as above want a new priner is there any differenece in the disc printing quality of the two ?

and how much of an improvement would either of these be over my old ip3000 (i think thats what it is its at my mums house) which i havent used for about 2 years so those heads are probably knackered anyways

or what about that dymo dedicated disc printer think that would give better results for printing to discs

as i want them to look as real as possible nice rich colours
and glossy

Disc printing does not require a high-end printer. 150DPI is adequate. I'd go for the IP4500 for price and for the fact that it gets rave reviews for photo quality. The 6700 will add additional photo inks, but no added quality for discs.

iP5000 was also good been using it for nearly 2 years now. One more good thing is, you can use cheap compatibles or you can re-fill the tanks for even cheaper consumables expense. I discovered how to re-fill them myself and I am re-filling them ink tanks since. One con though is you can not print right to the hole. Not sure with the other canon models you qouted if they can.

Forgot to mention: The IP4500 is light-years better than the IP3000 in any respect.

For "rich and glossy" discs, there is only one choice for media, and that's TY Watershield. Verbatim glossy doesn't even come close, but is also an option if you want a more satin finish.

hmm im a strict verbatim from svp man, do you know of any stockists of these watershields ? and do they come in dual layer?

i think i would give them a spray coat too since im a bit pernickity , like a laquer that doesnt destroy the paint il have a look around for something suitable as good as any disc is for printing id still like it to have a hard coating too

how far away from the hole will not be printed roughly? like 1 or 2 mm ?

cheers ffor your replys

Gordy

You do not want to spray TY Watershield. If you must do that, use plain old flat finish discs. Canon printers will print in to 23mm in the Canon software. You can go further in other programs.

I use TY printable silver tops which has a larger unprintable inside diameter anyway of 25mm for the Silver top FULL FACE discs though not so in the White top full face discs. Canon software only allow you to print up to -10mm from the largest inner unprintable area of normal discs. Or a 35mm inner diameter is unprintable. I know Epson can print right to the hole.

In TY silver printable full face disc there's a visible ring to mark it.

But then depends on your priorities. For me I print the labels just for disc identification as I store my back ups in a plastic wallet in a shoe box

Yeah its good to protect the printed Cd's with varnish sprays because they seem susceptible to wet or sweaty fingers and stop the ink runs. I do it outside though because I could not withstand the smell of the varnish....too strong.

I haven't tried watershield yet just too expensive for me but should be great to have I guess.

@ CDan
Can you direct me to a CD printer program that can be used in Canon printers that allow you to print right to the core? I already used the latest version of Canon'. I use Pixma iP5000. Or any way to tweak the parameters to bypass the limits? Roxio do not support canon only Epson.

This is inaccurate. Canon CD-LabelPrint allows you to create templates for printing any disc down to 17MM center diameter. Simply click the "select paper" button and create your template.

oh dear .. decisions again i do prefer the canons for some reason but ideally i want to print the whole of a full surface printable disc or as near as damnit anyways, im sure my old ip3000 could get real close but i cant remember if this was with full face printables or the ones with the clear ring around the center hole :S

THANK YOU CDAN!!!!
You know, I have been using this printer for sometime and I didn't know about this "select paper" and be able to make your own template. I thought its only for paper labels. I have only been using the CD-R default values - only adjust the inner and outer by +/-10.

Now I can print right to the hole. Again thanks Cdan.

To re-fill the ink tanks: Locate and push through your filled 10 ml syringe into the re-fill hole at the top of the cartridge then turn UPSIDE DOWN(this is important) and start filling. The pressurised air will scape out to the printing head opening. Re-seal the syringe entry hole with a super glue AFTER FILLING . You're done.

so the canons about my best bet then since it can print right to the hole ? i was thinking i might have to go with an epson, but would prefer it to be a canon!

Yes, surely do can print up to the hole thanks to CDan for the tip.

Canon a good choice gordyboyuk for the main reasons of being able to use
cheap quality compatible ink cartridges and also be able to re-fill them and being a good printer, economical, fast and sleek and don't occupy acres of space and I like the dual paper feeder too so don't have the upright feeder on the way all the time. Use it as a second printer on my rig as my other one is a 4 in 1. I heard that the Epson a little ink hungry, but I don't know never used one.

well, You can pick up a cheap Canon at amazon co.uk.

I love my Canon. The 6-8 color models are slightly better for photos. The models with 3 ink colors, a dye-based black (photo) ink and a pigmented black ink are better for printing documents than the 6-color photo models that lack the black pigmented ink.

I would choose depending on what's most important to you besides printing discs. Photos or sharper looking text... Both types will print discs about equally well... and the models with less colors and the pigmented ink don't print photos badly at all...

In case anybody's interested... I've found the Ilford Printasia photo paper is extremely similar to the Canon Plus paper. It's MUCH cheaper and doesn't fade quickly like the Canon Photo Paper Plus can. I use the Photo Paper Plus setting with the Printasia and it works great. Normal noise reduction, photo optimizer pro (auto "photo fixer") off.

I've had really bad luck with cheaper inks shortening the life of print heads in the past. I'm scared to use them in the Canon since the print heads are not replaced with the cartridges and have to last. I use "quiet mode" all the time thinking maybe it will slow down the printer and keep heat to a minimum, possibly lenghthening the life of the print heads and printer.

Remember the old days when there's a qoute on the user manual that says: Guarantee will be nullified if you use other than OEM ink?

Those days are gone because now you buy the printer with ink free where before you buy the INK with the printer FREE.

There are only few ink manufacturers in the world I guess Canon use the same ink source eh. I am re-filling mine for over a year and been fine. If it's gone maybe time to upgrade.

sorry to drag this up again folks but been to my mums and got my old printer turns out its not the ip3000 its the ip5000 :S

questions is is the ip4500 better than the one i currently have ?

Not in my opinion. The 5000 doesn't have chipped carts so you can buy oem carts very cheaply.

so i should just buy a full set of new carts for my ip5000 so im using fresh ink and my results should be as good as i can expect from an inkjet ?

I'd use cheapo G&G tanks and enjoy the cheap printing. ($3 each). As previously stated, disc printing does not require a high-end printer, and the IP5000 is more than enough to do the job.

cool thanks for your input on both my topics CDan much appreciated mate!