Best Portable Inkjet Printer for CD/DVD Printing: Epson XP-7100 Review and Recommendations

Question:

I’m planning to purchase a new printer and would love your recommendation. I travel frequently and need a portable inkjet printer capable of printing on coated DVDs. After some research, I found that the Epson XP-7100 might suit my needs. However, since you've done extensive work with this model, I'd like your opinion on it. Also, I'm interested in disabling the ink chips, but I noticed inkchip.net doesn't list the 7100. Finally, do you carry supplies needed to refill the 410 regular and photo cartridges? I assume the only difference is the type of ink?

Epson XP-7100: A Solid Choice for Your Needs

The Epson XP-7100 [https://amzn.to/3Gq6rKG] would indeed be an excellent choice for your requirements. It is compact in size, although slightly on the heavier side for a portable printer. Its CD/DVD printing capabilities are outstanding, producing sharp, vibrant prints on coated discs, which makes it a top pick for travelers needing this feature.

About Disabling Ink Chips

Unfortunately, disabling the ink chips (commonly referred to as going "chipless") is not a feasible option for the XP-7100. The model is not supported by inkchip.net [https://inkchip.net] or similar services. No chipless firmware solution exists for this printer at this time. Some websites offer "refillable cartridges" that come with one-time-use chips, but these are generally not a good investment. They can cost around $40, but you can easily find fully loaded third-party cartridges for about $20 on Amazon [https://www.amazon.com]. These third-party cartridges are much more cost-effective and convenient.

About Refilling the 410 Cartridges

As for the 410 series cartridges (both regular and photo varieties), technically, it is possible to refill them, and yes, the main difference between the "regular" and "photo" versions is the formulation of the ink for color and photo quality optimization.

However, due to the lack of reliable chip-resetting solutions and the structure of the XP-7100 cartridges, refilling is impractical. The printer is very chip-dependent, and even if you manually refill the cartridge, the printer will soon refuse to print without a new chip.

Given this, I don't recommend attempting to refill the 410 cartridges on the XP-7100. Instead, purchasing high-quality third-party cartridges would be a better and more hassle-free solution.

Addressing printer issues can be a complicated affair due to the hands-on nature of the problems. Therefore, we are unable to offer remote troubleshooting, suggestions, or support for printer repairs. However, we do provide an in-person evaluation and repair service at our local diagnostic facility [https://bchtechnologies.com/printer-repair-service]. Please note that, given the high demand, we operate on a first-come, first-served basis, and it might take a few weeks to schedule a drop-off. Our services are tailored to repair either entire printers or specific components, and we provide clear guidance on how to proceed. While our rates may not be the most economical, we strongly encourage self-help by researching online. You can begin by visiting our YouTube channel [https://youtube.com/@bchtechnologies]. Use the search icon next to the "About" section in the menu bar to find specific topics. We've created hundreds of videos over the past nine years, and using YouTube’s search function will be the most efficient way to find helpful information. YouTube may also suggest relevant videos from other creators that could assist you further.

Thank you once again for reaching out to us! We appreciate your trust and look forward to supporting your printing needs.