A3 photo printers

  • Thread starter Thread starter PDM
  • Start date Start date
I'm thinking about getting an A3 colour printer for photos. Low volume,
entry level price. Don't need exhibition quality, just for personal "fun"
use, a few posters for clubs, the occasional engineering drawing. What makes
/ models would you suggest?

TIA
 
I'm thinking about getting an A3 colour printer for photos. Low volume,
entry level price. Don't need exhibition quality, just for personal "fun"
use, a few posters for clubs, the occasional engineering drawing. What makes
/ models would you suggest?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't go past Epson. If you could stretch that far, get a 1900.



Eric Stevens
 
PDM said:
Or even the Epson 1400 (dye ink) for even less money.

PDM
Click to expand...
Many thanks. Had a bad experience with a basic Epson inkjet many years ago
but perhaps I was unlucky. 1900 would be overkill for what I want, but 1400
looks good.
 
I just noticed Brother now has an all in one inkjet which produces a
A3/11" x 17" prints. Model is MFC-6490CW and lists for $299 US.

Epson's cheapest model is the R1400, which uses the Claria dye inks. It
is relatively low maintenance, and produces very nice prints when
using photo quality papers. List price about $370 US Prints to 13" x 19"
(about B3 size).

HP K8600 (about $525 US) and Canon Pro 9000 Mark II prints to 13" x 19"
(about $500 US). They may have others as well, as I don;t follow their
models well.

Art


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newshound said:
I'm thinking about getting an A3 colour printer for photos. Low volume,
entry level price. Don't need exhibition quality, just for personal "fun"
use, a few posters for clubs, the occasional engineering drawing. What
makes / models would you suggest?
Click to expand...

I have a somewhat similar need (see a recent thread on HP Deskjet 1220
follow-on). I prefer familiar evils for unfamiliar ones, and so, as a
long-standing HP user, I ended up ordering a HP Officejet K7100. HP site
(www.hp.com) does not include this any more in its current offering, but HP
in my country still sells it. Price here is about 250 euros which would be
equivalent to some $200 or less. In addition to basic photo printing using 3
inks it permits replacing the black ink tank by a 3 additional colors for
enhanced photo printing with 6 inks. I considered the newer and more
expensive K8600 also; what tipped the scale in favor of K7100 was the
availability of inks. For the K8600 I would have to order by mail; for the
K7100 I get the inks at the nearest bookstore.

You did not say what your bad experience with Epson many years ago was. Long
ago a common problem with Epson was clogged printheads. I have used HP
printers for 10+ years, and while I have experienced my share of problems, I
have never had a clogged printhead.


Matti P.
 
I have a somewhat similar need (see a recent thread on HP Deskjet 1220
follow-on). I prefer familiar evils for unfamiliar ones, and so, as a
long-standing HP user, I ended up ordering a HP Officejet K7100. HP site
(www.hp.com) does not include this any more in its current offering, but
HP in my country still sells it. Price here is about 250 euros which would
be equivalent to some $200 or less. In addition to basic photo printing
using 3 inks it permits replacing the black ink tank by a 3 additional
colors for enhanced photo printing with 6 inks. I considered the newer and
more expensive K8600 also; what tipped the scale in favor of K7100 was the
availability of inks. For the K8600 I would have to order by mail; for the
K7100 I get the inks at the nearest bookstore.

You did not say what your bad experience with Epson many years ago was.
Long ago a common problem with Epson was clogged printheads. I have used
HP printers for 10+ years, and while I have experienced my share of
problems, I have never had a clogged printhead.


Matti P.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I *think* it included problems with clogged print heads, also
cartridges claiming to be empty and refusing to print even when they
contained ink
 
newshound said:
Thanks. I *think* it included problems with clogged print heads, also
cartridges claiming to be empty and refusing to print even when they
contained ink
Click to expand...

Epson printers way back when... Needed regular prints made with them to
stop ink drying out of the heads. The cartridge part full issue was
Epson's early attempts to prevent you emptying the cartridge and leaving
it for days on end while you get a new one. The lines themselves would
clog then.

Like a good heart management routine... Keep the arteries clean and
you'll have no problems! HP Dye printers tend to over saturate images
and kill fine detail unless you adjust an image to look very flat.

Epson generally have overcome all the problems consumers had with the
early models. The one thing about Epson that might make you buy one
instead of a Canon or HP is the availability of low cost inks.

Printer ink is more valuable (per ounce) than gold. Really, they could
give the printers away free and make their money out of ink sales. Even
pigment inks used in the big Epsons can be bought at 25% the cost of
genuine stuff and so many people are buying it, a whole raft of stuff is
available to service your printer and keep it in top condition (ink
wise) that anyone who does a lot of printing really can't go past one.

I use a r2880 with a CIS ink supply. It runs daily on non genuine inks
and has yet to give me any problems... I've used more than a litre of
ink per tank so far. The cost saving is enormous for me. I use it like a
chemical printer and instead of one.
 
Alienjones said:
Epson printers way back when... Needed regular prints made with them to
stop ink drying out of the heads. The cartridge part full issue was
Epson's early attempts to prevent you emptying the cartridge and leaving
it for days on end while you get a new one. The lines themselves would
clog then.

Like a good heart management routine... Keep the arteries clean and you'll
have no problems! HP Dye printers tend to over saturate images and kill
fine detail unless you adjust an image to look very flat.

Epson generally have overcome all the problems consumers had with the
early models. The one thing about Epson that might make you buy one
instead of a Canon or HP is the availability of low cost inks.

Printer ink is more valuable (per ounce) than gold. Really, they could
give the printers away free and make their money out of ink sales. Even
pigment inks used in the big Epsons can be bought at 25% the cost of
genuine stuff and so many people are buying it, a whole raft of stuff is
available to service your printer and keep it in top condition (ink wise)
that anyone who does a lot of printing really can't go past one.

I use a r2880 with a CIS ink supply. It runs daily on non genuine inks and
has yet to give me any problems... I've used more than a litre of ink per
tank so far. The cost saving is enormous for me. I use it like a chemical
printer and instead of one.
Click to expand...
Thanks, that's really useful to know
 
Alienjones said:
Printer ink is more valuable (per ounce) than gold. Really, they could
give the printers away free and make their money out of ink sales.
Click to expand...

They do. At least here in France, I bought last week a couple of
cartridges for my (quite old) HP PSC1210, and only afterwards realized
buying a completely new printer (coming with its first cartridges) would
definitely have been 20E cheaper...

I'd recommend comparing the replacement cartridge cost (per ink volume)
before making up your mind...
 
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