There is no "BEST" unless you tell us what of the following you want the
most in a printer, ranked by preference. (there's a lot more, too)
1) cheap is important
Any on-sale inkjet printer that goes for <$50. Simply buy, use
until ink cartridges are empty, then replace with another <$50 printer
(since ink cartridges cost about the same as a new printer anyways).
Give aways, hand me downs, found in trash, etc. are all good to get.
BIG college campuses like UCLA at the end of the year and quarter are
particularly good for dumpster diving.
2) Longevity is important
a) Keep in mind that all inks fade with light/air exposure - thus,
don't expect prints to last in open display longer than a few years w/o
fading (search for POV Image Epson Orange Fading website). Applies to
all inkjets.
b) Out of the box, those expensive Epsons like the 1800/2200 series
which have longer lasting inks than their regular line. Pigemented
generally lasts longer than dye based inks, but see #a above.
c) you can even buy 3rd party archival inks and papers from
www.inkjetmall.com and elsewhere, but even then, as you can see from
their longevity reports, that they don't last that long either under
direct light exposure.
d) If you're worried about lawsuits, simply do like the regular film
print companies - put in a disclaimer that you're not responsible for
any fading at all, period - because they will fade.
3) Smoother prints with less visible dots. Smaller picoliter dots like
the 1.5pl from Epson will be able to print tinier dots that are less
noticable. Also, more colors like the 9 color from HP will generally be
better than lower number of colors - but here, keep in mind that almost
any inkjet printer that runs at least 6 colors or more will produce
'photographic' prints quite easily.
4) Lower operating costs?
More ink cartridges = more cost per set of inks you need to replace.
Also, Canon carts are the easiest to refill, HP & Epson are tougher,
esp. the chipped cartridges from Epson, or the expiration dated HPs.
You can bypass the locks, but it's an extra step.
Continuous Bottle Feed ink systems from
www.inkjetmall.com and
elsewhere let you print thousands of colors prints w/o a single refill -
they feed directly from huge bottles of ink retrofitted to your printer.
www.shopper.com generally gives you an idea what each printer's
print cartridge cost will be, so you can find out what the operating
costs are.
also, keep in mind that Epson generally has cheaper photo papers
than Canon which in turn is cheaper than HP. Per print operating costs
of Paper + Ink is to be kept in mind. Also, add to the per print
operating cost the price of the printer, too! An expensive printer will
make each print more costly than a dirt-cheap printer.
5) DOS/linux
You'll have to hunt down printers that have support for these OSs.
6) Thick paper
Flatter paper feeds such as the top in, bottom out feeds of some
Canon and Epson printers are better than HP and some Canon U-feed
designs. These can definitely jam up on thicker paper, or not feed at all.
7) double-sided
Here, only a few printers from Canon and HP have auto-double-sided
printing
8) flash card slot
Only a few from each maker have these to print directly from digital
camera flash cards
9) scanning?
Only a few from each maker can print photo prints, scan/copy in
color, and even fewer still (like the Epsons) have built-in scan
directly to flash cards w/o a PC, or scanning of 35mm films.
R500/600 series from Epson are examples of some that have a truck
load of these nice features.
10) n-up on one page support, borderless printing, etc.
A lot of other features are only available on some makes and models,
such as poster printing, n-up on one page printing, manual double-sided
printing, etc, etc.
