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If taking photos and burning CDs top your hobby list, you've probably envisioned a device like Epson's Stylus Photo 900. This $200 ink jet photo printer comes with a feeder tray that allows you to print directly onto specially coated CDs.

The shipping Stylus Photo 900 I looked at worked well as a photo printer. My test photograph looked just as sharp as those from more-expensive ink jet models, though lacking slightly in color resolution. One nice feature: The printer accommodates roll paper--good for printing a long string of 4-by-6-inch photos edge to edge, for example.

The CD-printing function did take some tweaking to make the discs look their best. The included Print CD software is fairly basic, so I'd suggest creating your disc labels in another graphics or image editing program, saving them to TIFF or JPEG format, and then importing them.

Using the program's default setting resulted in unprinted borders on the outer and inner edges of the disc, which were often off-center because I had to align the CD tray with the print rollers manually. To print on the entire face of the disc, I had to guess the width of the CD's printable area. I ended up with overrun ink in the uncoated middle of the disc, which came off on my fingers. And when I expanded the print area, the software recommended that I wait 24 hours for that ink to dry before playing the CD.

You may print only on special CD-R media, which cost about the same as uncoated CD-Rs; the discs are available now online and will soon be in retail outlets, Epson says.

If you're concerned about a peeling paper label wreaking havoc on your high-speed burner or disc changer, or if you are just tired of using markers to ID your CDs, the trade-off might be worthwhile.

SUMMARY

Epson Stylus Photo 900 Good color photos, but color printed on CD-Rs is a bit dull. Price when reviewed: $200 Current prices (if available)

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