Direct to DVD Printer Options...
 

I am quite happy with the Epson 300R for printing directly onto DVDs. I think it might be one of the the most efficient systems for not wasting ink.

However, it only does one at a time, so on the occasional instances when I get an order for a hundred or so, I find it quite numbing to have to stay by the printer to replace discs every third minute or so.

What other options are out there for automatic printing (burning isn't an issue), and what about the ink aspect, what are the cartridge costs and are they as efficient as the six color cartridge system that Epson uses?

Maybe there are too many forums for them all to get timely responses?

I think this would be an excellent topic to discuss but there have only been 11 hits in over a day.

Hi Alessandro, this is a good printer for printing 50 dvds at a go.

http://www.publishingperfection.com/microboards/mbd554

Thanks Richard, I like microboard and will consider them.

I'm nervous about the ink consumption.

Apparently all the big players have been happy to sit on their two cartridge system, one for black ink, one for color. If A dvd has a particular color bias, much of the ink cartridge can get wasted if one color is used up before the other colors.

You are welcome. The microboard printer sounds better.

Sure the microboard printer is better and it also costs 20 times as much.

It's also faster.

They claim that DVD's only cost a few pennies each for ink, but they didn't specifically say that was for full color. Epson is using a six cartridge system, so when one color is exhausted, only that one cartridge is replaced. How many color cartridges is the Hewlett Packard using in their printing set-up?

I've heard recently that Kinko's is going to offer dvd printing. I'm researching it more, I'm aware that they outsource.

The Bravo unit linked above burns DVDs in addition to printing. Primera also makes a Bravo printer only unit that is seven hundred dollars less. Check it out here: http://www.primera.com/bravoII_auto_printer.html

Thanks Chris, looks like another good option, although they too only use one color cartridge. Maybe it's not an inkjet process that they use?

I meant the second link that Chris posted. That is the printer we use at work. I am impressed with its quality but I don't have anything else to compare it with.

Hi Richard, can you find out what a color cartridge costs, and what the black and white cartridge costs, and if anyone knows the range of duplications that can be made before either ink cartridge needs to be replaced.

The scenario I am most concerned about would be a full color DVD that heavily favors one color only, it seems to me that once the color cartridge is out of that ink, it must be thrown away even if the other colors are still full, and that can turn out to be quite costly.

The specs page lists the Print Method as Inkjet. It also says the ink cartridges that it uses are "Dual CMY color and black monochrome."

I bought a Primera Bravo II a year ago and a couple of thiousand disks later I can recommend it! It's fully automated so you can set up a job and it will burn and print up to 50 disks at once with no intervention.

Cartridges aren't cheap (GBP 25 each) but mine have lasted for around 1000 disks (although I don't often print full colour across the whole face)

Hope this helps

In U.S. Dollars do we double your figure of GBP 25 so that it equals 50 pounds?

If you can get a thousand discs for that price that is is good news but to me the key issue is going to be a color printed DVD, preferably when a DVD is biased towards one or two colors rather than the full spectrum of colors.

One Final question. Can the interval between DVD printings be changed? I ask this because is it possible that at one minute between printings the ink will not have dried yet?

Is there some kind of dryer on the unit?

Hi Alessandro
The Primera prints and burns at the same time, so the ink is drting as the next disk is burning... I guess GBP 25 is about $40, but with many things in the UK, we find that we pat the same figure in GBP as you do in $ - how's that for a rip-off..(!)
Anyhow, take a look at the primera sire (www.primera.com) I contacted them and they're very helpful.
Hope this helps