I'm hoping someone can help me..

I need a new printer. My budget is not great, but I have narrowed down 2 printers and I'm hoping someone has some idea of the worth of them. I've read reviews elsewhere, but hands-on users are a much better source of infomation.

The nominees are?

Epson Stylus Photo R800

Canon i9900 Color Bubble Jet Photo Printer

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Paris

I own the R800 and highly recommend it.
The prints are just perfect.

I have a Canon I950 (about a year old and smaller cousin to the I990) and it has produced excellent results, as good as any lab I have used.

I think both Canon and EPSON make excellent printers, and it usually comes down to features.

A great site to get excellent in-depth printer reviews is http://www.photo-i.co.uk/

I have not yet ordered my new printer.

I want to decide between the HP Designjet 130 and 30.

I would have the most use from the Designjet 30 which prints up 13 inch wide paper. The 130 prints up to 24 inch wide paper.

Both printers have essentially the same features and use the same print heads and inks.

I would love to have the larger format, but I would not use it often enough to make that purchase practical.

Both compare favorable to the Epson 4000 and 7600 and cost considerable less to buy. Maintenance costs overall are about the same.

Photoshop CS printouts will work well through the Photoshop CS printer soft print software and the printer's own self calibrating software.

The only issue that I have not yet resolved before purchase is whether I really need the optional RIP software for Postscript, prepress and Pantone printing.

Besides the suggestions/comments you'll get here at RetouchPRO, for a lot of additional ideas, info and opinions on printers, I'd highly recommend surfing the "Printers/Printing" forum at DPReview.com:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1003

The i9900 is among the more frequently discussed printers. One major consideration is Canon vs. Epson print longevity.

~Danny~

Thank you all for your input.

Thanks AJ & Danny for the links, very informative. So many options to consider.

Now I need to sit down and sort it all out and aim for the printer that best fits my needs.

Paris

Definitely go for Epson R800.

I have an R800 and got its continuously ink flow system from http://www.inkrepublic.com

Their system works pretty neat with my R800 and the printout is great too.
just for your reference.

trudle,

I know nothing about the two printers you are considering except, they are HP. I strongly urge you to investigate the ink/paper combos for longevity. I did a lot of work a few [2-3] years ago that are now like 25 yr. old color prints. Check here: WILHELM (http://www.wilhelm-research.com/)

Hello,

i don't know much about the quality difference between canon and epson, but these are both top printer brands so I don't think there's a big quality difference. I would suggest you take a look at www.printeradvice.com, this site provides information about the costs of printing for 32 printers. It's easy so take a look, it might help you making your decision.

Greetings

Roy

I own a Epson Stylus Photo R300 and its the best i have ever used.

This is the BEST review site i have seen!!! (http://www.steves-digicams.com/printers.html)

This link your also find a review for digital cameras, i have a Samsung digimax A4000 i was very impressed this guy shows sample pictures for printers and cameras on what they can achieve.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/epson_r800.html

The one you looking for reviews on is this one!

Or check out...........

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRINT/ER800/ER800.HTM

http://www.outbackphoto.com/printinginsights/pi029/Epson_R800.html

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/printers/epson-r800.shtml

Review in pdf

http://www.jirvana.com/pdfs/26-Epson_R800_Review.pdf

I have a Canon 9900 and am extremely satisfied. The large format prints are out of this world. :)

I switched from Epson to a Canon i9100 and love it. It's really fast AND quiet. Wish I could find a continuous ink flow system for it though.

Dave

Paris take a look at ExclamPT posting 03/03/05 in the Hardware thread. The Photo R1800 offers formats of up to A4, borderless up to A3-plus format. This is the R800 only wide. Don’t know why people are not commenting on it. Looks like good printer to me. NP

Hi All,

Neil - thanks for the link. That's an impressive piece of hardware. A bit more than my budget canm handle at this time.

Duv - a link to a Continuous Ink Flow System for the Canon i9100 http://www.mediastreet.com/cgi-bin/tame/mediastreet/n3.tam

Thanks you all for the advice you have offered, it has been most helpful.

The Fates have smiled upon me. I have been offered a Canon PIXMA ip8500 for a remarkable price and would be a fool to not accept the offer. From all I have read about this and the other Canon related printers in this range I feel I can't' go too wrong.

Oddly the offer came via my sister, who knows about as much about printers and computers as I do about the pain of childbirth :) The company where she works purchased 1 too many of these printers when the were relocating offices. When she found I was in the market for a good printer she offered to enquire at work what they were going to do with the Canon. "Sell it," she was told.

She has suggested that seeing as though it is my birthday next month she and my brother-in-law would put up half the money towards it rather than the traditional sock, clothes etc. present.

Only a month to wait - I'm counting.

Paris

I have a Canon 9900 and am extremely satisfied. The large format prints are out of this world. :)

What kinds of papers are you having success with? (In general.)

Tried any canvas or watercolor paper for arty output?

I have noticed that the chipset from InkRepublic.com is very different from others.

It is able to prevent the clean cycles. When I was using Epson cartridges with R800 printer, it does do the clean job when turning on the printer or when it is idle there for a while. You know what, it is pretty harm for the waste ink pad and pretty ink consuming. My epson cartridge did do less than 10 prints and the ink level dropped down to 0% ... what a nightmare...

On the other hand, using InkRepublic.com's chipset can avoid this problem and can make waste ink pad last longer.

If I calculate right, in the past, I bought 2 sets of R800 catridges every single month, or even more than 2 sets. that wasted me a lot of money.

With bulk ink system from http://inkrepublic.com , my cost for a print is next to nothing....

I informed you about www.printeradvice.com before, this site is now updated. A lot of new printer information is available at this site now.