"Tom's Hardware" site reviews the Epson printers that print directly to CD or DVD

Back to post

Comments

Liam_Vegas wrote on 1/31/2004, 8:07 PM
Your report prompted me to check out the R300 at a local store. It was mostly the report you have of the front loading mechanism which is built into the printer.

I own a 900 right now and I must admit I am totally fed up with the way you have to insert and line-up the DVD's. I am almost... but not quite... at the point where I would just buy the R300 and retire my 900 even though it is working pretty well apart from this.

Maybe I'll put this one up on ebay... hmmm.

craftech wrote on 2/1/2004, 9:28 AM
Why don't you wait. I don't think the R300 is that big a step up from the 900.
Given the number of DVD recorders beginning to flood the market and the burners all over the place the competition should grow and better printers will become available with more choices. Maybe Canon will begin selling them in the US as well. The complaints I have read about the 900 besides feeding from the rear are dull output. That's my complaint about the R300 although some here disagree.
Besides, the R300 feeds from the front, but needs clearance in the back for the carrier to stick out as it passes through.
The R300 has a set of ink cartridges which are only for that model and the R500. Only OEM is available right now and if Epson does not use that cartridge set on futur models, we will be stuck buying complete sets when one runs out. That's when I junk it.

John
Randy Brown wrote on 2/1/2004, 9:40 AM
Does any one have any experience or comments on
this printer.

Randy
craftech wrote on 2/1/2004, 10:13 AM
Does any one have any experience or comments on
this printer.
EZCD Printer
-----------------------
Google search turned this up:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&th=b0e9a997bb157194&seekm=92383dd3.0306271811.5c64ae57%40posting.google.com&frame=off
Randy Brown wrote on 2/1/2004, 10:47 AM
Thanks John I missed that one.
Randy
williamconifer wrote on 2/2/2004, 3:38 PM
Craftech,

regarding dull output, out of the box the settings were not good enough. It was light and and slightly off color. I use Ritek inkjet top CDRs as well as DVDrs so I starting wasting CDRs on different quality settings. With the settings I referred to above I was able to get way better looking disc than I was ever able to do with the Meritline thin DVD Labels. And the best part is with the R300 I got the print to with in millimeters of the end of the printable area and it's the same for all 150 discs I printed over the weekend.

BTW I did a ink usage study over the 150 discs I printed and figured it cost me $.32 per disc in ink. Always wanted to know that number. Since there are seperate tanks I know that number will always be the same because I won't be tossing out carts with 50% yellow but no blue.

just my $.02

jack
Randy Brown wrote on 2/2/2004, 4:12 PM
>>BTW I did a ink usage study over the 150 discs I printed and figured it cost me $.32 per disc in ink.<<
Jack, was that with full coverage (not leaving any white)?
I'm thinking seriously about buying the R300.
TIA,
Randy
craftech wrote on 2/2/2004, 7:31 PM
" 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. "
==================================
Thanks Bill, I'll give those settings another go on my Ritek G04 White Inkjet Printables.

John
williamconifer wrote on 2/2/2004, 8:45 PM
Randy,

I can't do math. hehe. Actually it's $.21 per disc. And yes I have triple checked that for correctness.

Yes it is full coverage. Photo on top half. Gray on bottom half with logos, info etc. I lined that sucker up so good you barely see a sliver of white around the outside and inside radius.

The only complaint I have is after 150 discs in a marathon printing session the printer was inconsitent in pulling the tray through. A slight nudge does the trick and gets it on it's way. My guess is that maybe heat was a factor with the rollers. I don't know. I haven't printed again in a day and a half so who knows. All I can say is that the R300 got me out of a jam after the 960 crapped out.

jack
craftech wrote on 2/3/2004, 6:08 AM
Bill,
Do you clean the roller inside the R300 before you print each CD/DVD?
Epson says that you are supposed to do that by feeding and ejecting several sheets of plain paper, then printing the CD/DVD. Presumably that means before EACH CD or DVD.

John
Randy Brown wrote on 2/3/2004, 6:41 AM
>>>Epson says that you are supposed to do that by feeding and ejecting several sheets of plain paper, then printing the CD/DVD. Presumably that means before EACH CD or DVD.<<<

That sounds like a major pain...no?
Randy
JJKizak wrote on 2/3/2004, 6:54 AM
I don't do that and have no problems.

JJK
Jsnkc wrote on 2/3/2004, 7:45 AM
"own a 900 right now and I must admit I am totally fed up with the way you have to insert and line-up the DVD's"

Oh come on now!! I can load a CD or DVD In My Epson 900 in 2 seconds or less, a 3 year old could do it! Sure it;s not as nice as some of the printers that are designed for CD and DVD Printing like the Siganture Pro's or Bravos, but I'd rather pay $200 for my printer and have to spend 2 extra seconds loading it than spend $1800 and be able to just drop a CD in the tray. Plus the print quality is better than the Signature Pro, and the ink is cheaper. Not sure about the R300 with all the seperate ink cartridges, that has always been a pretty bad scam where the companies *tell* you that seperate ink tanks are better, when they really aren't.
craftech wrote on 2/3/2004, 8:42 AM
I don't do that and have no problems.

JJK
============
I haven't been doing it either. Just wondering if it's because if ink gets onto the rollers, it may end up onto the CD or DVD when it feeds through or if there is another reason Epson said that?

John
JJKizak wrote on 2/3/2004, 8:49 AM
The only time I had a problem with ink on the rollers is when the disc was not seated properly and things went chug chug bang scrape etc.

JJK