artist needs help picking printer

  • Thread starter Thread starter jonsnow3000
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jonsnow3000

Should I buy the epson r220, the hp 8250, or the cannon ip6000d or
ip6600d printer? I am an artist and use my prints for reference for
portrait painting so realistic skin tone color is what I'm looking for.
 
You would be better off looking at the Epson R800 if you don't have a need
for a wide format printer.
 
Safetymom123 said:
You would be better off looking at the Epson R800 if you don't have a need
for a wide format printer.
Click to expand...
I'm looking for something with cheap inks in the 100-200 dollar range.
Right now I have a hp 712c which is a expensive ink hog.
 
Should I buy the epson r220, the hp 8250, or the cannon
ip6000d or
ip6600d printer? I am an artist and use my prints for reference
for portrait painting so realistic skin tone color is what I'm
looking for.
Click to expand...

There are some scans of pictures on at least two of the models your are
thinking about.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/08/canon_hp_xmas_ink_jet_printer_fleet/page13.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/2004/10/25/in_living_color/page9.html


Oddly enough Amazon.com has the 8450 for less than the 8250.
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/hp8450.html
It's a different animal taking 3 multi color cartridges, one black or
tri grey, color, and photo color. A tad spendy in the ink department
but shades of grey really do add a depth to photos that can't easily be
done otherwise, plus IIRC it comes with network onboard to boot. The
8450 should really be on your list.

----
I only have direct experence with the r200. A tad fickle suffering
from a tiny diaper and overactive bladder which can be resolved with an
external inktank. A favorite among people who like bulk ink and the
quality is really good when the printer works. The price for referbs
for the r200 is less than the cost of it's ink, so you can get a pair
and if you have problems during your year warranty you can get them
replaced with other referbs that come with free ink. Skintones were
just superb esp for a $100 printer.

The r300 just has extra slots and a lcd screen, otherwise same bloody
thing.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/epson_r300m.html
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/epson_960.html
-----

The ip6000d wouldn't be my pick... the older i960 was a superior
printer, I have not looked at the ip6600 and franky I haven't really
had a chance to print on my ip5200 yet. Canons tend to be a tad vivid,
and this opinion is coming from someone who's quite colorblind. Not so
light fast but look good on the microporous papers and are reasonably
water resistant. The drivers don't have a ton of options, seems more
geard tward the greeting card market than artist, but never the less
worth looking at. The big selling point for me on the i5200 was cd
printing and a trusted site compaired it to the ip8500 and said the
only way he could tell the difference between the 5 tank printer and
the 8 tank printer was with a magnifying glass.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/canon_i960.html
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/canon_ip5200.html
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/canon_ip6000d.html

------------------------
But in the end... taking your digital camera with a set of pics on the
card to your local printer shop and printing off a few images really is
the best way for someone to make a choice, esp for those who employ
their eyes in the recreation of life and form. Most will agree so long
as you leave your prints there.
 
jonsnow3000 said:
I'm looking for something with cheap inks in the 100-200 dollar range.
Right now I have a hp 712c which is a expensive ink hog.
Click to expand...

Hopefully a fellow named Art will comment (on top <sigh>). He appears very
knowledgeable so wait for his comments.
I would comment but am not qualified..

Lou
"I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did.
I said I didn't know." --Mark Twain
 
I'm looking for something with cheap inks in the 100-200 dollar range.
Right now I have a hp 712c which is a expensive ink hog.
Click to expand...

Cheap inks is another priority all together.

Assuming OEM...

The canon ip5200 is worth looking at. Rather than using extra inks it
uses smaller dots.
Do compair that to the ip6600 to see if the extra inks are worth the
money. Does a similar job but without having to shell out for those
pesky light cyan/light magenta.

The hp 8250 looks interesting, but I have no direct experence with it.


I can't see any reason to go epson r220 when you can get a pair of
epson r200s on the epson website, they are presently out of stock
though.
http://froogle.google.com/froogle_u...fa2duT5BCzZxsh0QVZTAL-4zlkWgsX_Jx7gAAAAAAAAAA
While i consider the r2x0 to be fickle, it is an excelent photo
printer. The cleaning cycles hog the ink, but there are ways around
those. Replacement printers even without hitting the epson referb site
are not much more than ink... referb printers cost a good deal less
than ink and they come with ink.


Assuming aftermarket
Canon you gotta go with older models unless you manualy refill
presently. There are not aftermarket chiped tanks yet. The ip6000d
qualifies as does the older i960, with a preference on the older i960.


Epson is a decent choice for aftermarket ink. They work rather with
with external tanks so you can print to your heart's content.

I know nothing about aftermarket HP8250
 
Thanks everyone,

Wow! I looked at printouts of the canon I950 and they look very much
like what I'm looking for. Is there any newer canon models with the same
quality? How does the 6000 6600 and 5200 models compare? The hp 8250
printouts looked dull to me and the 5.5 ml ink tanks just plain scare
me. The canons have a huge volume of ink. The epsons, from the reviews
anyways sound like they have head clogging problems and use a lot of ink.
 
Wow! I looked at printouts of the canon I950 and they look very much
like what I'm looking for. Is there any newer canon models with the same
quality?
Click to expand...

The i950 as well as the i960 are total gems as far as printers go, and
if you can buy one you should, even if it's more than the ip6000D. The
ip6000 is technicaly a lesser printer than either of those suckers and
should be reserved as a buy it if you have no other choice and you need
access to aftermarket ink.

The "only" reason I didn't buy a i960 is because I wanted CD printing.
That is the ONLY reason.

Anything below won't have the aftermarket ink.

The ip6600D is technicaly an improvement over the i960 but i've
honestly not seen it in action. The ip5200, a 5 tank printer but only
4 at any given time, is what I just bought and don't happen to have a
i950/i960 to compare it to.

The ip5200 will have lower running costs as the ip6600 tanks two light
inks which it'll use in abundance. It also offers a large black
pigmented tank for text making it a happening general purpose printer.
The only other option is the ip7500 which is only offered in japan and
from my understanding requires some button presses to accept american
ink. It's basicly the ip6600 but with the extra pigmented black tank.


http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/electronics/B000BLBXZE/250-7547650-8287402
about ï¿¥22,000 or $185ish US plus shipping cross the pond. It may
sound nutty but the ink over there is 8 bucks a piece for each tank, a
savings of 42%.
 
(on top <sigh>) ;-) (and late... I took a few days off)

In terms of color accuracy, Epson still seems to have the better drivers
and profiles, and they seem to have better drivers for addressing more
subtle color adjusting.

The R220 is a six color (CcMmYK) printer using dye inks. The Canon
printers are probably cheaper to run, but will tend to be more difficult
to get accurate profiling.

And now, if you buy the Epson before May 8th and your are in the US,
you'll receive an extra bonus... either a $45 credit at the Epson
e-store or $25 and a $20 credit ;-) This is due to the class action
lawsuit filed and unopposed by Epson.

Art
 
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