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10/13/2004 10:31:14 AM · #1 |
| I live in rural area and wal mart is the most capable/cost effective local lab to get 6 x 4 or 8 x 10 prints. Does anyone know of a photo printer that would be an alternative in terms of price/quality that would compare to what Wal Mart is putting out? Is dye-sub better than inkjet? Iris? Laser? I am looking at $500 or less for cost of the printer. Does such an animal exist or is this wishful thinking? |
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10/13/2004 10:40:14 AM · #2 |
I have a truly amazing Epson that cost me uner $100.00. It's ink jet, but the inks are separated by color. You have Magenta, Light Magenta, Cyan, Light Cyan, Yellow, and Black. The quality is wonderful, and the pictures come out store printed qulity. It's the Epson Stylus Photo R200. You can go with any other Epson inkjet...they get progressively better, though I can't tell the difference between my prints and store prints. The only one that's out of your price range is the one that is $699.99 and that's the Epson Stylus Photo 2200.
What I love about mine is you can print directly onto CD's. Which I can't live without now.
The only downside is you have to repurchase inks individually, and they run around $12.00 for the colors, and $17.00 for the black.
But I love it.
EPSON PHOTO PRINTERS |
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10/13/2004 10:47:03 AM · #3 |
I am getting incredible results from my Olympus P400 printer. Yeah, the consumables are a bit pricy compared to ink jet. But the high quality of the prints are indistinguishable from photo lab, better, even, because I have more control over things like using the same color balance for photoshop elements as I do for the printer.
It also prints nicely from pccard (SD or CF) as well as smart media cards. It is A4 sized max print, not exactly 8x10, but ok by me.
I do my proofing on an Epson 785EPX, and stuff that doesn't require commercial print quality.
But the Camedia wins hands down for high quality prints. |
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10/13/2004 11:08:16 AM · #4 |
I should add that the Epson prints up to 8" in width. Ostensibly, if you have paper that is longer, like from a roll, it'll keep printing as long as the paper is there feeding through - I've never tested my theory. So if you want 8x12, or 8x20 panoramics, it should work.
And some models, the more expesive ones print up to 13" wide. |
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10/13/2004 12:39:35 PM · #5 |
If you want long lasting prints, like the ones walmart prints on photopaper, you should probably look at one of the new archival quality printers. The Epson R800 and i9900 well rated options. Canon has a new Canon iP8500 that is a little less expensive, but I haven't heard much about it yet.
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10/13/2004 01:20:18 PM · #6 |
| I also use an Olympus P440 and as Ranj has said, the quality is supurb. The prints also have the added advantage of being waterproof, as the paper is plasicised and the ribon applies a coat of clear wax over the coloured layers. |
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10/13/2004 01:40:45 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by Warby:
I also use an Olympus P440 and as Ranj has said, the quality is supurb. The prints also have the added advantage of being waterproof, as the paper is plasicised and the ribon applies a coat of clear wax over the coloured layers. |
The more expensive versions of the epson do as well, FWIW.
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10/13/2004 01:47:22 PM · #8 |
Dye sub printers are expensive and are geared towards more advanced users. Stick with a solid inkjet (like the ones suggested above) and you'll be happy.
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10/13/2004 03:58:28 PM · #9 |
| From what I have read here today and the research I have done I think I will be setting aside funds for a Dye-Sub type printer. Thank you all very much for the time and info. |
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10/13/2004 06:51:21 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by dunces:
Dye sub printers are expensive and are geared towards more advanced users. Stick with a solid inkjet (like the ones suggested above) and you'll be happy. |
Are inkjet printers adequate for producing posters, quality calendars, and things like that, or would a dye-sub be more in order for that type of product?
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10/13/2004 06:56:45 PM · #11 |
I own an HP Photosmart 7550 that I'm incredibly happy with. It cost me $399 almost two years ago, so I'm sure they're cheaper now. It has three ink tanks, black, tri color, and photo. The ink is pretty expensive, they black is like 40 bucks. I really really like it. I've been thinking about getting a Canon i9900 (or whatever the model is) only because of the bigger print size, but I dont really need it so I think i'm gonna stick with my HP for now.
June
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