Decent printer capable of printing on CDs?

[Josh Bass]

Hi, all. So I have this HP printer. I'm going to refer to as the Raging POS, rather than use a model number. I paid $130, don't really use it that often, but am still plagued with weird colors sometimes when I try to print on CDs, and a new fun thing where it tells me my color print cartridge is faulty or incompatible, neither of which is remotely true.

Anyone have a recommendation for a printer that can print on DVDs directly (and of course paper too), scanner/copier would be nice (my current one does all this, but alas, it is, again, a Raging POS. So looking for something reliable and not prone to weird nonsensical errors. Thanks.

Let's say budget of $300ish?

[Bill Davis]

I've settled on an Epson Artison 835 for the past few years.

It's been less hassle than nearly any other printer I've owned that does discs in addition to paper copies.

Like all of them, it takes a bit of learning. (The CD mechanism is integrated deep inside and you have to read the manual to learn how the control panel flips up to give access to the mechanized CD slot - and you've also got to learn how to go into the Print Settings dialog box to invoke the CD print cycle.

But once you get that stuff down, printing a DVD is about as simple as printing on paper.

Like all modern printers, the unit itself is dirt cheap but they believe their ink is actually Unicorn Blood worth hundreds of bucks an ounce, but what are you going to do? The entire printer industry is like that.

FWIW.

[Josh Bass]

Mine seems to go insane every time I replace the ink. Even though it's very simple and I couldn't possibly have done it wrong, I usually have all sorts of weird problems for a while after putting in a new cartridge. Is yours like that?

My inks usually run around $30 for both the black and tricolor together.

PS do they sell yours at Best Buy, etc. or do I have to get fancy and order it from the super secret special store?

[Don Bloom]

I've had 2 Epson R200s and have been using an Epson Stylus 1400 for about 3 years now. I can print dvds/cds and up to a 13X19 print. Yes it uses 6 cartridges and ink can get expensive over a period of time but the quality is great so I don't complain about the ink.

[Bruce Foreman]

I'm going back to LightScribe. My HP C5280 All-In-One is still working but squeaks and groans and cries to itself everytime I use the copier/scanner part of it, leaves me to believe each use may cause it to gasp it's last.

My newest computer has a LightScribe capable drive in it and I also have an external HP drive that does LightScribe. Fortunately I just have to label a few copies at a time, I actually run each printing twice to make the image look decent enough.

[Ervin Farkas]

Bruce,

Has LightScribe become any faster lately? I've used it a few years back and it was painfully slow - a more complex writing took as much as half an hour... And yes, I did the same thing, ran it at least twice for it to look good.

[Kin Lau]

I use a Canon MG6220. It's an all-in-one, with a wifi connection so it works wirelessly, supports Airprint so it works with my iPad, and also uses gray inks for better B&W photo printing. I'm pleased with it.

[Josh Bass]

So is the long and short of it that you cant go wrong with epson or canon regardless of model? Or are there good and bad within those brands? Is it all about staying above a certain price point?