I have had some luck in the past using windex on a pad under the heads to clean them (it will dissolve the ink). I have not played with that particular model, but the others I have had have a pad under where it parks the head - if you can soak that with windex and let the head sit on it for a while (also a cotton swab soaked in Windex rubbed on the bottom of the heads), you may be able to clean them. I think most of the newer cartridges are "chipped" (so they can make money selling you the new ones instead of you refilling the old ones ), but I have also been able in the past to put some windex in an old cartridge and run a number of cleaning cycles to get the heads clean again. (if you Google Epson head cleaning, you should find LOTS of information :+ )

I currently have an R280 that is still working pretty good for printing on the watershield TY disks.

mikey

I'm a previous R200 user as well.

I think the Artisan's suck. I bought one, and in less than 2 weeks, it stopped working properly. Got a replacement from Epson, and then it stopped working after a few weeks. Total junk.

I now use an HP all-in-one that does disc printing.

I recently had to retire my Epson Stylus Photo R300 printer after several years of service. In its place I purchased an HP Photosmart D7560 from Newegg.com for $79.99. I've had the new printer for about 6 weeks now and I am very satisfied with it. Surprisingly my leftover Epson printer paper gives great results in the HP printer. One thing I kept reading was that you do NOT want to install the software on the HP installation disk. Mega-bloatware. I just went with the bare bones drivers direct from the HP site and I've been very happy.

Mark

Yep, that HP software is a bear.

Thanks for the info... very helpful.

gpsmikey - I'll have to try the Windex solution... I do use off brand ink but have had no problems for a couple of years. But you never know what you are getting!. Thorough cleaning might help.

I had briefly looked at the HP models but am concerned about ink cost especially since they combine more than one color in a single cartridge. But I should consider HP as well.

That old R200 has been a workhorse with no problems other than the feed tray which I replaced with an updated model.

My R200 is still working fine after many years. I get my ink from INKSTOP. Their cartridges will work with their own chip. Price is less than half the Epson price. I did get the updated tray. but have had no other proglems.

Lynn

What i like about HP is their printers Just Plain Work ... as long as you don't install the included software of course.

That makes me wonder how many of the people who pan HP install the software that comes in the box, and how many people who use the Windows or the downloadable driver never have any problems.

you see the same HP drives I have? On the website they've always been in the 300mb range that I've seen. EEK!

But did epson stop the photo CD/DVD stylus printers??? I haven't looked since I got my last one.

My HP has individual cartridges.

Hi

I have had several Epsons, also the R200, and was happy for them.

I now have 2 Canon IP4700, and love them. I mainly swithed to Canon because I can get them quite cheap from work :-).

The problem with Canon over Epson is, that if you do not use original cartridges for Canon, you cannot follow the ink level, you have to do it by eysight only.

I still like Epson, and had an R800 also. I would not get that one again for CD's DVD's because it has 8 different cartridges. It was fantastic for photos, but a waste IMO for CD's / DVD's

/Ulf

I hated my 2 Epson R210 printers and I love my Canon iP4300 and iP4500. Also used an iP5200 which was equally great. I use original ink.

agree with ulf....

canon are fine by me, other than the inks, but then again, i learnt early on that cheap ink is exactly that.

physically all my canons have take quite a bit of punishment with no problems so far....

leslie

On the Canon am I correct that you have to buy a conversion kit for CD/DVD printing on US sold models?

Any problems converting say a 4700?

I had an R300 that worked for short runs, but for more than say 40-50 discs the thing would start feeding the tray out the back causing all sorts of jamming problems when trying to remove it. I ordered new trays and the same thing happened. It was terrible at printing paper because I could hand write it faster. It was my third and last Epson printer. Clogged heads, paper jams, and a terrible attitude on the part of Epson. Print heads are difficult to replace on Epson printers.

I have been using modified (to print discs in America) Canon iP4300 and MX850 printers. Had to replace the print head on the iP4300 (easy job), but otherwise great printers. They use the CLI inks that last a reasonable amount of time. The newer ones that can be modified to Print Discs In America take the newer 224 inks that don't last very long at all and are a total ripoff because of that.

I would suggest the HP models that print discs that if for nothing else won't have the print head clogs from any inks simply because HP puts a print head in each cartridge and not in the printer itself. So if you have a clog, you simply replace the cartridge and you have a new print head.

John

No, I converted my 4700 without any problems. The conversion consists of installing a new firmware image and receiving a disc tray. After owning printers of all major brands, I am sticking with Canon. They print well, last a long time, and do a great job of conserving ink. However, I don't understand why Canon US doesn't configure their printers for disc printing. It is so simple...

David

I tried the R200 (never would intake the DVD properly) and an R280 (worked for a while but the 3rd party ink system clogged or failed too often). Right now I have been using an HP Photosmart C5580 purchased for $99 at BestBuy. It has worked for DVD printing for over a year and is economical on ink usage. There is a color cartridge and a black one. The HP color cartridge costs $20 at Wal-Mart and I believe there is a high capacity one for around $30.

I turned down the ink intensity and try to use spot color rather than a full disc coverage. I'm using "Surething Labeller Deluxe" software to manage the disc printing. I shoot my own art for the DVD covers, typically a small ornament of some kind.

These so-called all-in-one printers are, of course, a blessing and a curse. It is great to have a copier, scanner, printer and labeller in one package; that is, until it breaks.

The Epson Artisan 50 (which is supposed to be a new version R200) and the Epson Artisan 710 all-in-one are only about $20 diff in price... hard not to consider extra features for so little. Probably looking at a CI ink system.

The Windex idea above helped slightly but still banding (on black only). Tried filling a cartridge with cleaner and replacing black with that. Helped slightly but not good enough. Guess it's just worn out.
Pad count is about to expire (47000).

Canon, Canon, Canon... (IP 4500)
Cheap, very fast, clean printing.

My Epson Photo 900 collect dust...

(I use non Canon cartidges without any problems)

However, I don't understand why Canon US doesn't configure their printers for disc printing. It is so simple...

If you live close to the Canadian border, take a day trip trip over and buy one or two :-)
They do it for us so I'm not sure why they won't for you folks.

Mike
(also a Canon user)

Remove the printhead and stand the head just the flat part where the nozzles are, in a plate of shallow water for a while, or just stand it up and put some drops on it, that should dissolve any clog.

Don't touch the head or wipe it with anything!

Also, the banding can be an alignment problem, but you'll need the HP driver software to run the alignment.

Also, you can buy just the head.

Update: Decided on the Epson Artisan 50. Appears to be an updated R200...very similar in construction. I added a CIS and it works great. If you liked the R200 you will like the Artisan 50. So far the redesigned DVD tray has worked every time.

When my R220 printhead clogged up for good and I switched to a Canon iP4500, this site has been a great help:

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/index.php

I had a CIS on my R220 (and R200 before that), but Canons don't accept CISes very well, so I've taken to refilling my OEM Canon carts.

This is a good thread to get anyone started down the path of refilling:

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=4332