Re: photo printers

MR
Posted By
Mike Russell
Jul 18, 2003
Views
797
Replies
0
Status
Closed
Grant Yip wrote:
Hi, I’m looking into buying a photo inkjet printer in the 250-500 dollar range. I plan to print pictures from my digital camera and basicly use it as a replacement to film but probably also use it to do some text printing as well. Does anyone have opinions as to printers as far as cost, quality and archivability of prints? thanks.

Personally I favor the Epson consumer inkjets. I’ve printed hundreds, if not thousands of images in the three years I’ve had it with no problems. Most of my prints are straight from the camera to the printer, though I spend considerable time on certain images that I want to print larger. The prints are very permanent if kept in a book, and last about 2 years stuck to a regrigerator with a magnet. I use glossy paper from Costco, 100 sheets for $20.

I’ve had no problems with clogs, but others have not been so lucky. It can be a curse and many people are bitter about it. Somehow I think the smaller capacity tanks are associated with clogging, but that’s simply based on a small sampling of my friends who have had clogging problems.

So – with your budget, I’d recomment getting one of the wide format Epson’s. The Epson 1280 should just over $400. Figure ink costs will be about $35 per 50 8.5×11 prints, and paper will be about $20. I stick with Epson materials for my 1270, though I do use third party refills for my ancient Epson Stylus Color Pro.

If you want a printer you can really grow into, The EPSON Stylus Photo 2200, is available new for $575 – check www.pricegrabber.com. It features separate ink tanks, and pigment based inks that are supposed to last for centuries.



Mike Russell
http://www.curvemeister.com
http://www.zocalo.net/~mgr
http://geigy.2y.net

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