£50 might be pushing it, I've used both Epson and Canon printers and both have done a good job.  Here is one only a little over budget
http://www.amazon.co.uk/C...printer#productDetails

Still using my Canon MX850 - does an excellent job printing CDs. 
 
Not sure what Canon was up to - but I had to buy the CD tray off of eBay, plus download a rom and the CD-Label Print Software from Canon UK.. maybe they had patent issues in the US...
 

I've been using a Casio CW-K85 thermal disc printer which has limitations, but does a nice job of printing text.  I think you can include graphics, but I haven't tried that.  There are several colors of ink ribbons available, but I've only used the black.  If you use the software instead of the built in keyboard you can get very clean, good-looking labels.
 
The price can fluctuate wildly.  I got mine from Amazon for about $20.  Today they show the price starting at around $350.  I found this on Google, someone selling it for $69:
http://www.imagesupply.com/cw-k85_features.asp?emailmarket=casiolabelmaker.com
 
What's nice is that you don't need special discs.  Blank discs that don't have any markings at all would obviously look the most professional.  Unfortunately for you, you can't use inkjet printable discs.
 

Hi Gang...

Sorry to be late to the thread...

I've been using Epson inkjet printers for this task for many years now... And I have no trouble finding disks fir it... What's more, the basic disks are relatively cheap... I pay something like $0.17 each for 52x cd-r inkjet hub printable disks... I pay a lot more for the disks I use for sale as I like the glossy, water shield disks from JVC (Taiyo-Yuden) and they cost closer to $1 each...

But on either surface, the print quality is excellent... Especially if I stick with original brand inks (expensive)...

But all in all I get great results at reasonable cost and effort...

I'm currently using an Epson Artisan 50 which I believe can be had for near $100

I buy my disks from http://www.meritline.com
I use RIDATA for my basic work...
I also buy jewel boxes from them in 100 packs so the cost near $0.20 each
I buy all the paper for the tray and booklet from http://www.neato.com
I use the high gloss booklets (finally glossy on both sides) and high gloss trays

Available in many packagings. I choose either the 20 sets ($16) or 100 sets ($120)

If I had a little more cash I would also buy a heat gun and cd shrink wrap packaging from http://www.uline.com as more stores will carry them if they're shrink wrapped...

I hope this helps some of you. I've spent many years developing this... I feel that when I sell my copies, they are truly my personal works of art in a modern sense as I do all but manufacture the raw materials and machines/tools to create them... I have much more of a personal tie to each copy! ;-)

Keni

Keni
Hi Gang...

Sorry to be late to the thread...

I've been using Epson inkjet printers for this task for many years now... And I have no trouble finding disks fir it... What's more, the basic disks are relatively cheap... I pay something like $0.17 each for 52x cd-r inkjet hub printable disks... I pay a lot more for the disks I use for sale as I like the glossy, water shield disks from JVC (Taiyo-Yuden) and they cost closer to $1 each...

But on either surface, the print quality is excellent... Especially if I stick with original brand inks (expensive)...

But all in all I get great results at reasonable cost and effort...

I'm currently using an Epson Artisan 50 which I believe can be had for near $100

I buy my disks from http://www.meritline.com
I use RIDATA for my basic work...
I also buy jewel boxes from them in 100 packs so the cost near $0.20 each
I buy all the paper for the tray and booklet from http://www.neato.com
I use the high gloss booklets (finally glossy on both sides) and high gloss trays

Available in many packagings. I choose either the 20 sets ($16) or 100 sets ($120)

If I had a little more cash I would also buy a heat gun and cd shrink wrap packaging from http://www.uline.com as more stores will carry them if they're shrink wrapped...

I hope this helps some of you. I've spent many years developing this... I feel that when I sell my copies, they are truly my personal works of art in a modern sense as I do all but manufacture the raw materials and machines/tools to create them... I have much more of a personal tie to each copy! ;-)

Keni

I'm confused now Kini
You saying your epsom inkjet is able to print straight to CD's or are you printing the labels on paper and then sticking them on the CD's ?
 
I was originally thinking of getting something Like This and to be honest I'm leaning back toward that option as it seems by far the cheapest.
 
I'll pop in to staples and PC world tomorrow if I get time as I ;live very near to both.
 
Steve

Don't forget this is for the CD labels for an EP so would like art work, writing and maybe some colour but that's not essential. I just want decent quality that's affordable.
 
Steve

Epson Artisan 800 works just fine, here, and I haven't noticed a shortage of the printable disks.  Epson has newer models but my was about $150 several years ago.  Great deal, tho the inks are expensive.
 
@

I have used Kunaki.com in the past for cd's and dvd's as well.  Dirt cheap in the scheme of things and you includes cases, album art, etc... and for about $1 each.   They will retain it in their system for 6 months and can be 'published' on demand.
 
Worked for me anyway
 
Good luck!

twaddle

Keni
Hi Gang...

Sorry to be late to the thread...

I've been using Epson inkjet printers for this task for many years now... And I have no trouble finding disks fir it... What's more, the basic disks are relatively cheap... I pay something like $0.17 each for 52x cd-r inkjet hub printable disks... I pay a lot more for the disks I use for sale as I like the glossy, water shield disks from JVC (Taiyo-Yuden) and they cost closer to $1 each...

But on either surface, the print quality is excellent... Especially if I stick with original brand inks (expensive)...

But all in all I get great results at reasonable cost and effort...

I'm currently using an Epson Artisan 50 which I believe can be had for near $100

I buy my disks from http://www.meritline.com
I use RIDATA for my basic work...
I also buy jewel boxes from them in 100 packs so the cost near $0.20 each
I buy all the paper for the tray and booklet from http://www.neato.com
I use the high gloss booklets (finally glossy on both sides) and high gloss trays

Available in many packagings. I choose either the 20 sets ($16) or 100 sets ($120)

If I had a little more cash I would also buy a heat gun and cd shrink wrap packaging from http://www.uline.com as more stores will carry them if they're shrink wrapped...

I hope this helps some of you. I've spent many years developing this... I feel that when I sell my copies, they are truly my personal works of art in a modern sense as I do all but manufacture the raw materials and machines/tools to create them... I have much more of a personal tie to each copy! ;-)

Keni

I'm confused now Kini
You saying your epsom inkjet is able to print straight to CD's or are you printing the labels on paper and then sticking them on the CD's ?
 
I was originally thinking of getting something Like This and to be honest I'm leaning back toward that option as it seems by far the cheapest.
 
I'll pop in to staples and PC world tomorrow if I get time as I ;live very near to both.
 
Steve

As Cactus Music mentioned, the labels that you print and then stick on to the CD will jam in some players.  I know CD players in cars are not supposed to use them for that reason.  Going that route may limit how your fans can use them.

Paper labels - not so good. If they're not perfectly centered, they can cause a drive to wear out quickly. If left in a warm place, they can ooze glue... Printable CDs don't cost any more than regular CD, so there's a lot going for them.