I started a small, low-run CD production business. I have used an Epson Photo Stylus 900, and even though the quality was good and the ink was cheap, you have to manually feed in the discs. The Stylus 900 is an older print that the discs have to be sent through the back of the printer. The newer ones at least let you slide them in from the front. Still, this was more work that I wanted to do. I would watch movies on my computer while feeding in discs and still wouldn't have them finished by the time the movie was over. Plus, it's not really that much fun.
I went with a Primera Composer and Signature Pro. The Signature Pro is an inkjet printer, which I am not too found of. I have smeared discs because my hands were too sweaty. There are watershield discs that make inkjet prints waterproof, but they are kinda expensive right now. The nice thing about the Signature Pro was the fact that the Composer can do the loading. I can stack in the discs and even have them burned and then printed. The quality is good, but the ink isn't cheap...I don't use these very much.
I then got the Composer Max and Inscripta printer. The Composer Max is a beast with 4 DVD burners and the Inscripta is a thermal printer. The ribbon is insanely cheap (about $30 and it can do between 700 to 1200 prints), and the printer is fast. However, the Composer Max is big and in the way. The Inscripta can't print on hub printable discs. If I change the center hole to -70 (the smallest it will go), it does normal CD with the stacking ring. This may just be me, though, because I can't get the labeling software to even work with the printer. I do know that having two different Composers screws up the robot software. I have to uninstall it, delete some files, and then reinstall it with the Composer I want to use plugged in at the time of install. I don't know if the Signature Pro messed some stuff up and now the Inscripta doesn't want to work right, but the few discs I printed with it, the bands I printed them for scratched off the ink fairly easily. It's not designed to be a full disc printer. It can only print in one color, but there are some two color ribbons available. It would be good for titles only.
Then I got the Amtren SpinOne printer. I heard it was based on a Lexmark printer, so the ink could be bought at any office supply store. However, the version I got was the updated version, which is no longer based on Lexmark. The ink is different and costs more than I would like for an inkjet printer. It is small and compact. It has a DVD burner built in, and the software isn't as lame as the software for the Composers. I have used the robotics more on this unit than the Composers, and they aren't that great, but it's easier than loading them all by hand.
Around this time, I ended up getting more standalone burning towers. They burn the discs simultaneously, which is unbelievably quicker than having the printer do it. So now, all discs are burned before getting printed. I got a Rimage Everest printer with the Endeavor autoloader. It has CD burners in it, but I only got it to load the discs into the Everest. The Everest is by far the best printer. It can do full color thermal or monochrome black. I don't usually use the monochrome ribbon. I just did a job for black discs, and I still used the color ribbon as the quality was better. The discs can be bought for about 20 cents each and the cost of printer for full thermal color is about 33 cents. It uses a clear retransfer ribbon to add some more protection to the discs and to make them a little more shiney. There are a couple drawbacks, though. One, the Everest discs aren't regular thermal discs. You have to find the discs that are Everest-compatible. Another really bad thing about Rimage in general is they eventually cut off all support. So when your printer gets outdated, you can't call or email Rimage with any questions.
I also have an Autostar 2000 and Rimage Prism printer. I don't use the Autostar and the Prism is comparable to the Inscripta. It's less picky about what kind of discs it can take, which is nice since I can use Everest discs in it. They might always work in the Inscripta, but sometimes they don't. The ribbon isn't as cheap as the Inscripta for titles, and the color quality isn't as good for as the Everest for full color discs. More than likely, I will be selling mine here shortly.
Another printer I am looking to get is the Microboards PrintFactory 1. It has no burner in it and it is based on HP technology using standard HP ink. It's supposed to be one of the cheapest inkjet CD printers to use. They have been discontinued, though, and the PrintFactory 2 uses Microboards ink, the expensive ink. I haven't found a cheap PF1 yet.
A lot of the printers I have will be going on eBay soon. I would like to have the PF1 as the inkjet printer, the Inscripta for titles and logos, and the Everest for everything else.
