Recommendations for a desktop printer that plays well with DVDs/CDs

January 24, 2013 5:33 PM

My work has to produce sometimes one, sometimes two at most DVDs when we do a transfer of an older video recording to digital file. We're looking to purchase a desktop printer for use with DVDs, and I'm hoping the mefi community has recommendations!

Right now we have a Epson RX595 and have about $400-500 in the budget to purchase a new printer. Does anyone out there have a good recommendation for a printer that works well with printable DVDs in particular? I'm not seeing a lot of reviews specific to printing on these surfaces ("printable" DVDs)

I did a little research and it looks like dye based inks are bad for printing on surfaces that aren't paper because any droplet of water will smear the ink.. Otherwise we are just looking for others who have had good experiences especially for machines that are used quite a bit! Thanks in advance!

posted by ethel to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

You may already know this, but the key to getting good results with printable DVDs is to use the glossy ones -- like these Taiyo Yuden DVDs I use.

For what it's worth, I have an oldish Canon Pixma iP4000 that I've used to print about 300 DVDs over the last three years. It's certainly not an industrial piece of equipment, but the results (with the glossy printable DVDs) are fantastic.
posted by BurntHombre at 6:09 PM on January 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

I have an old Epson r300 (discontinued). The tray feeding of CDs can sometimes be a bit fussy, and the Epson CD software is a mess, but if you can persevere the results are nice. I use the printable DVDs from HP, but I'm not sure who actually makes them. The current Epson model is the Expression Premium Photo XP-800 which adds wireless, airplay, copier, fax, and scanner.
posted by Gungho at 5:45 AM on January 25, 2013

I print several hundred DvDs annually and use an Epson Artisan 50. It works fine; or at least as well as any inkjet I've ever owned or used works. I actually think the Epson disk printing software works pretty well. It's a six cartridge printer and also does a great job otherwise for the $149.00 I paid for it.

Ink cartridges, of course, are a complete ripoff.
posted by imjustsaying at 10:24 AM on January 25, 2013