I use a Canon Pixma iP4300.
Be advised that if you live in the USA, apparently the DVD printing option won't be available to you.
There are workarounds that have been posted here before though so do a search for the solution.

Mike

Some people love the Canons. I have the Epson 960.
JJK

My 3 Canon printers (iP4300/4500/5200) have been extremely reliable. Previously I had two Epson R210 printers which were constant trouble and both died fairly young. Get Canon if you possibly can, but I have a feeling that in the USA the Canons don't print discs(?).

but the ink is very expensive.

I've been using their ink for years. Doesn't look any different.

"but I have a feeling that in the USA the Canons don't print discs(?)."

There is a mail order conversion kit that you can get for them... but if your looking for something other than Epson in the USA then you can mail order a complete printer from Canada. We don't have the same restrictions here.

Having said that I'll throw my 2 cents in. The HP C5280 has excellent disk printing capacity and you change the heads with each ink change since the heads are built into the cartridge. Good clean printing every time. I had the Epson R320 prior to the HP.... the HP is MUCH better.

I too have an Epson R-280. I have done several hundred DVDs using the Print On a Dime continuous ink system and their replacement ink, which is much cheaper than the Epson. See

http://www.printonadime.com

Unfortunately, if you don't run print jobs or a scheduled print utility to keep the jets clear, they will clog and it isn't easy to get them clean.

I have 2 Canon Pixma 5300 and an Epson R800. Pros and cons with both.

I have printed a lot on both types, and they are aprox. the same speed. The epson uses 8 different cartridges and the canon only 5. If I use compatible cartridges (much cheaper) for Epson I still have the possibility to see how much ink is left, but I I use non-original on my Canon's I have to 'guess' how much is left, but both make great print.
For productions I only use TY watershield.

/Ulf

I have a Primera Disc Publisher II. I bought it as a refurb off ebay from a reputable reseller back in 04 I believe. It comes with the same factory warranty a new one does (1 year). Within that year, mine had an issue with the ink cartridge leaking due to a hyper extended spring on the ink holster. Anyways, I returned it and they replaced the CD writer with the most current and fixed the ink leakage and sent it back to me. The only cost I had was shipping it to them.

I recently had thetapecompany.com print some discs for me so I could compare the quality of my prints with what they were using. I cannot tell a difference. So, I have had mine for 5 years and it is still going strong. I can even use it through my dlink print server without issue.

j razz

Another vote for the HP C5280. Amazing print quality. I wouldn't use it for thousands of discs, but i have done a couple of 100+ jobs on it.

Just my opinion based on real-world experience, but i have always thought that HP was leaps beyond Epson in reliability and trouble-free printing.

>>...Another vote for the HP C5280...

Ditto here.

Replaced my Epson. Ink lasts much longer, looks great, doesn't cost as much to refill. Much more reliable disk printing.

I guess HP finally hired somebody to create decent drivers for their printers.
JJK

My Epson R300 has all the Epson problems that are well known besides the short ink life of the cartridges that are also well known. I love my "hacked to work in America" Canon ip4300 that works flawlessly on discs. While currently discontinued many of the Canon All-in One printers can also be hacked to get around America's obsession with monopolies.

I would recommend the Canon MP970. After you hack the firmware to trick the printer into thinking it lives in Radio Free Europe you can get Tray F from eBay or make your own.

John

I've used several Epsons including an R200 which died after hundreds of discs; bought an HP PSD7560 but sent it back because printing was awful (it was defective); currently use an Epson 1400 (wide format) with a CIS from Inkjetfly and an Epson RX680 (all-in-one). The current Epsons are much better than the older models in terms of the DVD tray feeding mechanisms, however their ink is outrageously priced. But the CIS ink is about 1/5 or less than the cost of original Epson ink and as far as I can tell, just as good.

My Dad had an R320 (R300 with a pointless additional lcd preview screen). The ink life on that seemed reasonable, but it developed print issues. My Dad chucked it before I could have a look. Then he replaced it with an R360, and that thing seems to eat ink. My Dad is literally buying 30 cartridges at a time, and he hardly uses the machine at prestigious levels. We only use non-Epson substitute cartridges, and I suspect there is some deliberate ink dumping going on driven by the firmware.

A second endorsement for the Primera Bravo II -- not cheap (lowest price I've seen is $1027 from cdrom2go.com), but reliable, high-quality printing, and you can have it print up to 25 discs at a time, unattended.
If you do anywhere near large-runs of production DVDs or CDs, this is a very good buy. And Primera's phone support, when needed, is quite good.

My Dad is literally buying 30 cartridges at a time, and he hardly uses the machine at prestigious levels. We only use non-Epson substitute cartridges, and I suspect there is some deliberate ink dumping going on driven by the firmware.

it's the settings he has. He's got something set wrong. I can have 1 set of cart's last over a hundred discs + some full color photos on high quality. Odds are it's setup to put down a lot of ink. I turned it down a notch or two, to the point where you can just tell the difference between normal. Nobody else notices.

He tends to have it set to Text+Graphics, high speed mode, so it should be at the lower end of the ink consumption range. I am sure that if I opened up the box and had a look there would be a well of ink in there somewhere. Did you know that it dumps a load of ink every time you start it up and switch it off anyway?

I bought the Epson Artisan 700 at Sam's Club for around $150. I got it specifically so I could print DVD's.

As far as I know, it's the only printer in that price range that has an automated tray. The others require a manual try, which can be hit or miss. Push a button, and out it slides. Pop your disc in and you're good to go.

So far the Artisan has worked like a charm.

Sounds to me like it's between the Epson Artisan, the R1400 and the HP 58xx. Thanks y'all. I'll investigare all three and take a look at any Canons that can do the job.
thanks again

Canon Pro9000 here (needed the A3 capability too) which prints discs great. My only beefs with it are:

1. It doesn't print all the way to the centre hole - leaves a white ring about 1cm from the centre hole.

2. When printing via the wireless printserver, it seems to need printing singly - when printing via USB it seems to handle multiple copies just fine. Don't know whether it's a printserver issue or printer driver issue. I suspect the former, as the netgear printserver seems to periodically lose the connection with the wireless router

Other than that, the print quality is excellent.

Did you know that it dumps a load of ink every time you start it up and switch it off anyway?

I know it runs ink through the heads so they don't dry up (which has happened to every HP printer I've ever seen), but that never used up much ink. I'd rather have a few less disks able to be printed then needing to buy a new printer because I need disks now & the heads aren't unclogging any time soon.

"I know it runs ink through the heads so they don't dry up (which has happened to every HP printer I've ever seen)"

The heads on HP printers are built into the cartridge. In other words, the heads are replaced COMPLETELY with the cartridge replacement. Ink usage to clean the heads is thereby much less.

I had an Epson R320 and it blew tons of ink through the heads for cleaning purposes.