This is from macfixit.com
MacInTouch readers offered more positive feedback on Epson's new CD-capable printers, following yesterday's link to a review citing problems with one model:
[Sy Bram] In regards to your article quoting Walt Mossberg as saying that the Epson 960 does not work properly with OS X, I have just finished printing over 300 CDs with the Epson 960 in OS X, using the Photoshop template which I downloaded from the Epson web site. It worked perfectly, and included excellent setup instructions. There were none of the problems he mentions in his article.
[Daniel Dobkin] It's interesting that the 960 didn't work for Walter Mossberg or his able assistant; it's performed flawlessly for me (well, almost - see below).
I wasn't aware, before I ordered it, that Epson bundled CD-labeling software with the printer, nor did I care much, but it was disappointing to read, on opening the manual, that it would not work with OS X - it does, just fine.
A couple of points to keep in mind with this printer:
* Make sure you download the latest drivers from Epson's website; the CD packaged with my printer, purchased a couple of weeks ago from Amazon, is at least a version behind.
* Although the gimp-print driver (a PostScript RIP) works well enough, and does give some extra control (including allowing full. borderless use of a letter-sized sheet), it is s-l-o-w and (worse) leaves black smudges along one corner-edge of most pages. The same matter printed using the Epson-supplied driver produced no smudging.
* Whether printing on CDs directly or on sticky labels, I find Discus to be an exceptional piece of software. A "Lite" version is bundled with Toast, other versions are bundled with some CD-labeling kits or even with some burners. The full version prints CDs as well as many other media labels: VHS, various other tape sizes, mini-CDs, and even business cards (the cards as well as the CDs).
See
www.magicmouse.com to download a demo version. No connection here with Magic Mouse beyond using their software, quite happily.
Addendum: Walt Mossberg informed me that Epson's OS X solution is Discus EP, which I infer has all of the other label types removed. So: if you're only going to print directly on CDs, save your $35 and call Epson.
