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I wonder who actually needs Lightscribe / Labelflash with prints looking that good...

Thank you for the review Dee.

Nice article!
When it looks so good, then i guess i don't need to use always the color protection spray.

Excellent article.

Thanks.

Very good, indeed. I coudn't find in Epson website the updated version of Print CD you are using, Epson Print CD version 1.20E. Any Ideas. BTW my version is Epson Print CD version 1.20A.

Thanks Dee and Jan for article.

Thats a complete Review Dee covering all drives showing wide compatability of Verbatim media. I am not a big fan of lightscribe or labelflash since they both have limitted color reproduction. But printing directly to media sucks so much ink. I have Epson R200 and TY +R 8X hub inkjet printable media and verbatim Datalife plus hub inkjet printable, both surfaces suck too much ink. Good thing I use cheap generic ink and redeem ink cartdridge at staples for $3 coupon. I paid $5 per cartdridge on ebay so overall it is still cheap.
Dee, do you have any idea how much the verb shiny glossy surface run for??? The old Verb and TY media I have, the surface is too grainy, but I still get good printing results.
Thanks for the review Dee

How long does it take to print with the R300 and R200 (and R220 if anyone has one)?

I've considered the investment... but I've wondered if print times are as ridiculous as LightScribe etching.

The R220 and R200 are in effect the same printer. It does not take long to print on a disc and the time varies on the quality level you use. Highest quality photo takes the longest, though I only use standard as there realy is no difference in the image and it is for a back up after all. None of the prints take as long as LS takes to etch.

Lightscribe takes 15 mins or so from a review I read when it first came out.

So should I assume 5 mins? 10?

Less than 5 on standard print.

Not too shabby. Burning at 16X that's just over 10 mins for the whole process. With Lightscribe you might as well have a 2X burner.

Over here in Germany / Europe, the price is ~20 EUR for a spindle of 25 discs atm. (the important distributors don't have them yet, the discs should be cheaper by then). Knowing that media prices are lower in the US in general, they should cost you less (once available). Rule of thumb: Add less than ~$5 to the price of a 25 spindle of 'normal' printable Verbatim discs.

Verbatim Australia seems to be pulling a bit of a swifty here....
http://www.verbatim.com.au/corporate...es.cfm?ID=1057

They're the same non-glossy, non-hub printables that have been available before this press release.

No glossies nor 16x hub printables anywhere that I can see on their Australian website yet.

As far as I've checked the german sources only the 10-pack jewel cases are hub printable (21mm). The 25 spindle has 36mm diameter non printable center area.
The glossy TDK DVD-R I've tested with my R200 got two stripes from the transport mechanism of the printer (not so glossy anymore after print of dark areas). Hope the Verbatim will perform better... (On a Canon Pixma 4000 the TDK looked perfect though)

Yes, that's my understanding also, from looking at Verbatim's EU website, in English. If I look at the same website in German, the part number list is a lot shorter, and I can't see 43561 and 43567 on it.

Thanks Dee. That's so cool! I think I feel the urge to buy an Epson R350...

I noticed the same problem with TDK Photo Glossy printables in my Epson.. don't think it is the transport though, more probably the way the ink is sprayed on. Anyway, I hope the Verbatims don't have that problem.

Impressive...thanks for the review.

Hi and thanks for the comments.
I should have mentioned in the "Printing tests" that the highest quality setting was used, and the time taken to print the media was around 4 minutes and 45 seconds.

Thanks Dee-27.
Not to take anything away from your and Jan70's great work, but it would be nice to have a comparison against white printable discs also.

BTW, I often wonder why people even care about "half an hour" LightScribe crap, or almost "non existing" LabelFlash, when a simple printer can achieve photo quality prints on CD/DVD's in 5mins.

That is a good idea, i will try and find some time this weekend to print on a normal printable disc and post the result here.

The only problem is, the scan provided in the review could not pick up how good the Glossy finish on the Verbatim media looked. You would have to see it with your own eyes to see how spectacular it looks.

Maybe you could try doing a macro shot with a digita camera instead?

I'm not sure it's really fair to compare different printable media types unless you have assured some sort of appropriate adjustments of the printer driver. Printer drivers do not always properly adapt to different surfaces, so you may only be demonstrating that that particular printer favors one type surface over another.

I find that with careful adjustments, I can get virtually identical results with all types of disc surfaces. True, gloss finish oftens looks better to some eyes, but color and contrast are very adjustable with most drivers.

So, ignoring the "gloss vs flat finish" questions, if these discs look different than those, it's only because of the printer adjustments.

Could gloss paper also absord the ink better resulting in better contrast?