Inkjet printable disk printers

[easytimes]

I am considering the purchase of a Canon printer from the UK, if I can get one or two... but I notice that the ink tanks for the new IP4820 printers are numbered differently between the UK and US. UK using CLI5xx numbering, and the US using CLI2xx numbering. Many products that are identical carry such numbering differences across national borders, but I wasn't sure if these didn't have some other differences in the embedded chip that disallowed their use on printers sold in the other country. Sounds like my luck.

I've been using Canon printers that could be altered in the firmware to function as UK printers, and enable the disk printing capabilities, but the newer models have been fixed so that can't be done, anymore. I really like the function of my Canon printers, and if I can still get them, without having to buy all of my ink supplies from across the pond, I'd be willing to suffer that added purchasing expense of the printer itself.

If anyone here has any knowledge about this issue, I'd sure like to hear about it.

 

[msmart]

Buy one from Canada, they're enabled for disc printing, cartridges are the same as US. I bought my first iP4500 from someone in Canada so I could print on discs.

EDIT: I found one for you in Vancouver if it's still available:

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/van/sys/1892030645.html

 

[easytimes]

Thanks msmart,
I was a little confused about the marketing I saw from Canon Canada... seems I would see disk printing weakly mentioned in some advertising, and it's left out in other spec listings. Not being sure, I didn't want to purchase a printer, and on arrival find it had no disk printing.

Having been burned on eBay, I have difficulty with auction/owner sales. I would prefer to purchase from a commercial entity, and get the newest versions to avoid difficulties finding the older tanks. My IP8500 is teaching me about using older ink tanks, now.

I have a friend in Vancouver, if I need him, but he's computer/printing illiterate, and if I asked him to purchase and ship one... or even two, it might cause him some anxiety. So if I could purchase direct from a Canadian online storefront, that might be my easiest approach... not to mention, I would prefer to avoid imposing on a friend.

Ticks me off more than a little that Canon USA doesn't enable the disk printing. Making decent products is only half of the equation.
Thanks again

 

[The Hat]

easytimes

If you are going to use the ip4820 printer with OEM cartridges you will have no problems, but refilling or replacement cartridges are a different story with this new Canon printer. Ouch..

 

[easytimes]

Hi Hat,
I went through some attempts to refill tanks a few years ago, with mixed results... one clogged print head and the ruining of some expensive photo paper later, I shop hard for the best prices on OEM inks, and try to use Sam's Club, when I can. Wish they sold Canon ink tanks a la carte. That CLI8 black lasts forever, for us.

Worst thing, now, is having that stupid saturated tray warning on my IP8500 to click around. I guess as long as it never stops me from printing, I can keep it from becoming a swash bucket with absorbent stumps (don't ask), and just put up with the aggravation of the warning.

For any interested parties... if reports are true, it looks like there is a fix for the IP4700, to enable it to print disks, but it's a bit more complicated than the process for my old IP8500 and IP4200 models. Wouldn't you know it. Just might be worth getting a factory enabled Canadian model. It's just funny that Canon's Canadian website doesn't mention optical disk printing on their new models. Guess it requires a point of sale question to verify. For some of us, it's a big deal, and actually a deal breaker not to have that feature.

 

[jackson]

Thanks msmart,
I was a little confused about the marketing I saw from Canon Canada... seems I would see disk printing weakly mentioned in some advertising, and it's left out in other spec listings. Not being sure, I didn't want to purchase a printer, and on arrival find it had no disk printing.
Thanks again

I suspect that's because a lot of retailers use the US advertising copy.
Staples Canada is an example where it would be hard at times to figure out what was in the box.

 

[The Hat]

easytimes

If you get the ip4820 in Canada I dont think it does CD printing eider.
You will have to get an ip4850 in the EU somewhere as it does CD printing ..

 

[easytimes]

easytimes

If you get the ip4820 in Canada I dont think it does CD printing eider.
You will have to get an ip4850 in the EU somewhere as it does CD printing ..

That's what I was thinking. Some of the Canon models may have printed CDs in Canada, but it doesn't look as if the new ones do, at this point. I'm not sure how it's working, but it seems as if the "print pixies" have been at work and cracked the code on the IP4700, as I mentioned. Maybe that's why the IP4820 was released. The Euro verson IP4850 appears to take similar ink tanks, but if I know Canon, they altered the chip to not work between the two similar models. As far as acquiring a Euro Canon disk printer, I think I can buy them, but it's difficult to find a Euro vendor to ship them here.

After reading about some of the problems with the Epson disk printing machines, I'm at a loss to know how to maintain printing capabilities, for the long haul. I know HP makes disk printers, but after I removed HP printers from my computers, I realized how dominating and heavy handed they were to my systems. I dread using them again. It also sounds as if they handle disk printing more like it's an occasional hobby feature, rather than something done in any volume.

I guess printing disks is going to go the way of the dodo bird. Seems funny with all the printable disk media around. I'm doing my part to keep JVC/Taiyo Yuden busy making that kind of media.

Disk printing is a great way to make backups of your files. I just screen capture the folder view of the burn session, where it lists the folders and byte count of their contents... then print it on the DVD backup disks. Saves a lot of time, when I'm looking for specific items in all of my backup files. I do a lot of work with video, audio, and RAW images, so it takes a lot of disks to backup my libraries.

 

[The Hat]

easytimes

Your best bet is to get hold of a used printer, ip4500, ip4600 or even ip4700 they do CD printing.
You could try craigslist or similar around where you live.
All the new Canon printers are now using strong arm tactics and 4820 even more so.
I use the ip4500 and ip4700 myself for CD print + back-up but I found the CDs only remain stable for five to six years before they become unreadable..

 

[easytimes]

easytimes
I found the CDs only remain stable for five to six years before they become unreadable..

Really??? I keep reading that, but I have a bunch of disks older than that and they are still readable. I've been burning since '98, and I pull some of those disks out every now and then, because I use multiple overlapping backups, through the years. I have some audio CDs in my truck that stay out in the sun and cold, and they are still playing... and I know some of those were made in the nineties. I will say that I have had some disks go bad, but overall, not very many... and I stopped using CD-RW and DVD-RW disks due to their instability.

Seems like the worst brand-name disk media I have had, has been Memorex... and of course off-brand stuff. Now, I exclusively use Taiyo Yuden, recently taken over by JVC. Coasters are almost non-existent, since I started using them, back in the early-mid part of this decade. That's if anybody wants a very high recommendation.

I also have a DVD recorder that can write to DVD-RAM disks... so I have DVD-RAM compatible DVD players around the house, too. They are the only re-writable media I use. For the single write media, I just buy in bulk, and burn when the need arises. Unfortunately, it appears DVD-RAM media is becoming a little less available, of late.

As far as the disk printing is concerned, I'll keep my antennae up for people heading to/from Europe/UK... and further investigate the IP4700 firmware/registry hack to enable disk printing. It's only been since April that it has been out there, from my reading. Which probably means Canon will be pulling that one back pretty soon. I'm just not sure how long these two Canons of mine will last... other than disks, I do a lot of printing.

Makes you wonder why Canon won't let people in the US print disks, but Europeans are free to do it. Do they really think we're the only ones who can pirate disks? Are there many people who can't tell the difference between pressed and burned... silk screened and inkjet printed? Makes my blood boil, just a little.