CD label dillema

[ClickHere2Surf.com]

I used to print my CD labels on glossy sticker CD labels on my HP busines printer, I then realized that a printable CD costs less than a normal CD + glossy label and decided to get the Epson R200 CD printer even though I hated Epson.

Well after just a few weeks the epson now needs me to push and pull in the CDs as it loads and unloads them otherwise it crashes (not much of a deal since it always crashes a few times per print job).

The thing is the epons is slow and I have to "babysit" it, ejecting and inserting each disk as it finishes one, and the print CDs very easily smudge (I use this for a program I sell and don't find the smudging acceptable), soaking an epson printed CD in water washes it clean, soaking a CD with printed label from my HP in water does nothing, you can't even tell it's been in water.

My question is, should I throw the epson away and go back to printing CD sticker labels on my HP (which is what I'm doing now)? They actually look much more professional than the direct printed ones on the epson, since the colors on the epson are extremely dull and it looks as if it was printed 100 years ago compared to the HP prints. I found cheaper CD labels that print the CD+label cost almost to the same as the printable CD cost, and the HP costs a lot less in ink since I can refill it (epson did everything they could to prevent refilling, the HPs are made to be refilled easily if the user wants to).

What should I do? Throw out the epson and print stickers on the HP or keep using the slow epson that needs babysitting and does easily "smudgeable" CDs?

One thing's for sure is I'm never buying an epson pritner again, it was my first and last, I knew epson sucked but geez, I had no idea it was THAT bad, it's essentially a defective product, everyone had the same problem after a few prints from the reviews I read.

[3fingersalute]

Well after just a few weeks the epson now needs me to push and pull in the CDs

Well, you've been running it for 4-5 months, how many copies have you put throuh it? - It may need cleaned and/or serviced.

Also, what is the warranty period on it, perhaps you could send it for warranty service?

What should I do? Throw out the epson and print stickers on the HP or keep using the slow epson that needs babysitting and does easily "smudgeable" CDs?

You're soon going to need to invest in a dumpster to throw all these junk products in !!

[ClickHere2Surf.com]

I might have printed 400-500 CDs on it, and it's not a nozzle problem (well, I do get nozzle problems quite often which need 6 half cartridges to clean, or $30 of wasted ink each time), it's physically not pulling in and pushing out the CD tray as it starts and stops printing.

I did ask them about getting an excahnge by email but never got a reply, anyway it'll probably just keep breaking every 50 prints like it is for most users based on user reviews, I think I'll switch to the sticker labels on the HP and be problem free and have better quality labels. But I still do have quite a few cartridges for the epson.

I might keep it for photos since my business line HP isn't as good quality (its only 4 colors vs. 6) but the epson only works with the most expensive photo papers, anything else and you end up with a nice puddle of ink on a sheet of paper, I'll probably replace it with an HP photo printer some day.

[3fingersalute]

I meant have it serviced and cleaned, not just run the nozzle cleaning.......it sounds like the feed rollers/mechanism need cleaned/replaced.

[ClickHere2Surf.com]

Yes, but it will probably need this every 50-100 prints which isn't worth it, I sell 150-200 copies a month of my software so this would mean sending it in for service every week and it would take more than a week probably, I think I'll print the stickers on my business hp printer, it's much more reliable and will most likely never need servicing, the only time I had to get an HP serviced in over a decade was after spilling a full glass of coke in one.

By the way, I even started offering a color printing service since my new hp has a montly duty cycle of 10,000 pages a month and I don't even print 1000/month for myself but what I print is 100% ink covered so each page I print is equivalent to 20 average pages in ink usage, which is why I needed a business model otherwise I'd literally be refilling it every 20-30 prints which is a ridiculous waste of time, with the business machines I can go for 1-2 months without refilling, and now I'll be hooking it up directly to 16oz ink bottles with small hoses connected to the refill holes of the cartridges, the printer won't need modifying at all and since it has a built in ink pump it won't have any problem pumping the ink out of the bottles.

So far I have a few satisfied customers comming back for more in just 1-2 weeks ordering 500-1000 prints (single or double sided). I think I'll soon reach it's 10 000 page/month dutycycle, if so I'll be getting the HP business inkjet 3000 which has a duty cycle of 30-50 000 pages/month, the MSRP is around $1000 US, but ain't no laser printer's gonna give me full color prints for less than $0.004 a page (yes, that's 0.4 cents a page, less than half a cent!) This allows me to have very competitive prices since lasers cost $0.08-$2.00 a page in toner depending on coverage. $63 of color ink makes over 30 000 prints! That's why I don't want a laser printer, it can't get anywhere near as cheap per page, even a 5% covered page would cost me more just in toner than I sell a full color print for now while making over 50% profit using high quality paper.

[3fingersalute]

You have an amzing ability to do this, but let's not get into this whole inkjet/laserjet discussion again.

[Ferrit]

I find i can get by on 1 click2surf problem a day
I really have been cutting back and it feels good

[geoscomp]

you might try just taking an alcohol wipe, start the printer and then unplug it when the cartridges are in the center..clean off the carraige rod with the alcohol wipe, and then with a VERY small amnt of 30wt synthetic motor oil, relube the carraige rod (this is the rod that the print head rides on) This is standard on a lot of Epsons, and cures a lot of problems such as the one you are describing (dont use alcohol on rubber drive rollers though..it dries them out and causes them to crack) the timing belt in epson printers depends on the free movement of the print head to function properly. We used to call the bottle of synthetic oil we had the $30.00 oil at the epson service center that I worked at. 30 bucks when ever a printer came in for a paper/media transport problem. The other thing that comes to mind is that it is kinda silly to use a 99 buck printer for commercial use and expect it to work.

[Kenteth420]

I dont know, it sounds like it could be a problem with the nvidia chipset mb you are running.

[geoscomp]

I dont know, it sounds like it could be a problem with the nvidia chipset mb you are running.

[Jramsey]

I have been printing CD labels for several years now and find that the "neato glossy" labels work really well with an ink-jet printer. I have been using an HP 812C all this time without incident. I have never had a CD label bubble or fall off or get caught in a CD player, therefore I have continued to use this method instead of a "CD Printer". If it works, why mess with it. The Gloss Labels have a shiny photo quality look to them, and the ink does not smudge or run. Just place a plain piece of paper over the CD Label and push out all of the air starting from center to outer edge. I hope this helps you. J.R.

[MobilePCPhysician]

The other thing that comes to mind is that it is kinda silly to use a 99 buck printer for commercial use and expect it to work.

And here, I thought it was just me.....

[ClickHere2Surf.com]

I don't print that many CDs (probably around 150 per month which any HP home printer could easily handle) which is why I got this peice of junk epson, if it was an HP $99 printer it would have been able to do thousands of prints a month (I haven't had a home HP printer in a while since due to my large printing volume I had to get a business one but I think the home models have at least have a 1000 page/month duty cycle). I got this epson peice of junk mostly just as an experiment because I had always been reading horror stories from epson printer users on forums, the only reason I got it was because it was so cheap and if it worked would save me a lot on CD labels as the labels cost more than the CDs. Needless to say epson has successfully prooven to me they don't know how to make reliable printers like HP does, not to mention having to send it back to epson each time the print head clogs (HPs are user replacable on those that don't have the head on the cartridge already) and the epson cleaning utility uses at LEAST $30 of ink to clean itself which is absolutely ridiculous, epson, goodbye forever, this was my first and last of your products.

It's been weeks or months now that I'm back to printing the CD stickers on my business HP printer, not only are the colors much more vibrant, the ink doesn't wipe off just by touching.

I'll probably throw out this printer, I thought I could use it for photos but with anything less than the most expensive photo paper you end up with a nice puddle of ink on a sheet of paper, the same photo on the same paper using my business HP turns out much better (not hard to beat a puddle of ink), but I might replace it with the new HP photo printer which HP claims is the world's fastest inkjet at 31 pages per minute in color (HP's business models aren't as good photo quality as their home models since they use 4 colors instead of 6).

[arch0nmyc0n]

Epson's have always been ink hogs... I coulda told you that... I'd say just stick with yer precious HP stuff and dump the POS Epson.