Good Photo Printer for my M8?

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usccharles

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hi,

what printer do you recommend for printing photos (and also capable to print my office needs)? i currently have a very cheap (but very good) Epson R200 photo. i want to upgrade and take advantage of my exceptional detail of the M8 images.

help!

thanks :)
 
I have a Epson R800 which has rendered excellent prints of the M8 test shots I did the yesterday. Lightroom's photo printing is a breeze to use, just remember to install the premium profiles from Epson and set the right one (don't forget to set the printer's color management to OFF. The Epson R1400 is a steal at less than $400 and capable of printing 13x19.

You will never find a printer that does both office and photo printing well. Get a $299 Color Laserjet for the office and the Epson R1400 for the photos.
 
I recently picked up the HP B9180. It is every bit as good as all the reviews have said. Both color and black & white are fantastic. The inclusion of a network interface is a real bonus.
 
I've just got the B9180 as well and it is Mega. After previously owning 5 epson printers and suffering untold frustration with all of them I can safely say that I will never touch another Epson in my life.

Obviously, it's only my opinion, but for some reason Epson has never worked for me. In fact at work we have the Epson 4800 and it still hasn't convinced me.

Look at HP or Canon - I think that's where it's at.
 
Get a pigment printer for your photos - Epson R3800 is likely the best and most economical if you consider it comes with full cartridges, and when you calculate the running cost. For office work any $300 printer will do.
 
The B9180 is another excellent choice (I didn't know whether that was within your budget). $699 list price and capable of printing on canvas! An artist friend of mine got one to make his own giclee prints and it paid for itself in one art show!
 
are ink cartridge prices and ink cartridge change frequency the same with both HP and Epson, or is one company generally more competitive? cartridges cost so much these days!

thanks you for your comments :)
 
If you are into b&w printing via inkjet, you may want to go the route I've taken. I bought an Epson c86 (4 color) printer two or three years ago. It did a rather good job on regular stuff, but I wanted a dedicated b&w printer. I took the plunge a couple of months ago.

I bought a set of empty cartridges, chip resetter, and a couple of bottles of ink from inksupply.com . (Here is the link) The whole set-up (excluding the $60 printer) was about $100 shipped. The results have been great. Best of all is not having to worry about using up ink. It takes less than 10 minutes to refill all four carts, and the cost is much less than the OEM carts.

Take care,
Michael
 
mwooten said:
If you are into b&w printing via inkjet, you may want to go the route I've taken. I bought an Epson c86 (4 color) printer two or three years ago. It did a rather good job on regular stuff, but I wanted a dedicated b&w printer. I took the plunge a couple of months ago.

I bought a set of empty cartridges, chip resetter, and a couple of bottles of ink from inksupply.com . (Here is the link) The whole set-up (excluding the $60 printer) was about $100 shipped. The results have been great. Best of all is not having to worry about using up ink. It takes less than 10 minutes to refill all four carts, and the cost is much less than the OEM carts.

Take care,
Michael
Click to expand...

This is great if it works for you but I have had terrible luck with third-party inks. Have tried the Lyson QuadBlack and color inks in Canon printers only to find they clog the printheads permanently- no amount of head cleaning will fix it.
 
Take a look at a used Epson Stylus Photo 2200. I picked up a nearly new one with a full ink set for $275.
 
Epson 2400 or any of the epson pigment printers. I use my 2400 and 7800 regularly and have put a great deal of paper and ink through them with absolutely no issues. Previously had 2-2200's, 4000 and a 7600 with absolutely no issues untill i accidentally plugges the firewire plug into one of the 2200 and blew a board. My problem not the printers. The epson pigment machines are the finest on the market and have the best inks / pigment technoligy going. Beautiful primnts with these machines.

Use 3rd party paper like Hahnemuhle photo rag and profiles for the finest prints. 95% of my x-ray art is printed on the 7800 and photorag.
 
There are so many, shutterfly, mpix, white house custom color, duggal, costco, walmart. Seriously, digital printing is so cheap these days, hardly worth to get a printer at home. Let the professionals do their job.

I only print the best, maybe 1 in 100. especially digital photos. slideshow on dvd is best way to share. when i do films, i rent a darkroom to print myself.
 
Granted photo labs can do an excellent job and have the capacity for bulk prints, but when it comes down to doing a print for exhibition nothing beats doing it yourself. With a little training, a color calibrator, and the proper supplies (paper, ink & profiles) you can crank out the stunning pic you know you took.

Remember, the guy (or gal) at the lab has zillions of other prints to do as well and even though he (or she) has great equipment for doing the job, will they take the time you need to make sure the print is EXACTLY the way you want it? Don't forget to factor in travel time to/from the lab.

Also be aware that ALL printer manufacturers make their money on ink and paper. The printer is usually sold at a loss.

My $0.02 USD.
 
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HP B9180 = stunning black and white.
I bought one a few months ago and use it exclusively for the exhibition prints that I sell. Setup, fine tuning and maintenance are are very well thought out and the print quality is frankly amazing.
 
Tried all I could... my owns, friends, labs, friends at labs.... and the best for the money is.. THE HP 9180.. and you save on ink too... Epson waste a lot of ink on paper changing... and the Printer heads on the HP B9180 can be replaced on Epson (like I did) you need to replace the printer. The Plus is the colormetric function on HP, you change papers and the colors are all the same. That in my opinion is the value of the printer alone!

my 2 cents
 
The Epsons are very good, but if money is no object, look into a RIP like ImagePrint. The results then are outstanding, particularly in B&W. DR
 
Epson I think are the best, you cannot go wrong with them generally. My favourate is the 2400. it is a fantastic printer and I belive to be the best on the market for th price.
 
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