Pixelrrific

When looking to replace my dying Epson, I needed disc printing capabilities on a new printer just as I had on my old R320 Sylus Photo.  It was a pretty good printer, but I place a high workload demand on devices that are really intended for consumer use.  I still got my money’s worth more or less.

I decided to pull the trigger on an HP this time.  I already own a multi fuction HP Laserjet, and it’s been a real workhorse.  Nice aesthetics, and an impression of above average construction quality.  A nice touch is the disc printing tray has a little storage slot right in the printer.  In short, print quality is quite good on both discs and photo paper.  Maybe a hair below the quality of the Epson, but very close.  It is definitely much faster with better document quality.

What could be better?  Well, let me tell you.  While the hardware is better than expected, the software is terrible.  I was stunned to find out you can only print to discs using HP templates.  You cannot use your own designs.  You cannot change the inner and outer diameter, change the alignment, or do much more than change small areas of text or photo inserts.  The software seems intrusive and overly dumbed down.  I finally discovered a third party ap that solved the problem.  Unfortunately, I’m out another $30.

Bottom line is that it’s a good printer, but if you expect to print custom DVDs and CDs, you should add $30 to the price.

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