HP 8450 or Epson 320?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sarah Feliz
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Sarah Feliz

I'm a designer looking for a good inkjet for high-quality output (photos,
graphics, and text) when printing from home. A bit of speed would be nice.
And hassle-free printing too.

The reviews for these 2 printers are terrific. Both, I understand, print
outstanding pictures. Which one should I get?

For the Epson 320, the only downside I'm aware of is Epson's penchant for
clogged printheads. Is that still an issue?

For the HP 8450, any downside?

One more question: I'm quite amazed at the low price of these units. Up
close they look a bit flimsy. Are they?

My setup is Mac OS X (although occasionally I need to hook up to a Windows
station running XP PRO).

If you recommend one over the over, please let me know why.

Thanks!
 
Sarah said:
I'm a designer looking for a good inkjet for high-quality output (photos,
graphics, and text) when printing from home. A bit of speed would be nice.
And hassle-free printing too.

The reviews for these 2 printers are terrific. Both, I understand, print
outstanding pictures. Which one should I get?
Click to expand...

The HP is probably better if that is the one where all 3 carts can be
installed at once so you do not have to play musical carts. The Epson
is fine but has problems with the CD feed, guzzles ink every time you
turn it on and off. Ink is expensive for any inkjet but the Epson and
HP cost more than Canon. The Epson has a tendency to clog.

As reviewed in www.pcmag.com the Canon IP4000 is the best value and
would be the best choice over what you are considering. It has a user
replaceable printhead but it is expensive. It uses 5 carts and has
enhanced contrast. It has twin paper feeds so you could keep business
paper in the cassette and use photo paper in the top auto sheet feeder.
It also prints full duplex on both sides of the paper.

Using Canon ink, the results are fantastic on Canon Photo Paper Pro and
98% as good on Costco/Kirkland Glossy Photo paper at 1/7 of the cost.

The printer is much faster than the two you are comparing, does better
on business documents and slightly better on photos. It can be had for
about $100 in many places on sale and with a rebate. The Canon also is
less expensive to operate. I looked at the same printers you are
considering and bought the Canon IP4000. I think it is great.
 
If cost is not an overriding issue, most professional photographers and
design professionals with whom I work use the high-end Epson printers.
Because these printers use pigment based inks there is a somewhat greater
tendancy for head clogs. If you print frequently that will minimize
clogging, and there are simple techniques for head cleaning. The person to
direct your questions to for Epson printers is Arthur Entlich at
(e-mail address removed) . He has posted information on this newsgroup about
the reformulation of Epson inks and which Epson printers have the improved
inks. You can read through the threads for the last few months and find this
info. Set you browser view to sort by sender and you can find his posts
very quickly. If you purchase an Epson printer you can email him and
request his manual (free) on cleaning Epson print heads. I use an older
Epson printer with Epson inks in which I cleared a head clog with Arthur's
manual's advice. I print text and business documents with an HP laser
printer, and use a Canon I960 (with aftermarket inks) for beautiful photos.
For your work I assume that you need the print permanance that the pigmented
inks provide.
 
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