I am surfing the net for some Ritek Go4 DVD-R media. I want some with a plain white top so I can apply a label without seeing the writing on the DVD through it.
I am a little confused as to where it say “white Printable Top†is this media only suitable for direct printing or is it still possible to apply a label to this type of disc?
I have searched endlessly but all the media I come across just says “white printable topâ€, do I need it just to say white top only?
Cheers
Neo
If you're going to apply a label then any surface will do, but white (glossy or matt - the latter being the version used for ink-jet printers) will mean that your label has less to hide. Once you've splashed out on a disc printer ink-jet though you'll wonder why you ever considered stick-on labels.
tom.
A word of caution - putting a label on a DVD which is intended for video playback often reduces the compatability of the disk. In other words, a disk which plays on a wide range of domestic DVD players may not play on all of them after a label has been applied. It may be because it increases the weight, it may be because it puts the disk out of balance, whatever the reason it seems to be true.
Having said that, the surface of printable DVDs has changed over the last year or so - the early ones had quite a coarse, rough surface but now disks like the Ritek are very smooth so if you are determined to add a label, you should have no problem with it staying stuck.
Ray Liffen
get yourself a inkjet dic printer you won't look back.
epson do a goo printer for £100 (R200)
good photo quality and will print on discs.
Comet are doing the Epson R300 for £99.99 inc FREE delivery see http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/65_154172.html
Paul W. H
I'll also chime in here in favour of direct printing over labels. I don't know if it's still the case today, but there was a fair amount of anecdotal evidence that adding a label to a DVD would shorten it's life, if it worked at all.
Opinions varied between the glue somehow penetrating the DVD and degrading it to (what I consider more likely) the increased heat of the faster-spinning DVD (over CD's) causing the label to eventually peel away and possibly damage the player as well.
Given that DVD/CD capable ink-jets (I also have the Epson R200) are so cheap, I wasn't willing to take the risk.
Thanks for the help folks, I think I will consider a direct to disk printer. The only thing that is holding me back is the cost of running one.
At the moment I have an Epson Photo 750 that has been an excellent printer. It uses 2 ink cartridges one black one colour they each cost about £12.00 each.
Are the new Epson R200 R300 printers expensive to run? I see that they run on separate inks, how much do these inks cost? Also will the printer work if one runs out of one? My Epson 750 don’t
Thanks again
Neo
I was round a mates house on Sunday and he has an Epson R200. The finish on Ritek matt printable disks is fantastic, however there is one small problem with Epson printers (and I'm talking from experience as I used to work for them) in that if they are not used often enough the heads clog with ink and it may be worth searching to see if HP or Lexmark ofer a similar option.
Check out the Canon i865!
You don`t get the alignment problems that some have complained about. It uses seperate inks & 3rd party ones are inexpensive.
Barry,
Just read a few reviews on the Cannon and not one was negative !
Currently £127 at e-buyer (plus shipping) details here
For anyone wanting to see what you get check out This Review
PC World, yes PC World have the Canon i865 on Special Offer (web orders only) for £95.80 inc VAT AND delivery.
Paul W. H
I fired off an e-mail yesterday to HP as I couldn't find any HP printer that printed to disks, here's the reply I just received:
Dear Mr Crabbe,
Thank you for contacting HP.
In response to your email, unfortunately HP do not produce any printers capable of printing directly onto CD.
I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
If you have any other queries, or need any other information, please do not hesitate to contact us on the telephone number below, or reply to this E-mail
Kind Regards,
John Hawkins
Tel: 0870 010 4320
www.hp.com/uk
Shame really.. looks like they are being left behind by Epson and Canon
I believe the reason for NOT putting labels on DVDs is that they become hotter than CDs and the label causes heat distortion/bending on a DVD but not a CD.
I'm moving this over to the "DVD, VCD and MPEG" forum.
Bob C
I too would just to chip in here, and agree with Barry Hunter - the Canon i865 is a great machine and not expensive to run.
There was a review in (I think the last CV) and while it was a very favourable one, still didn`t do it full justice. I have been running this printer for about 6 months and can`t speak highly enough about it. It is also pretty cheap to run as the print head is separate from the ink cartridges (meaning cheaper ink catridges) as you are only buying the ink each time.
Mike
The response [delete>Bob] Malcolm got from HP is interesting as I understood that the Primera multi printers that do 50 discs at a time used HP printer internals.
The first CD printer I saw belonged to our audio tech and it was a modified epson that a company had "got at". I would have thought HP would have been in like a shot.
[Ed'd by Bob]
[ 11.09.2004, 03:29 AM: Message edited by: bcrabtree ]
Hi, I can highly recommend the Epsom R300. It operates extremely quietly and has never let me down. It prints to disk extremely accurately. I agree with a previous contributor. Once you have successfully printed to disc, you'll never want to stick on labels again. Inks can be obtained quite cheaply from various suppliers via the web.Roy Alexander
Sorry Bob, I should have read the post better!!
Hi From Sunny Queensland
I can recommend the Canon i865.
I have printed 360 DVDs on a matt surface with this printer using a full colour cover over the whole label. All colour cartidges look like they need a refill. No sweat, out with the blunt ended hypodermic and sqoit. Job done. Looks daunting the first time you use one but 40 seconds later out it comes!!! Brilliant.
The software to create the image is simple and effective. Import graphics, italics, bold centring, etc etc.
Simple.
Labels are 40 cents each here.
Just priced a 50 spindle of printable 4x LASER discs at AU$27.00. Cheaper than the labels!!
Happy Printing
Phil
Just as a matter of interest. Why pay the full whack for your Epson 750, or if you buy one of the other Epson printers suggested, when the cost of alternative cartridges for the 750 is approx £3 a go not £12. Try MX2 for starter prices - they have always been OK when I had the 750 before moving on to the 2100 - now fuelled by the CIS system. Expensive initially but pays for itself very quickly and also means that you do not have to keep rebalancing when you change a cartridge. If you are critical of the colours.
Trust me, you can't beat genuine manufactures cartridges for getting the best out of your printer. I used to work for Epson and we received 100's of support calls a week where printers had developed a fault and it turned out the customer had been usning compatible replacements or re-filling cartridges with cheap ink.
I can also expel one of the fairytales that shops selling compatibles and refill kits use. Epson do not buy their ink from "a manufacture in the far east that also supply the same company that makes the compatibles". Epson manufacture their own inks and do not supply any other company.
The other issue is warranty. At the time I worked for Epson, the cost to have the print heads replaced was over £100 plus VAT and postage. The company always ran a test to check for genuine inks when replacing print heads on machines under warranty, and if it found that compatibles or refills had been used they would charge for the repair. On some occasions customers had sent in printers with compatibles fitted, so the guys didn't even need to do the test !
Before anyone says it, yes I'm awear that manufactures receive more revenue from consumables than from selling the printer, but if you are investing between £100 - £200 on a decent printer then why risk damaging it for the sake of saving a few pence by using cheap consumables.
Where have I heard "trust me I'm a ......." before?
I'll side with Malcolm on this one. If people who buy compatible inks that cost 1/10th the price of the genuine article could see the size of the nozzles through which the stuff is squirted, they'd think twice before they try it.
Do this: get a microscope (about 30x enlargement is good enough) and have a look at any full colour print made from your ink jet, and be aghast. This will give you some understanding of the technology involved and go some way to explaining why making sure inks are pure enough to exit the jets in such tiny amounts, not clog, dry out, leave contimates or change colour over time costs money, real money.
Compatibles cost less simply because there are less checks in place, it has to be; it's one of the the laws of masnufacturing. You pay less but you risk more ~ easy as that.
tom.
I understand what Malcolm and Tom are saying, but a few points come to mind:-
1. If the saving were only "a few pence" no-one would bother.
2. The Epson R200 can be bought for £100 or less, so paying over £100 to have the print heads replaced would be uneconomical.
3. If you're saving £5 per cartridge it soon adds up to the cost of the printer.
4. Some companies charge more not because of the extra manufacturing costs they incur but because their established brand name allows them to do this to maximise profits. I just bought a lens cap for a Canon lens - the Canon item was £5, a very similar generic one was 99p.
I was advised by a printer technician that if you want to use compatible inks you should alternate them with genuine Epson ones which have better head cleaning properties. I'd be interested to know if Malcolm thinks that is reasonable.
Paul,
I worked at Epson for three years in the technical services section, and it was in this time that the trend with HP and Epson was to bring out cheaper and cheaper printers. The term disposeable printer came to mind as the cost of the two genuine cartridges worked out about £10 more than the cost of the printer ! (yet at £49.99 these printers were selling like hot cakes !)
The issue with Epson printers is that the print head is static, ie its built in to the printer and the cartridges are simply ink resivoirs. Epson ink is made to suit the fine nozzels in the print head. Using cheaper inks and compatable cartridges that are not made to the same standards end up blocking the print heads.
To use a comparison, when you buy a car you have to take onboard the running costs, petrol and servicing. Take the car to a dealership and you can pay £150 for an oil change, get some guy working out of a lock up to do it and you'll pay £30, the reason the dealer is more expensive(apart from paying for the labour) is that they use manufacture recomended oils and part. The thing is that if you alternate the servicing between dealership and matey in the lock up, the damage caused by the cheap oil matey uses may be beyond any cure replacing it with quality oil would do, the same may be the case for the printer if you alternate the cartridges
HP differ from most manufactures in that they have the printhead fitted in the cartridge, which although maybe an marketing ploy to bump up the cost of the consumables, does mean that you get excellent prints time and time again, and the life of the printer isn't brought short should the print head get blocked.
At the end of the day its down to your own choice if you want to use genuine cartridges or compatables. Personally I would only recommend it on HP printers or other makes that have the heads built into the cartridges otherwise you could be looking at an expensive repair bill or at replacing the printer. On the otherside of the coin you may be lucky and never have a problem !
While not having strong views on genuine or copy ink cartridges (my history of things going wrong stops me from trying), I don't think Malcolm's use of car service as an example is very helpful as some "backstreet" mechanics can be very good and the car companies have not got a blemish free record.
BobA
HP have a new trick
A seperate head and a seperate ink cartridge.
in theory the heads last 2x as long as a cartridge of ink
i wish
we are replacing heads as fast as ink cartridges on our cp1700a a3 printers.
the cost is exhorbitant , my epson 2100 is cheaper to run by a long way , no heads to replace and each colour sub £11.00 even from local shops.
printheads for hp are £18.00 each approx
Ok Bob, point taken (the last time I used a "backstreet" garage I was conned).
I think that the amount of printing you do obviously has a bearing on your choice. My HP 5552 at home is used for the odd letter, Jewel case inserts, DVD inserts etc (typical home use) and so we've only had to replace the cartridges three times in 18 months. If you are doing high volume printing and going through cartridges as if they are going out of fasion then saving a few quid each time makes sence. But then if you are using this in a business function the printing costs are generally built into the price quoted for doing the job so what need is there for not using genuine cartridges ?
neo36uk above, asked about how much does it cost to run the printers... well since I'm quite curious myself because I want a DVD printer, a bit of investigation has let me discover that:
The Canon i865 has four ink cartridges: Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow.
...and the Epson R200/300 has six inks: Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Light cyan, Light Magenta.
The cheapest I've seen official inks are on Staples website (Canon £8.49 ex vat, Epson £9.99 ex vat). Anyone know anywhere cheaper? (DO NOT GET YOUR INK FROM PCWORLD!!!! The prices were nearer £30 per cartridge! Yikes!)
The R200 is currently cheaper (ebuyer price: £76.33 inc vat) the i865 more expensive (ebuyer: £131.10 inc vat), but the replacements for the i865 are cheaper, and there's less of them (Canon's £8.49 x 4 + VAT = £39.90, vs, Epson's £9.99 x 6 + VAT = £70.42). Weigh that against less inks means they'll need to be be replaced more, versus more inks mean higher quality photo prints.
So, balancing that all together... I might end up going for the more expensive printer, to get the lower repeat ink costs. I think the print quality might be ever so slightly lower by comparison, but will be more than adequate for my needs.
What does everyone else think?
I LIE!
The i865 has FIVE ink tanks... TWO black cartridges.
http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/interactive/Canon%20i865/page_1.htm
"Five ink tanks Black 6BK, Black 3eBK, Yellow 6Y, Magenta 6M, Cyan 6C."
One black is for printing black text, the other black kicks in in photo mode. Something to do with different ink mixtures. The photo mode black ink is suppose to blend properly with the colour inks, whereas the other one is a larger tank for plain black text.
Chris Thomas wrote...
"The cheapest I've seen official inks are on Staples website (Canon £8.49 ex vat, Epson £9.99 ex vat). Anyone know anywhere cheaper? (DO NOT GET YOUR INK FROM PCWORLD!!!! The prices were nearer £30 per cartridge! Yikes!)"
Try
<[url]http://www.mx2.co.uk>[/url]
for genuine ink.
MX2 prices for the Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black BCI6 inks for the i865 are £6.98 each (delivered), and Black BCI3EBK £7.99 which is fantastic!
Amazon are also pretty good (orders over £19 can be delievered free). The prices vary a little (Black BCI3EBK £9.99, Black BCI6BK £6.67, Yellow BCI6Y £6.59, Cyan BCI6C £6.67, Magenta BCI6M £6.67).
So for all five in total, MX2 just pip Amazon, £35.91 to £36.59.
68p can buy two bags of crisps and some penny sweets.
Ooh! I'll check it out, thanks mooblie!
So if you can get a complete set of genuine cartridges for a tad over £35, I see no finacial incentive to risk damage by using compatables or re-fill kits.
Malcom, you could save £20 on that price by using compatibles and when you have used a few sets buy a new printer. Ive used compatibles in an old Epson Stylus 400 for years and its still printing Ok. Hundreds of video inserts done on it and an Amiga 4000 and it does NOT clog any more like it used to on Epson Inks. And I have just used the first Think compatibles in the 900 at £7 for the pair from Choice Stationery. In my opinion better print quality from these over the originals. My opinion I would stress and when you can ill afford the price of originals a necessity.
Dougie Leaver
Well at £7 for a pair then yes I can see the incentive 
Ps I think you deserve a medal for keeping a Stylus 400 going all these years !
Re: Malcolm's point about HP not selling printers that print to discs - could it because of their LightScribe system, where a monochrome image is burnt onto the label side of a disc using the same laser that wrote the data? Does anyone have any news on this system? I've not seen anything since about July. The plan was to have products ready to launch early next year.
Cheers
Mark @ Steam Age
Hi all,
To add a bit more on the subject, I bought a Canon i 550 18 months ago. I worked it into the ground. ran at least 5 litres of black ink throughit. Finally its spirit departed. Took it to the Canon serice centre. Said it wont print.Head wizzes up and down...nothing comes out. He said ah ha...did some tests on it and said what do you expect..youve done 21,459 A4 pages with it..its had it!.
Buy a new one its cheaper than me replacing the heads.
Still looks nice though. Ive never worn anything out before!
BTW the i550 has the same engine as the i865.
I can recommend it!
Phil in Sunny Brisbane
Well, I've just got paid, so I've ordered the i865 from Simply.co.uk for £128 which is the cheapest I could find. Plus, they're doing free delivery in October. I might have waited a couple of days, but I saw the 'quantity available' figure on their website go from '11' to '8' in the space of an hour, so I thought I'd better get in there quick!
Ye gods! I ordered the printer from Simply at (it says on the despatch note) 17:25 on Friday afternoon, and it's just turned up at 11:20am on Monday. Free delivery too!
marvelous!
Oh dear. The white top DVDs I bought a couple of months ago (designed to MAKE me buy a printer capable of printing on them) seem to have an inkjet ink repellant surface on them. I have had to order some proper 'printable' DVDs! Silly me.
As you've discovered, buying "printable" DVDs is not a guarantee that they will work. You need "inkjet printable" DVDs.
There are actually two printing technologies used for DVD printing. The original DVD printing technology uses thermal printers, which are expen$ive. "Recently" ink jet printers have been adapted, first as 3rd party modification and now direct from the manufacturer to print directly to DVDs. The requirements on the printing surface are different, but I believe thermal printers can print on ink jet printable surfaces.
In the recent past, the phrase "ink jet printable" was something you needed to look for. Apparently, given the popularity of ink jet DVD/CD printing, just "printable" seems to be taking over. Just to be confusing!
[ Edited to expand on the printing technology description ].
Uh oh! Must check replacement order before it's shipped!
Phew! No, the customer reviews seem to indicate that they're printable:
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?product_uid=58865
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?product_uid=62308
I ordered one cake of each to see what they'd be like.
The Ritek disks (62308 above) print perfectly! They were almost instantly dry, too. Haven't tested the Bulkpaq ones yet, as they didn't turn up yesterday! :(
Ok... Bulkpaq disks turned up Friday morning. They have more printable surface toward the centre of the disk (about half a centimetre more), however they don't take the ink as well as the Ritek disks. It'll be Ritek printables for me from now on!
Hi. I have followed the discussion about inkjet printable DVD's. I'Ve tried them all, and the only ones I know work everytime are Verbatim. Never had complaints from customers. These discs and the Epsom R300 make an excellent combination.
Just though I'd get my two pennyworth in.
ROY