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#1
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I only print photos and print everday,so what the best printer for under £130?
For quality of the printouts? and cheap in terms of ink etc?
I will be using 3 party carts And yes i know £130 is on the cheap side! Thanks Steve |
#2
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On Sun, 12 Oct 2003 01:07:41 +0100, steve wrote:
=3DFor quality of the printouts? and cheap in terms of ink etc? =3DI will be using 3 party carts =3DAnd yes i know =9C130 is on the cheap side! =3DThanks =3DSteve IMO, no printer under 130gbp is good enough for what you apparently want to do. In fact, the price of the printer will not be the most significant cost factor, if you want to do high-volume printing. Besides, you haven't given enough information. How much will you print? What are your standards for quality? Who are the prints for -- yourself, for customers, or both? If you print a lot (100 prints a day and up) and for customers, then a high end printer will be cheapest in the long run. EG, a laser with toner-replacement (_not_ cartridge replacement) will probably be best for your needs. IOW, that situation would call for the kind of equipment a professional printer uses, and you should go see what they use (and be prepared to spend close to four figures.) OTOH, if your printing is primarily for yourself, and on the order a couple tens of prints a day at most, one of the current upper-range Canon, Epson, or Hewlett-Packard printers will probably be best for you. Canon and Epson come in multi-tank models, and these ar definitely cheaper to operate in the long run. But just which printer is best is a question on which you will get mostly highly prejudiced advice. I myself like H-P printers because they have been the most reliable for me, but as far as visual quality of printing goes, all three brands are equally good IMO. FWIW, a couple of local artists who make their own prints for customers prefer the Canon 950/960, a couple others prefer the Epson 2100/2200. These printers cost around $1000 Can and up at the moment, but prices are dropping. (The model numbers vary by country, BTW.) On this forum, there have been more complaints about Epsons clogging than about other makes. Recent reviews on longevity, fade resistance, etc of the prints indicate that the paper + ink combination is more significant than the brand of printer. IE, all the multi-tank, pigment or dye sublimation printers produce prints that are as good as photographic prints in these respects, but only if made on the paper(s) recommended for each brand and using OEM inks. Try to save on paper and/or ink, and the odds are you will get a combination that will be inferior in colour and archival quality. There has also been a wide range of posts about the advisability or otherwise of using 3rd party refill inks - some people swear by them and others at them. Personally, I've had bad experiences with refill inks and I avoid them, but then I print mostly b/w text, and the higher cost of OEM ink is acceptable to me. On this forum, the most positive reports on refill inks have been for Canon printers. Maybe that's enough to go on. But IMO your desire to print photos every day means that reliability will be the most important cost factor for you. A cheap printer will not measure up. -- Wolf Kirchmeir If you didn't want to go to Chicago, why did you get on the train? (Garrison Keillor) just one w and plain ca for correct e-mail address |
#3
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On Sun, 12 Oct 2003 01:07:41 +0100, steve wrote:
=3DFor quality of the printouts? and cheap in terms of ink etc? =3DI will be using 3 party carts =3DAnd yes i know =9C130 is on the cheap side! =3DThanks =3DSteve IMO, no printer under 130gbp is good enough for what you apparently want to do. In fact, the price of the printer will not be the most significant cost factor, if you want to do high-volume printing. Besides, you haven't given enough information. How much will you print? What are your standards for quality? Who are the prints for -- yourself, for customers, or both? If you print a lot (100 prints a day and up) and for customers, then a high end printer will be cheapest in the long run. EG, a laser with toner-replacement (_not_ cartridge replacement) will probably be best for your needs. IOW, that situation would call for the kind of equipment a professional printer uses, and you should go see what they use (and be prepared to spend close to four figures.) OTOH, if your printing is primarily for yourself, and on the order a couple tens of prints a day at most, one of the current upper-range Canon, Epson, or Hewlett-Packard printers will probably be best for you. Canon and Epson come in multi-tank models, and these ar definitely cheaper to operate in the long run. But just which printer is best is a question on which you will get mostly highly prejudiced advice. I myself like H-P printers because they have been the most reliable for me, but as far as visual quality of printing goes, all three brands are equally good IMO. FWIW, a couple of local artists who make their own prints for customers prefer the Canon 950/960, a couple others prefer the Epson 2100/2200. These printers cost around $1000 Can and up at the moment, but prices are dropping. (The model numbers vary by country, BTW.) On this forum, there have been more complaints about Epsons clogging than about other makes. Recent reviews on longevity, fade resistance, etc of the prints indicate that the paper + ink combination is more significant than the brand of printer. IE, all the multi-tank, pigment or dye sublimation printers produce prints that are as good as photographic prints in these respects, but only if made on the paper(s) recommended for each brand and using OEM inks. Try to save on paper and/or ink, and the odds are you will get a combination that will be inferior in colour and archival quality. There has also been a wide range of posts about the advisability or otherwise of using 3rd party refill inks - some people swear by them and others at them. Personally, I've had bad experiences with refill inks and I avoid them, but then I print mostly b/w text, and the higher cost of OEM ink is acceptable to me. On this forum, the most positive reports on refill inks have been for Canon printers. Maybe that's enough to go on. But IMO your desire to print photos every day means that reliability will be the most important cost factor for you. A cheap printer will not measure up. -- Wolf Kirchmeir If you didn't want to go to Chicago, why did you get on the train? (Garrison Keillor) just one w and plain ca for correct e-mail address |
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