The Epson is $180. It has 6 separate ink tanks so you can just replace the color that's low- that's a cool feature. Claimed res is something like 1440 dpi. It has a fold down door that accepts a special CD tray. When flipped up it works just like any other printer.
You do need special discs; they must be "Inkjet Printable." Regular discs will just make a mess since the ink can't soak in. I've tried 3 different brands, Taiyo Yuden (the full face printable silver ones), Memorex printables & Pro Disc Full Face printable DVDs. The Memorex I'd avoid- with photo level detail they take over 24-36 hrs to properly dry. The ProDics DVDs, however, take magnificent detail and are almost totally dry in 15 minute. Likewise, the silver Taiyo Yuden dry very quickly.
Once dry the printing is very durable and color fast. I do have some RunTech spray CD-R sealant/protectant on the way to coat the tops with. This is supposed to give the printed surface more durability- we'll see soon.
White discs take truer color, but the silver ones look really cool. I printed a
Blackmore's Night Favorites CD with a photo of a roaring campfire against a black background. On the silver disc, the fire seems to be lit from within, sorta glowing. This "inner light" from the reflectiveness of the silver disc does look cool, but at the expense of looking a little washed out. Sort of like the black of a DLP projector. For blacker black and punchier color, I suggest white discs.
I took images of the cover of each album and shrunk them down, arranging them in a semicircle on the background. Even at just over 1 cm X 1 cm, you can still read the album titles!
That's some nice print resolution.
Can't wait to print some more discs and try some more brands. I've become a Mitsui convert, using their discs for all my important things. It just seems they're harder and more scratch resistant than anything else I've tried. They now make a full face inkjet disc, and I'm planning on ordering some ASAP. I'll be buying some Inkjet Gold ones, too.
