Advice on photo printer to purchase please

[Green Mountain Girl]

I am interested in buying a photo printer that will print wider than 8 1/2 x 11 paper. Probably should limit discussion to 17" because the wider you go the more expensive. Willing to spend around $1200, or less if possible.

From what I have heard, Epson and Canon would be the best to choose between.

Currently I have a Canon all-in-one, which does a decent job, and the customer service is excellent. But I would like to go bigger and better! Within my price range...

Thank you.

Susan

[Sponge]

I saw what looks like a good deal on another forum that I frequent on a Canon PIXMA PRO-100 for $99 after a $300 rebate from Adorama (I think you have to order paper as well to get the full rebate). In the thread they mention that B&H has a similar rebate but at $139.

http://www.adorama.com/ICAPRO100.htm...ce=rflaid65781

Here's the thread, it might answer questions you may have if interested:

http://www.mu-43.com/showthread.php?t=52390

I don't know anything about this printer but it sounds like for that price it's not much of a gamble.

[Green Mountain Girl]

I saw what looks like a good deal on another forum that I frequent on a Canon PIXMA PRO-100 for $99 after a $300 rebate from Adorama (I think you have to order paper as well to get the full rebate). In the thread they mention that B&H has a similar rebate but at $139.

I don't know anything about this printer but it sounds like for that price it's not much of a gamble.

Hi Patrick. Thanks for the suggestion. The Canon PIXMA printers are excellent, but the PRO-100 has a maximum paper size of 13"x19". Even though that is larger than the printer I have now, I am interested in printing even larger than that. The 17" printers tend to have a maximum paper size of 17"x22" (or 24"), which is more what I had in mind.

Susan

[Polar01]

Susan: Check out this link to Epson, should be able to order from them or a dealer, once you start to get into the 17" width prices start to go up. These will do 13" x 19" sheets and all will take 13: wide rolls.
http://www.epson.ca/cgi-bin/ceStore/....do?oid=-16592

Cheers:

Allan

[Polar01]

Back again Susan just finished your post that you want 17" wide, for Epson you have in the Stylus Series the 3880 and the 4900 printer adding link to the Epson Store page I have the 4900, got it at a stupidly low price and I mean stupidly low as Epson had a special because the 3880 was out of stock the result of the that tidal wave a couple of years ago as it wiped out their warehouse, they had just brought out the 4900 so to fill the backlog they dropped the 4900's price to just a little over the 3880 until they could get production up. Both are great machines, if not for that price drop I would have gotten the 3880 more in my price range.
http://www.epson.ca/cgi-bin/ceStore/...roducts_proimg

Cheers:

Allan

[Manfred M]

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.

[Green Mountain Girl]

...17" wide, for Epson you have in the Stylus Series the 3880 and the 4900 printer adding link to the Epson Store page I have the 4900, got it at a stupidly low price and I mean stupidly low as Epson had a special because the 3880 was out of stock the result of the that tidal wave a couple of years ago as it wiped out their warehouse, they had just brought out the 4900 so to fill the backlog they dropped the 4900's price to just a little over the 3880 until they could get production up. Both are great machines, if not for that price drop I would have gotten the 3880 more in my price range.

Hi Allan!
I have looked at the 3880, and it does look like a good choice. Just wasn't sure if there was something else out there to consider. Unless you have a crystal ball and can tell me when the next tidal wave will be, with printer price drop, I think I would have to settle for the 3880!

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.

Hi Manfred!
The shared nozzle should not be a problem for me, then, because for regular documents I still have my Canon MX870. And it actually does a decent job with photos, just not big enough. So I can always do smaller prints on it. Plus the MX870 is wireless, so I can have the photo printer hooked up to the computer, and put the MX870 somewhere else in the room!

A decent paper cutter is still a good idea since I do print a lot of multiples on a single page. This is my "test photo" method since I want to make sure the printed version comes out like I want. Then I can always use the test version for a small framed gift, or some such thing, or a sample to show people. Thanks for the idea. (Then I will have it when/if the MX870 decides to quit!)

Luster papers - got to love the way they enhance an image. I still use matte photo paper for test runs (much cheaper, and double-sided), but for final prints Luster is what I prefer. Have used the metallic from Red River for flowers and a couple of other subjects where it adds a different and nice flavor.

Thanks to both of you - Allen and Manfred - for your thoughts on buying a wider dedicated photo printer. I try to do the research first before asking, but wanted to know if there were other options, plus any information on the printer that I could not see or understand from reading the descriptions and specifications.

Susan

[AB26]

Hi Susan,
Epson printers are superb photo printers, provided you use them. Epson inkjet printers do not want to be idle for long periods of time. The ink might dry inside the head and that is a serious problem. Use it and don't lose it.

[Polar01]

Andre: I do not know if you own a large format Epson printer such as the 3880 or 4900, I also have read about the so called serious problem as you may also have read. Yes I once did not print for over 3 months as 2 of those months I was away, and I had a clogged nozzle, I ran a power clean and it was fine. If not using the printer as these two machines are workhorses, I run a 8.5" x 11" piece of cheap photo paper through once a week to print a nozzle check, one piece will do two weeks and if you are really cheap cut off the check pattern that was printed which is about 1.5" in feed length and reuse the rest of the sheet.

Cheers:

Allan

[Manfred M]

Andre - just to back up Allan's comments - I did not print for over 6 months on my 3880, while recovering from foot surgery last year. It was pretty well impossible to get out and shoot while I was in a cast, from last August right through to February of this year. When I starting taking pictures again last winter, the machine ran perfectly without so much as a cleaning.

I've run into the clogging problem with lower end Canon and Epson printers, but not with the 3880.

[arith]

Canon Pixma pro 9000 II is very EXPENSIVE on ink. It drives me crazy, today I wanted 1 page of print and it starts preparing for printing, 15 minutes passes and it says it is out of ink, press continue anyway and the paper jams, no apparent way of stopping it so, scrunch scrape scrape, then it stops with the print head jammed. No easy way to get the paper out except brute force.

Put some more paper in, it says preparing for printing, 15 minutes later and another ink runs out, press continue anyway and I get my page printed. I absolutely hate it now.

If your going for B+W get one that has grey ink.

[Green Mountain Girl]

Andre - just to back up Allan's comments - I did not print for over 6 months on my 3880, while recovering from foot surgery last year. It was pretty well impossible to get out and shoot while I was in a cast, from last August right through to February of this year. When I starting taking pictures again last winter, the machine ran perfectly without so much as a cleaning.

I've run into the clogging problem with lower end Canon and Epson printers, but not with the 3880.

Manfred, I am so glad you and Allan commented on the clogging possibilities. There are times when I do not print for a while, and then go through a period of printing a lot. My current Canon printer has not given any trouble, and I certainly would not be happy if I bought a big beautiful expensive wide printer and it made me unhappy!

From what has been said, I am positive I will enjoy this printer a lot.

Susan

[Colin Southern]

I run an Epson 7800, and again, no clogging issues; a nozzel check will reveal the occasional blocked jet, but a cleaning cycle fixes it. Ink is your other big variable Susan; genuine Epson ink costs an arm and a leg -- I made the switch to Lyson inks a few years ago and never looked back (better gamut - slightly less clogging - about 1/3 the price).

[Green Mountain Girl]

I run an Epson 7800, and again, no clogging issues; a nozzel check will reveal the occasional blocked jet, but a cleaning cycle fixes it. Ink is your other big variable Susan; genuine Epson ink costs an arm and a leg -- I made the switch to Lyson inks a few years ago and never looked back (better gamut - slightly less clogging - about 1/3 the price).

Thank you Colin. I looked at the Lyson website, did not find the 3880. Sent them an email requesting information and pricing. I know the Epson cartridges are pricey, even considering their size, and an alternative to choose from would be good to have. My current printer uses cartridges that hold only 9ml, and at around $12 each that is even more expensive when compared to the 80ml of the 3880 at $62!

Susan

[Polar01]

Susan: for ink check the price from B&H, I tried to order some for my 4900, and they said they couldn't ship it to me in Canada. I purchased some from "Pictureline" in Salt Lake, and had them send me one cart and with shipping to Canada worked out to be about $15.00 CDN less than if I had it shipped from the local dealer. As you are in the US I think their shipping is free from either one, another thing you could try is a dealer from NH as no sales tax would be added to the price. I have had the 4900printer for over 2 years now came with 80ml ink, still working on the original green and yellow, all others replaced with the 200ml carts, except light light black, light black, photo black and matte black on second 200ml cart as I do a lot of B&W printing on 17" x 34" rag and luster stocks. You will find that ink usage depends on the type of stock used, a rag or matte stock will use more ink than a luster or gloss stock, I print more on the Epson Luster 260.

Cheers:

Allan

[Colin Southern]

Thank you Colin. I looked at the Lyson website, did not find the 3880. Sent them an email requesting information and pricing. I know the Epson cartridges are pricey, even considering their size, and an alternative to choose from would be good to have. My current printer uses cartridges that hold only 9ml, and at around $12 each that is even more expensive when compared to the 80ml of the 3880 at $62!

Susan

Here you go Susan:

http://www.marrutt.com/epson-3880/ep...0-printer.html

(Marrutt are Lyson partners) (infact, I buy my inks from them even though they're in the UK and I'm in New Zealand). Good service & pricing.

[Green Mountain Girl]

Susan: for ink check the price from B&H, I tried to order some for my 4900, and they said they couldn't ship it to me in Canada. I purchased some from "Pictureline" in Salt Lake, and had them send me one cart and with shipping to Canada worked out to be about $15.00 CDN less than if I had it shipped from the local dealer. As you are in the US I think their shipping is free from either one, another thing you could try is a dealer from NH as no sales tax would be added to the price. I have had the 4900printer for over 2 years now came with 80ml ink, still working on the original green and yellow, all others replaced with the 200ml carts, except light light black, light black, photo black and matte black on second 200ml cart as I do a lot of B&W printing on 17" x 34" rag and luster stocks. You will find that ink usage depends on the type of stock used, a rag or matte stock will use more ink than a luster or gloss stock, I print more on the Epson Luster 260.

Cheers:

Allan

Allan - I did check the B&H pricing, and it is much better than the price to buy directly from Epson. Buying individually, the prices vary between $47.99 and $49.99 - guess it depends on what colors. The full set, at $437.04 comes out at $48.56 each. This is a significant savings. And yes, for these items, shipping is free in the USA. Too bad you don't have a friend in the states to whom the inks could be shipped; then you could either pick them up or the friend could come visit you. I spent summers in Fort Erie for quite a few years, and would go across to Buffalo frequently. Perhaps the borders are tighter now, since 9/11, but it wasn't a big deal back then. Of course you would need to figure out if there is a duty on the inks and whether it is worth the hassle.

I suspect that B&H would not ship to Canada because of the extra paperwork involved. Perhaps there are some rules and regulations they have to follow that we do not know about, too.

200mL carts? Do they make those for the 3880? Of course, that size inks would probably be more than I need...

I'll keep in mind what you said about ink usage. Generally, I use a matte paper for test prints, but my favorite for "worthy" images is luster.

Thanks for the added ink info!

Susan

[Colin Southern]

Allan - I did check the B&H pricing, and it is much better than the price to buy directly from Epson. Buying individually, the prices vary between $47.99 and $49.99 - guess it depends on what colors. The full set, at $437.04 comes out at $48.56 each. This is a significant savings. And yes, for these items, shipping is free in the USA. Too bad you don't have a friend in the states to whom the inks could be shipped; then you could either pick them up or the friend could come visit you. I spent summers in Fort Erie for quite a few years, and would go across to Buffalo frequently. Perhaps the borders are tighter now, since 9/11, but it wasn't a big deal back then. Of course you would need to figure out if there is a duty on the inks and whether it is worth the hassle.

I suspect that B&H would not ship to Canada because of the extra paperwork involved. Perhaps there are some rules and regulations they have to follow that we do not know about, too.

200mL carts? Do they make those for the 3880? Of course, that size inks would probably be more than I need...

I'll keep in mind what you said about ink usage. Generally, I use a matte paper for test prints, but my favorite for "worthy" images is luster.

Thanks for the added ink info!

Susan

Hi Susan,

B&H ship pretty much anywhere (they ship to me here in NZ)

I'd be very surprised if Lyson pricing didn't blow Epson prices clean out of the water though.

[Davey]

on the canon front be aware the pro100 uses regular size carts. If it's anything like my 2 ip4600 and 2 ip4700's then they wont last long and i know it's common for canons to not go easy on inks. I looked at getting that pro100 recently but held back due to concerns and pro1 is out of my budget. Epson also do pigment colours where canon only dye inks from what I've seen which is important to many.

You can refill but I am unsure if there is ARC chips or resetter available for those and I found other models do excessive cleaning cycles when disable ink monitor or use none oem inks and hear same from many canon models these days. That said I use resetter with aftermarket ink and refill by german method* so get zero leaks and a lot out of my ink as it's waaaay cheaper to order 4oz per colour bottle packs from a decent aftermarket ink place which I finds matches canon for fade resistance, gamut and so on. Can do same with epsons still and they tolerate CISS refilling better than canon I'm told which is good if you go that route. I like the print quality on canons and the gamut and res in pale shades on their pro ones is awesome but many say the same of epson. I may go the epson route in future as want to upgrade to A3 print ability and on print forum I visit many swear they match canon but are less hassle on the aftermarket ink front but that's just my priorities and yours may differ but thought it may be of use.

*50ml syringe with 2" greens hypodermic, pierce through wall just above ink feed hole and go the 2" through the sponge/reservoir wall and refill with cart 45degrees upsidedown.

[Green Mountain Girl]

Hi Susan,

B&H ship pretty much anywhere (they ship to me here in NZ)

I'd be very surprised if Lyson pricing didn't blow Epson prices clean out of the water though.

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