Sorry--I forgot to include the URL. For some reason the board won't let me back in to the original message, so here's the link:

http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20040127/index.html

I do regret that my Epson 900 forces me to feed the DVD caddy in via the back of the printer. That is just about the only isue I have with it though.

I agree that's a bit of a pain and I'm certain something better is in the wings but then again I've got a few clients because I had it so when something better comes along I guess I've got the jump on the fence sitters.
I've been looking at something better, by which I mean significantly better like thermal, ouch, ouch! I could maybe wear the capital outlay but the cost per CD/DVD is pretty damn high. I'm certain the results are stunning but heck the only time anyone sees it is when it goes from the case to player, for the cost of a good thermal printer I could buy two decent cameras.

It would seem to me once Epson would get together with the disc makers to apply a coating similar to their "plastic film" top shelf paper that the gloss issue would be down the toilet. Of course there would be a price increase.

JJK

The Epson R300 feeds from the front, has 6 separate color cartridges and is less than $200. Some people have complained about the colors being washed out, but I don't really worry about it. There are controls for "brighter/darker" that can be tweaked.

Now that printable DVDs/CDs are just as cheap as regular ones, it's much more cost efficient, less messy and much more "pro" looking.

Before the Epsons came out, I invested in a Primera Pro to do the printing on disc. I can assure you that when a client sees their disc with a family picture on it, or other custom artwork, they will show it to other people. Word of mouth is key....

I have a Epson 900. The feed from back issue is no issue at all once you do it a few times. For those that don't have one the procedure is basically this:

1. Slip your blank CD/DVD in a plasic tray tha has a CD sized cutout.
2. Push one lever on the printer down, slip the tray in from back.
3. Open top of printer, push the tray to front, line up with a guild line
3. Push same lever back up.

Start to print. I have mine behind a door for Pete's sake! The space you need clearance wise to slide the tray in and out without moving the printer back and forth is just 27 inches. Hardly a problem.

I like the Epson 900. The one issue which is probably more related to media is the colors are a little washed out UNLESS you adjust the ink saturation which you can easily do from the control pannel.

I have an Epson 900. Troubles free, pretty good results. I would also prefer front loading.

Washed out colors if you don't ajust the stting to darker, but otherwise, truly satisfaying results.

I would *never* go back to labels for CDs or DVDs, beleive me.

Billyboy.

I don't doubt that in your setup you find it all very easy to deal with the rear loading CD/DVD tray. In my circumstance with my office layout it is a pain for me ok? I do also know how to load the thing into the printer after having printed 100's of times.

I love this printer and the results it has provided me for the price I payed. My clients have been extreemly satisfied with the results. But that does not mean that I cannot see a different design would actually work better for me. That R300 version with front loading sounds like it would have been better (but it was not around when I researched and purchased my 900). I am glad they did not rely upon your assertion when they chose to make it front loading.

I am however curious as to why you cannot see (or even acknowledge) there <might> be a better way to do this (and that your circumstances may not be the same as the next persons)?

For my office layout it would be much better <for me> if this was front loaded. End of story (for me at least).

I have the 960 and am totally satisfied except for the money flow to Epson for the ink. Its pretty rugged too as one time the disc wasn't seated properly and it sounded like a women doing an 8000 rpm power shift at the dragstrip. Reset it and everything worked fine.

JJK

I have posted this before and some disagree, but my new Epson R300 doesn't do any better than the now discontinued Epson 900 or the Epson 960. The colors are washed out and do not look as good as a label. I have to run it through twice (the second time at a slightly reduced setting) , but the printer tends to oversaturate the dark colors by the time the lighter colors look good.
I realize that experimenting with different media might get better results, but I think that so far, the Ritek G04 seems to be getting me the best results in terms of DVD player compatibility. Unfortunately we have to choose and can't have both I guess. It is also impossible to adjust the R300 to print DEAD center which is where I want it. Maybe I am too fussy or maybe I wish that Canon would break down and start selling their CD printers in the US or maybe I wish the media weren't so finnicky.
Don't get me started on that one again.

John

John:
My 960 prints dead center every time. Is there something different about the 300 that will not permit that? I will estimate it prints within +/- .0025"
every time and most of the time the deviation is imperceptable.

JJK

I'm just about convinced to buy a 960. Didn't know it was discontinued -- it still seems to be offered for sale at B&H, maybe others.

I've had good results with substitute inkjet ink from carrotink.com for my ancient Epson Stylus Color 400. They have ink for the 960 for $8.95 per cartridge or $39.95 for a set of all 6 cartridges plus one extra black.

> It is also impossible to adjust the R300 to print DEAD center which is where I want it. >

John, I have the R300 and it prints dead center on the DVDs. Are you using the CD template/print utility that came with the printer? Is the printer turned on prior to inserting the CD/DVD tray as this is necessary for automatic print position? Not sure how critical it is but could you possibly be mis-aligning the disk tray marks with the carriage marks?

JL

>" I wish that Canon would break down and start selling their CD printers in the US "

Why don't they? Maybe there's not enough population over there!

Ironic - I would have bought an Epson earlier, but THEY don't sell their 900/960 models over here in Oz! I'm now happy with my Canaon i865 for half the price.

Jeremyk:
Do those cartridges have the electronic circuit on the back of them and do they specify what kind of ink?

JJK

John, I have the R300 and it prints dead center on the DVDs. Are you using the CD template/print utility that came with the printer? Is the printer turned on prior to inserting the CD/DVD tray as this is necessary for automatic print position? Not sure how critical it is but could you possibly be mis-aligning the disk tray marks with the carriage marks?
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It always seems just a touch off. Theleftover white area around the outer edge which is unprinted isn't the same width all the way around. The problem is that I need an in between adjustment on the coordinate grid Epson provided for alignment. Like +1.5 instead of +1 or +2.
Still not as big a deal as the washed out colors. That's more noticeable.

John

JJK,

I dunno about those particular ink cartridges, and I don't have that printer. Carrot Ink seems reputable. You could ask them yourself! :-)

j

I dunno about those particular ink cartridges, and I don't have that printer. Carrot Ink seems reputable. You could ask them yourself!
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Carrot ink sells only the Epson OEM cartridges and at $17.95 for black and $12.95 for each of the other colors they are higher than places like Best Buy and Gateway.

John

Carrot ink sells only the Epson OEM cartridges and at $17.95 for black and $12.95 for each of the other colors they are higher than places like Best Buy and Gateway.
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Actually, I was referring to cartridges for the 960, not the R300.

I just bought the 960 to print all my demos for a Bridal Fair coming up. I only got 10 DVDs out of the danm thing. It sprung a spring and now is in perma paper jam mode. As luck would have it a Staple store 40 miles away had one Epson R300 left so I snatched it up.

For Discs the R300 is WAAAAY better than 960. Here's why.

In the 960 to print discs you must attach a special loader to the front of the printer then flip a paper thinckness all the way forward, then feed the disc tray using a very awkward line up method (tray keeps going askew too), then re-adjust the paper thickness "wheel" to a click that is very hard to "find", push a button then print. Print time was 2:30 secs.

R300 is soo much more intuitive for discs. Step 1 open top of printer and flip down the disc guide. Step 2: put disc in tray and slide into place. Epson says to line up the arrows but I just slide it in till it runs into resistance and then stop. The printer aligns the disc itself. Step 3: Print. That's IT!!! Print time is 3:20 secs. However the time saved in loading is substantial. Best part is there is no thinking needed on my part. I set Epson Print CD to 40 copies and when one is done I switch it out with a new disk slide in the tray and push a button. That's it.

Oh also the image quality is fantastic. I have it set to premium CD surface, Photo Quality, Photo Enhance and have ink density set to +1. I'm using Ritek 04 DVD's with inkjet tops.

In hindsight the 960 is a good idea but clumsy in it's implamentation. The 960 runs $250 from Amazon and I bought the R300 from Staples for $179.00. Also remember that ink for the 960 is only used by the 960. Being that it's discontinued ink may become a bit scarse. Ink for the R300 is also used by the R500 which is a more robust version of the R300 that is coming out in Feb. 04. The ink is a 6 tank setup CMYK. The 960 has 2 black tanks the R300 only has 1.

Just thought I'd share my experiance.

Take care all.

Jack



Needless to say I am over joyed in my bad luck with the 960.

Thanks for busting my bubble. But the 960 is a two hand loader which means you have one hand inside the machine acting as the guide while the other hand pushes the tray in. Never had any problems with alignment. Is the software different on the 300?

JJK