wide format photo printer?

[kpaisley1]

Do you know which one is the bestest!!?? UGH my printer just died in the middle of doing an album for my mom for CHristmas. I am losing it. Of course, if I am going to be forced to buy myself a new one right now, I need to get the one I really want.... I want to be able to print 12x12, and I want great photo quality - anyone have opinions?

[mmonette100]

I have an Epson R1800 and I love it - the output quality is superb.

[MSBetsyZ]

Don't have one, but I've heard fantastic things about the Epson R1800.

[myhappyplace]

I am the queen of research when I want something big. At first I was sold on the epson but then I read a lot of reviews (go to amazon.com just for the reviews even if you get it someplace else). It seems that the problem with the epson is the print heads (? the things that squirt the ink out) are built into the printer. So, if you are printing often and a lot it's not that big of a deal. But if you aren't going to be printing all the time then the heads get clogged, so the printer cleans the heads by spraying ink and that's wasteful. The print heads also get damaged quickly was a complaint I read a lot. It is a big expense to repair these.

The HP has the print heads on the ink cartridges, so you get new print heads it seems, each time you replace your tanks.

The epson is good because you can buy each color individually and the HP is, I think, 3 colors per tank. BUT you'll be burning through more ink cleaning those heads on the epson so between that and the risk for the print heads getting damaged I think that negates the savings.

I have a brother that has individual colors and I find I still end up replacing them all around the same time anyway(except black of course).

I think I remember reading somewhere that epson had a class action lawsuit filed against it because they were requiring people to replace the ink tanks before they were acutally empty AND if you wanted to print something in black and white and you were out of, I don't know, magenta ink LOL It wouldn't print.

Probably more than you EVER wanted to know about a printer, huh? :rolleyes: :mrgreen: My titles in the house are researcher or cruise director depending on whether we are about to buy something or go on vacation LOL

Check out all the reviews on Amazon, I was doing my research in the spring so somethings might have changed. You can look at similar products and there is a section that says what did people buy after viewing this item and it gives you the percentages.

Good luck!

[Baylorgrad]

Another vote for Epson! Mine is a Photo Stylus 1280 that Santa brought a couple of years ago. It's been a great wide-format printer...I'm so glad I got it!

[bwstamper]

You might also look at the Canon I9900. Cnet.com has some good reviews on both the epson mentioned earlier and the Canon. The Canon print quality is excellent.

[mcak]

I own both a large format Epson (Stylus 2200) and large format HP (HP 1700) - both were purchased a couple of years ago, so I don't have current advice here. I have experienced the problems in the epson as quoted below - the printer heads require frequent cleaning if not using regularly. Btw, I've owned my printer for about 3 years and have never experienced a damaged printer head. However, my epson wins hands down for quality alone. The quality of photo printouts is superior, as is the driver software and overall reliability (I have a mac, might make a difference). As I frequent consumer of computer electronic equipment ;) , my impression is that HP has gone downhill in the past 5 years - I've not been happy with this printer, or the large format scanner I bought (to the point of fantasizing about taking my hammer to both). Won't be buying HP again. :mad:

If you want large format photos - epson quality is amazing. I've also heard great things about Canon. If you are more concerned about cost effectiveness, then the info below brings up some very interesting points.

Hope this helps!

Quote:

Originally Posted by myhappyplace

I am the queen of research when I want something big. At first I was sold on the epson but then I read a lot of reviews (go to amazon.com just for the reviews even if you get it someplace else). It seems that the problem with the epson is the print heads (? the things that squirt the ink out) are built into the printer. So, if you are printing often and a lot it's not that big of a deal. But if you aren't going to be printing all the time then the heads get clogged, so the printer cleans the heads by spraying ink and that's wasteful. The print heads also get damaged quickly was a complaint I read a lot. It is a big expense to repair these.

The HP has the print heads on the ink cartridges, so you get new print heads it seems, each time you replace your tanks.

The epson is good because you can buy each color individually and the HP is, I think, 3 colors per tank. BUT you'll be burning through more ink cleaning those heads on the epson so between that and the risk for the print heads getting damaged I think that negates the savings.

I have a brother that has individual colors and I find I still end up replacing them all around the same time anyway(except black of course).

I think I remember reading somewhere that epson had a class action lawsuit filed against it because they were requiring people to replace the ink tanks before they were acutally empty AND if you wanted to print something in black and white and you were out of, I don't know, magenta ink LOL It wouldn't print.

Probably more than you EVER wanted to know about a printer, huh? :rolleyes: :mrgreen: My titles in the house are researcher or cruise director depending on whether we are about to buy something or go on vacation LOL

Check out all the reviews on Amazon, I was doing my research in the spring so somethings might have changed. You can look at similar products and there is a section that says what did people buy after viewing this item and it gives you the percentages.

Good luck!