Printer advice

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wwulfsohn

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I am looking for a printer so for images from my M8. I want great image quality, low ink usage and up to 11x14 prints. Any recommendations?

Thanks.
 
The HP B9180 is highly favored around these parts. Epson announced a new Photo Stylus 1900 not too long ago but no info is available outside of Epson UK.

Also, the B9180 can print on canvas.
 
I had the 9180 and after using cartridges at $33 per color, I sold mine and went back to the r2200 Epson with ink cartridges. I will admit that the continual cycle of the 9180 to keep the ink supply lines free sounds good in theory. I do have to make sure I print every few days with the Epson. The HP had great color rendition, but I am also happy with the R2200. If I did want more brilliance, I think I would buy the R2400.

I found that I could buy new OEM cartridges on eBay at a full set for about $75, whereas the HP was over $200 for the full set. Perhaps I should have looked into an external ink feed system. Is anyone running one of those for the 9180.

I thought I explored the Ink price market fairly well, but I just couldn't find reasonable ink prices. Open to suggestion, but I made my decision. Personally, I think the HP9180 is hyped a bit much.
 
I missed something on that last post. The ink cartridges for the Epson R2200 are $12 per color OEM. Even the Ultrachrome inks for the Epson R2400 are under $20 per cartridge and even less depending on source.
 
I have the R2400 and I buy OEM Epson inks from Atlex for about $11.47. The R2400 is a fine printer and I have made some very nice 13X19" prints with it.

Ted
 
I was considering purchasing an Epson R2400 the other day so I spent a bit of time reading about it online. A number of owners reported clogging problems if they did not use their printer regularly. So, I'm wondering if that is the experience of those R2400 owners on this forum or were the reports I read from those other owners simply in the minority? Any first-hand experience that you guys could share would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Randy
 
Randy:

Never had such a problem. Sometimes I use mine daily. Then I'll go for a week or two without using it.

What's wonderful about it is when you want to print really good black and white prints. You put in the matte black cartridge, and with the light black and the light-light black cartridges you get some very good prints.

Also, with that setup - and using Epson's Enhanced Matte paper - you can get very fine matte color prints.

Ted
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks, Ted. Yeah, I kinda figured that the reports I was reading were atypical experiences. And I have heard that the R2400 does great B&W prints. Guess I'll probably end up getting one before too long. Was just concerned because I figured I would likely print like mad for a time, then not print for a while, then want to print like mad again and didn't want to deal with having to replace ink cartridges every time I went through that cycle. Anybody else care to share their experiences?
 
When I sold my 9180, and went back to the R2200, it had not been used for three months. I had to run about 8-10 clean cycles to unclog the jets. It's been fine since hooking it back up, but I try to print at least a couple of good size prints every week or so. I went two weeks a couple of weeks ago and had to run one clean cycle to clear it up. A friend has an R2400 and he never has a problem. However, I know he prints at least once a week, often more.
 
I posted this thread and I have the r2400. I found that it is an ink hog. Every time I print, at least one of the cartridges needs to be replaced. I output a few prints every several weeks. Perhaps they are drying up.

Any further advice???
 
Hi there, I haven't had clogging problems with Epson ink, only with third party grey pigments. I don't know the HP 9180 quality really, but the 2400 is top notch quality, colro and BW.

However if you should go the Epson route and print more than just a few (larger) prints per month, I recommend the 3800. At the moment of purchasing, the higher amount of ink delivered with the printer makes it the same price as the 2400. That is, once you rebought the 4 or 5 cartridge sets for the 2400 you will have as much ink as the 3800 at its time of purchase and you will have spend, more or less, the same money.

3800 (I have it) is slightly bettered in terms of dither pattern, and the prints are the best I ever made with any printer. It goes up to A2 of course...

Which does not mean that the HP or Canon are not excellent, I just dont know them.


Bernie
 
Probably the best result/cost equation is the Epson 3800 - you can go up to A2 size, it has about 3 times bigger ink carts than the R2400 and the nozzle technology is the latest in the Epson line. I agree with you about the R2400 - it drinks like crazy, but apart from that it makes great prints both in colour and in B&W (with the advanced B&W module in particular). Don't get fooled by the price, if you count in the carts, it actually costs less than R2400.
 
Sounds like the R3800 is the way to go. In defense of the R2400, Epson ink carts for it are only $11.20 from Atlex.

Ted
 
I am a fan of the 2400, having used the Canon S9000 for several years. I generally use Epson Fine Art Paper for b/w, and have been very pleased with the results. It does seem to be an ink hog, but so has every other printer I've ever owned...

keith miles
 
Randy,

The S9000 uses/used a six-ink system. I tend to shoot color, but develop as b/w and print the same. The 2400 has an 8-ink system. You can also swap out the photo black for a matte black ink, depending on what kind of paper you are printing to.

The Canon is a tremendous printer. I still use it for color work, particularly on glossy paper.

But, if I had to get rid of one, I'd keep the Epson and let the Canon go.

Hope this helps.

keith miles
 
mfogiel said:
Probably the best result/cost equation is the Epson 3800 - you can go up to A2 size, it has about 3 times bigger ink carts than the R2400 and the nozzle technology is the latest in the Epson line. I agree with you about the R2400 - it drinks like crazy, but apart from that it makes great prints both in colour and in B&W (with the advanced B&W module in particular). Don't get fooled by the price, if you count in the carts, it actually costs less than R2400.
Click to expand...

Well, it is like 80ml carts (3800) versus someting like 13-15ml (I read different numbers), that is 5-6x as large. But the important thing of course is price. 2400 carts are roughly 1 Euro (or probably also Dollar) per ml (that is expensive!!!), and roughly 50c for the 3800 ink. I even managet to buy cheaper.

Concerning the 2400 "drinking like mad", I guess both printers consumer roughly the same amount of ink for the same print, except that the 2400 ink is twoce as much.

There have been people who have exactly calculated the price difference, and in the end at the day of puchase, the 3800 is about 50 dollars more than the 2400 if you buy the extra ink for the 2400 in spare carts.

For people who dont print much the 2400 will do, for the rest the 2400 s a better machine and can go bigger (A2).

Bernie
 
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