Advice on photo printer to purchase please

[Manfred M]

Susan - look again...

http://ink2image.com/Pro3800refillkit.html

I was looking at these last year but never got any further than looking.

[Polar01]

Nice article Manfred, I may try them with my 4900 as I use a bit of blacks from my B&W printing.

Cheers:

Allan

[Colin Southern]

Hi Colin. I checked the Lyson website, was redirected to their North American Sales and Support website (Ink2image.com). They did not have the 3880 listed for the inks they supply. The price for inks to use with the 4880 were $45, so I can see they are very reasonably priced. Doesn't help me, though!

Susan

Hi Susan,

I'm a bit confused. When you say you "checked the Lyson website", which website are you referring to? www.marrutt.com?

[Green Mountain Girl]

Hi Susan,

I'm a bit confused. When you say you "checked the Lyson website", which website are you referring to? www.marrutt.com?

I put Lyson Inks on my browser, and they sent me to www.lyson.com. Looking again now, I do see there is a Marrut Inks link which takes me to www.specialistinks.com. The inks for the 3880 are available on this website. The price is given in pounds, and converted to US dollars it comes to just over $53. B&H is less, with free shipping. If I get into the refillables, then the price is much lower, so I would have to decide if I wanted to go to the trouble of doing that. With the amount of printing I do, not sure if it is worth it.

Thanks for the information, and once I have my printer and learn its use, it will be easier to decide.

Susan

[Green Mountain Girl]

Susan - look again...

http://ink2image.com/Pro3800refillkit.html

I looked again, and realize I did not notice the price is for 8oz of ink rather than the 80ml of the Epson cartridge. So that does mean a considerable savings. Once I get the printer I will make up my mind if I want to go to the trouble of refilling.

Thanks.

Susan

[pthoutex]

Hi Susan - I can vouch for the Epson 3880; up to 17" x 22" (I print a lot at those sizes) and I've had it for about 3 years and it has been 100% problem free.

The only downside is that the photo and regular black cartridges share a common nozzle, which means you do lose a bit of ink when you change from photo to matte paper. I don't do that a lot (it was more of a problem when the girls were still at home and needed things printed off for school projects). Now I tend to print only on lustre papers, so it is not an issue.

The other caveat on any larger printer is that they do not handle smaller paper sizes well. Anything below 8 x 10 is not going to run, so if you want smaller prints, you have to invest in a decent paper cutter to split things down to the desired size after printing.

You shouldn't have any problem printing smaller sizes with the Epson 3880, I print 4X6s all the time; a lot of time I printed on it as a 'test print'. I understand that the Epson 4900 will not handle small size papers.

[Polar01]

Philip: that is correct my 4900 will handle down to 8.5" x 11" sheets, but not 4 x 6, or 5 x 7's.

Cheers:

Allan

[Colin Southern]

I put Lyson Inks on my browser, and they sent me to www.lyson.com. Looking again now, I do see there is a Marrut Inks link which takes me to www.specialistinks.com. The inks for the 3880 are available on this website. The price is given in pounds, and converted to US dollars it comes to just over $53. B&H is less, with free shipping. If I get into the refillables, then the price is much lower, so I would have to decide if I wanted to go to the trouble of doing that. With the amount of printing I do, not sure if it is worth it.

Thanks for the information, and once I have my printer and learn its use, it will be easier to decide.

Susan

Hi Susan,

I'm still a bit confused to be honest (normal state of being for me these days I'm afraid). I've just sent an eMail off to Marrutt -- will see what they come back with.

[Abitconfused]

I have an Epson 3800 that I bought for about $650 when they were being replaced by the 3880. I believe it is very functional as the 3880 must also be. My printer rest on top of a 4 foot 6 inch (1.37 meter) x 27 inch (0.69 Meter) X 27 inch heavy oak stereo stand. The stand is mounted on four medium sized rubber wheels and sits on a rug. As the printer prints the stand rocks back and forth to the rhythm of the moving print head. It has never clogged even after repeatedly sitting for five, four, three or so months. I print when I feel like it and have never had a clog. Does the mystery stand and the congenial rocking endow the printer with a gifted life??? Dithering??

[Colin Southern]

Hi Susan,

Received the following from Marrutt ...

Hi Colin

Thank you for your loyal support!

We only supply refillable cartridge for the Epson 3880. You friend may be getting confused with the single refill cartridges and ink bottles we supply (which makes it easy to change over one cartridge at a time): http://www.marrutt.com/epson-3880-ot...pson-3880.html

Please let me know if i can be of any further help


Best Wishes,

Paul Read

[MammaBearK]

I too am looking into larger format printers (than an 8.5" x 11") but am on a limited budget. We're single income with young kids so I'm really needing to get the best "bang for my buck". I have an HP Photosmart All-in-One that has done the job for about 5 years but it needs replacing (got it for cheap and it doesn't owe me a thing). Since getting into photography, I've craved something fancier and that prints larger.

I made an impulse purchase a couple of day ago but am second guessing myself. It is a Canon Pixma Pro 100 that was on for $299 Cdn (regularly $499). Had a mini heart attack at the till when I added the price of a whole set of inks + 1 extra year of warranty + GST to that. Ended up just buying a replacement black one for now and the bill still ended up around $400!

You pros are probably having a chuckle at my (very obvious) "newbie" sticker shock. (embarrassed smile)

I guess why I'm posting this is I'm wondering if I should return it or if I've make an okay purchase. I've tried to read various reviews but I'm having troubles finding all the info I need and then figuring it all out. You're opinions and feedback will be MUCH appreciated!