I've never had this happen before. I've used an Epson R380 printer successfully now for a couple of yrs. I much prefer the Epson over the HP printer. We print a LOT of photos & lots & lots (a couple thousand or more) full-color, hi-res photo background dvd covers. LOTS of them!

This past week, my printer came up with a message that said I had reached the end of the useful life of the printing assy. It said the ink pad was worn out & that I may find it cost prohibitive to replace the pad, if I could in fact find anyone qualified to do so. They were right, you can get replacement printers for $100 or less. The ones I use have to be able to direct-print on cd/dvd printable disks.

Link below is Epson's FAQ explanation:

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/InkPadsForm.jsp