danalmasy's Full Review: Hewlett Packard Photosmart D5160 InkJet Printer
As a professional wedding photographer, I was looking for a way to "brand" photo CDs for our clients in professional way.
I investigated LightScribe, and I was ultimately not impressed with the lack of color printing, and the amount of time it took to "print" a disc. The fact that you never needed to replace ink was appealing, however I believe that twice as much wear-and-tear on your optical drive would be bad, so I moved on to other options.
I also contemplated hiring a company to print bulk-discs, using thermal or screen printing presses, but I found it to not only be limiting, but not cost effective.
That lead me to inkjet printable discs.
After doing some research, I came to understand that Epson pretty much was the only consumer manufacturer to sell inkjets that printed on CD/DVD discs. Since I was only going to be using the printer for this purpose, I talked to a few friends, and I came away purchasing the Epson R260. To cut it short, this was by far the worst experience I ever had. Epson has proven to me that they mass produce total junk, and I will never again buy an Epson product.
After dealing with my frustration over the Epson, I did more in depth hunting online, and I learned that HP had recently brought out a small, cheap printer, that was capable of... yes. Disc printing. Praise HP!
I went to Staples.com, and did a quick inventory check, and they had 1 in stock at my local store. I rushed over to pick it up, and rushed back home.
Within 30 minutes, I had the software installed and I had printed off a few test discs to great success.
The quality of the printing at 300dpi was really good. Not the best I've ever seen, but good. It looks professional. I've printed many color, and black & white discs, and they all look nice.
The software isn't the best, but again, it's passable. If you want a tip, use Photoshop or another program, and create your own graphics, then use the HP software to create the disc, it works great.
A comment on the design of the 5160 - It looks great in our all-Mac office. The glossy white plastic, with the light gray matte plastic gives it a unique look amongst most black or silver printers on the market.
So, after a lot of disappoint with Epson - the disc printing industry leader, I was surprised and impressed with HP's very first offering into this market. I've always owned HP printers, and I've had some good & bad experiences, but for my money, HP saved the day with this affordable, easy to use CD/DVD printing marvel.
I can't comment too much on the overall printing quality of the 5160 because I ONLY use it to print on discs. I imagine it's on par with any of HP's sub-$100 offerings.
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