Photo printer

[MarkBarbieri]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned MPix. Where is their local fan club? Seriously, they are very good and if I were considering sending out large prints, I would definitely consider them.

I don't think that home printing makes much sense for most people. It does offer instant gratification, which is important to some. If you can wait for your photos it is just about a cheap to order them online and you'll get better quality than most home printers.

On the other hand, if you are serious about printing as a hobby or a profession, you can't beat the control of having your own printer. I bought one recently and love it. I've been printing up a storm.

 

[mom2rtk]

I think someone posted that there is someone named Mark here on the boards who would print all of our stuff for free. Anyone have his email so I can send over a few thousand files??????

 

[photo_chick]

I love my Epson R1800 (yeah, it's an older model). I have a seprate, much cheaper, network all in one printer for printing documents and such.

Printing at home is great for larger sizes. I love being able to whip out 11x17 images whenever I want and I can do those cheaper than I can order them. But I do send it out if I have mass quantities of 4x6 images. For me, I can get the cost down to about 20 cents a print for 4x6 at home, but I have to cut them out of a larger sheet that way and I'm lazy so i let teh lab do it.

I never, ever print work at home. It goes to a local print house or mpix. I only do my personal stuff at home.

I think you need to analyze why you want a photo printer to figure out what you need. Because if it's for enlargements you want a larger printer. If it's for the occasional 4x6 or 8x10, the standard letter sized will do. If it's for mass quantities of 4x6 photos one of the little photo labs that make economic 4x6 prints and smaller might fit the bill.

 

[Kim&Chris]

I currently have an HP Photosmart, and I'm about to toss it out the window. In fact, this is the 2nd one that I've purchased that has non-stop problems feeding photo paper.

Can someone recommend a good, reliable photo printer? I'd be willing to spend extra for a printer that wouldn't cause the headaches that I'm experiencing now.

 

[MEAGON2222]

Espon has some great printers. I would try to stay away from kodak. I had mine a month and hated. Once you have to change inks you have nothing but problems. I just changed mine to espon and have never had another problem and it work great and io love it

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I love mine - Canon iPF6300. It can use rolls of paper as well as cut sheets. It might be overkill for your needs though.

Do you have a price range in mind? Will you use it to print a lot of non-photo stuff? How large would you like to be able to print?

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

I love mine - Canon iPF6300. It can use rolls of paper as well as cut sheets. It might be overkill for your needs though.

Do you have a price range in mind? Will you use it to print a lot of non-photo stuff? How large would you like to be able to print?

Yikes! That Canon iPF6300 is quite pricey. Must be nice!

 

[Kim&Chris]

I love mine - Canon iPF6300. It can use rolls of paper as well as cut sheets. It might be overkill for your needs though.

Do you have a price range in mind? Will you use it to print a lot of non-photo stuff? How large would you like to be able to print?

Honestly, I pretty much use my printer for photos. On the rare occasion, some other stuff (some recipes & such), but mostly just pictures.

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

We have two Epson's. We upgraded last year to the Stylus R1900 and we have an older R800 for a back-up. We haven't needed it but sometimes the DW just wants to use it. These are primarily used for photos.

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

I was looking at that R1900. Looks nice. And the option of roll paper is nice too.

The epson is on sale right now (at epson.com and amazon) for $399 (normally $550).

 

[Jigawatt]

I have the Canon MP980, and it performs very admirably for me. It's also a scanner and copier though, so if the extra functionality is not something you're looking for, perhaps a dedicated printer model would be more suitable to your needs.

I used to have an Epson photo printer, and it printed very nicely -- however, their ink meters seem to say they are empty waaaaay before they should (we even used a chip resetter to make the printer think they were full again, and got many more prints out of supposedly empty cartridges)... and when one very inexpensive part needed replacing (some sort of small foam pad that became saturated with ink), Epson tech support told us that it wasn't worth fixing and that we'd be better off buying a new printer. I went online and saw many more stories of people saying they had gotten the same story from Epson, and they generally seemed more interested in selling more printers than the longevity of their products.

So, even though my Epson printer performed well while it was working, when they advised me to buy a new printer, I did... it just wasn't another Epson.

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

I have the Canon MP980, and it performs very admirably for me. It's also a scanner and copier though, so if the extra functionality is not something you're looking for, perhaps a dedicated printer model would be more suitable to your needs.

I used to have an Epson photo printer, and it printed very nicely -- however, their ink meters seem to say they are empty waaaaay before they should (we even used a chip resetter to make the printer think they were full again, and got many more prints out of supposedly empty cartridges)... and when one very inexpensive part needed replacing (some sort of small foam pad that became saturated with ink), Epson tech support told us that it wasn't worth fixing and that we'd be better off buying a new printer. I went online and saw many more stories of people saying they had gotten the same story from Epson, and they generally seemed more interested in selling more printers than the longevity of their products.

So, even though my Epson printer performed well while it was working, when they advised me to buy a new printer, I did... it just wasn't another Epson.

We have had very good luck with our Epson's. Yes the ink meter, as on many printers show low or empty, before they really are. I look at it as a positive because I'm always forgetting to buy ink. Our Epson's are used primarily (especially the R1900) for photos. We have cheaper HP deskjets for our everyday printing. That probably extends the life of the printer, but that's a good thing.

 

[MEAGON2222]

Yikes! That Canon iPF6300 is quite pricey. Must be nice!

I hate to be rude but you get what you pay for. You want a printer to work you must pay for a good one. If you want to keep spending on useless printer that dont work then buy a cheap one. I know price is always a issue

 

[mom2rtk]

Another vote for Epson. I have the Artisan 710 and am very happy. I've been very happy with all the Epsons I have had. Ink is expensive, but the end product is worth it.

 

[MommyJack]

Although I'm currently using an HP Photosmart that works just fine, I have had jamming problems with other HP products in the past. I have found Cannon printers to work nicely.

 

[MommyJack]

and when one very inexpensive part needed replacing (some sort of small foam pad that became saturated with ink), Epson tech support told us that it wasn't worth fixing and that we'd be better off buying a new printer. I went online and saw many more stories of people saying they had gotten the same story from Epson

I've had the same thing happen with other brands, so I think that's an industry wide thing. They really want to sell you ink. That's why printers are so cheap now.

 

[Bstanley]

Another vote for the Epson Artisan 710.

It produces 4x6 photos that look as good as the prints from our local photo shop - AND - as an experiment I ran water over a picture (after letting it dry for an hour) and the image was totally unaffected. Now that's water resistant...

It is also quite fast on 'normal' printing and prints duplex.

 

[mom2rtk]

The issue I have had with Epson is that about a year into it, each time something has gone wrong and I get a message saying "parts inside your printer have outlived their life. Please contact service."

Each time it has needed to be replaced. They seem to have a built in shelf life. This has been over a series of different models. If you catch it within the 1 year warranty, they will ship you a brand new one at new cost and you put the old one in the box to ship back. If you're outside the warranty, they give you access to a loyalty site with pretty good deals. Usually they are on sale for less than $100 and come with a starter set of ink. Usually there is a free shipping deal too.

My Artisan 710 is only a month old. My Artisan 700 died the end of June.

And I do second that the photos are indeed waterproof and dry almost immediately. My old HP was AWFUL on both of those counts!

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

I hate to be rude but you get what you pay for. You want a printer to work you must pay for a good one. If you want to keep spending on useless printer that dont work then buy a cheap one. I know price is always a issue

I understand you get what you pay for, but unless amazon is pulling up the wrong one - I'm showing the iPF6300 at $3282.03. I would have to be printing lots and lots of large format photos before spending that much on a photo printer - especially with a place like White House Custom Color (www.whcc.com) out there.

The R1900 is expensive, but only $399.

 

[photo_chick]

I have been singing the praises of Epson since I got my R1800.

However... the ink tank issue that was mentioned. There was a class action law suit against Epson over this and anyone who was a part of it got a credit to buy like 2 new tanks of ink. What Epson did to correct it was to update the drivers so that you can print after the printer says it's low on ink.

Now, I love my R1800 when it's working properly. When it works it's got outstanding print quality. But at present time I cannot get that quality because I'm having horrid banding problems and I've done everything I know (and then a few other things others suggested) to correct the problem. The printer is 5 years old.

So great quality on that line, but I'm not so sure about the longevity at this point. Then again, I am annoyed because I can't print right now.