places otherwise the "label" will fade. There was also a problem with PVC sleeves degrading the image. Doesn't sound like there is a perfect alternative to screen printing.

If you are in the business of providing a DVD as a product I think you'd have some disgruntled customers if their lightscribe label faded because they didn't follow strict care instructions.

Now if only they could really do laser etching... or maybe Sharpie should get into the ink cartridge business. (Bonus opportunity for any Sharpie employees out there?)

Glad I read this thread, didn't know some players are sensitive to adhesive labels. Probably what the problem was with my downstairs DVD player.

If you're worried about smearing, and want a more professional look, give them a clear acrylic coating with some spray. I usually do 2 coats - it not only brings out the color, but makes the disks look really nice.

I use the Epson R200, which others have mentioned, and am very pleased with it. It really gives your discs a more professional appearance. It's also a good photo printer -- a very good $99 (list price) investment.

I use Ritek G04 white printables -- a very good quality blank that draws rave reviews for compatibility.

I've just tried smudging a wet DVD printed on my Epson R300 (identical printer to the R200). It will smudge, but you have to work at it. It shouldn't be a problem in normal use, even with kids around!

Ian G.

I live in London, ON, Canada and have been looking around for printable DVDs with no luck. Tried Future Shop, Best Buy and several other outlets and they don't carry them and don't really see them doing it in the future. They do however sell the Epson R200/R300 printers.

Where do you get your printable DVDs from? Do you order them over the internet, maill order them or is there an outlet that you buy them from?

Thanks...
Al

Agree, I do the same. Only problem is that it is hard to find the DVD's that you can print on. Best Buy did not carry any.

I order them online. There are multiple sources, a couple of them being meritline and supermediastore. I bought 100 Ritek G04 inkjet printables from them last month and paid $45, including shipping. They frequently offer sales and other specials.

Acrylic spray, cool idea!

Do you just use regular old spray-paint type spray? Any tricks to getting it to work well and go on evenly?

As for buying printable discs, you can also go to www.outpost.com and search printable DVD. Outpost is the online store for Fry's Electronics. I've had good luck even with the cheapie "GQ" brand that Fry's carries.

I go to a hobby store and purchase a clear acrylic spray (Krylon is the brand). As far as even coating, that just takes a little practice - I don't hold the can real close and usually just do some circular motions with the spray. I also do 2 coats (letting the first coat dry)

Have any of the disks sprayed with the acrylic not played on another DVD player?

I've never had a report of any issues. However, you do need to be careful that the DVD is flat on the surface; the spray will easily find it's way to the wrong side of the disk if it's not flat against the spraying surface.

DOing a print with the spray doesn't add anywhere near the weight that a label does.