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01/06/2004 09:58:16 AM · #1 |
I just offed my Epson C82 on eBay and am ready to upgrade a bit. I'm on the fence between the HP 7660 and the Epson R300. Both are between $150-$200. I'm mainly taking family pics, and want an easy-to-use printer with consistent quality. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
Thanks! |
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01/06/2004 10:35:33 AM · #2 |
How many ink heads in the printer (generally, more is better for fine tones)
Can you replace each colour individually, or do you have to replace all the colours at one time (a real pain because you often use up one colour faster than others)
How much are the ink costs between the two printers ?
(in the long run, ink is much more expensive than the printer...)
Generally, I've had great results with the Epson stylus photo printers... |
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01/06/2004 10:41:11 AM · #3 |
i know it's not there, but Canon are better than above two.
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01/06/2004 10:54:34 AM · #4 |
Originally posted by jonpink:
i know it's not there, but Canon are better than above two. |
yeah - what he said.
but for more info than you can handle, check this:
CNET Printer Review |
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01/06/2004 11:06:24 AM · #5 |
I own both a Canon & an Epson. I had very high expectations with the Epson and they were met, and modest expectations with the Canon and they were exceeded. I think in this price range you need to look at what Canon has for the $150 - $200 as well.
Epson - vs - HP. The Epson has a slightly higher range 5760 x 1440 optimized dpi - vs - 4800 x 1200 dpi for the HP. What does this really mean...........I wish I really knew. Epson put the time and effort into the upside for a reason. Between these two I'd lean towards the Epson because they are a defacto within the photo printing space. They really know what they are doing, and the fact that this printer is Out of Stock (R 300)says something about the demand for the unit.
I know I know....someone will say something about Epson having supplier issues.............
Good Luck. I don't think you'll go wrong either way.
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01/06/2004 11:28:39 AM · #6 |
Originally posted by lockjawdavis:
I just offed my Epson C82 on eBay and am ready to upgrade a bit. I'm on the fence between the HP 7660 and the Epson R300. Both are between $150-$200. I'm mainly taking family pics, and want an easy-to-use printer with consistent quality. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
Thanks! |
Things to consider....primary use, photo paper type, ink costs, and print size. In the price range you mention, you are describing an all around utility printer with photo capabilities. W/ 8x10's being your largest(typically) photo size.
Read the reviews, as many as you can find time to read, then decide. Canon, HP, Epson, all have fans as well as those who wouldn't buy them again.
For photo printing, (although outside your price range), I believe the Epson 2200 photo is tops for a desktop dark room. Very, very satisfied with mine.
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01/06/2004 11:37:27 AM · #7 |
I'm on the fence between the HP 7660 and the Epson R300
Between those two, I'd get the Canon i960. :-)
Message edited by author 2004-01-06 11:37:44. |
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01/06/2004 12:03:15 PM · #8 |
| Thanks for the good advice. Perhaps my choice should shift between the Epson and the Canon. The more I read, the less good things I hear about the HP. |
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01/06/2004 12:17:01 PM · #9 |
Speaking of "new printers", I'm waiting to see what the Epson R800 street price is. It is supposed to be available next month, and features a new "8 color" pigment-ink system (the normal Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, then Photo Black and Matte Black, plus Red, Blue and "Gloss Optimizer") with 1.5pL drop-size and light-fastness of 80-100 years. The addition of Red and Blue inks supposedly give this the widest color gamut of any ink jet printer, and the "gloss optimizer" cartridge is supposed to make Epson's UltraChrome inks work well even on glossy media (it is already quite stunning on fine art matte media).
Oh. And it will print on CD and DVD's.
BTW, the nice thing about most HP inkjets is that the print head is part of the HP print cartridge. Every time you replace a cartridge you also replace the print head, meaning heavily-clogged heads (which can require expensive head replacement on an Epson or Canon) can be solved effortlessly on an HP. The B&W text output from HP's printers are also second-to-none.
Message edited by author 2004-01-06 12:33:02. |
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01/06/2004 12:26:37 PM · #10 |
the "gloss optimizer" cartridge is supposed to make Epson's UltraChrome
I have to admit, I was a little disappointed to see how the Epson 2200 looks on Epson Premium Plus Glossy. My Canon's glossy prints look much much better. The Epson is amazing on Matte, Luster, & Semi-Gloss paper. Given this "gloss optimizer" announcement, it appears that I'm not the only one who recognized the issue.
It also is a pain to swap out the Matte Black & Photo Black! Seems they addressed this too. Kudos to them. |
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01/06/2004 12:28:41 PM · #11 |
| Epson, Epson, Epson. I use 3 different epson printers at work and they are all wonderful. The thing to know about them tho is that there is a learning curve. If you can learn to use printer profiles, your pictures come out dead on color. But unfortunatley, it is not something they tell you a great deal about using. The epson does seem to be somewhat of an industry standard for a lot of photographhers and artists. There is a good site to learn how to use the profiles. The Pictorico paper web site has a place about icc profiles and has a pdf file you can print on how to use them. It is about 16 pages, but very concise. It works with any paper profiles. The paper you use also makes a huge difference in the quality of your prints. DON"T USE CHEAP PAPER. You waste ink in the long run spend more money. It is really best if you use paper that you can download a profile for. |
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01/06/2004 12:29:38 PM · #12 |
| Oh yeah, EPson is coming out with a lot of new printers in the next few months. The ones with individual ink cartridges rock |
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01/06/2004 12:56:58 PM · #13 |
For my price range (about $200 or so), it seems that the Canon i960 is hard to beat. The Epson R300 is tough to find as it's being replaced by its more expensive cousin, the R300M. The search continues...
Thanks again for the superb advice. It's truly appreciated! |
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01/06/2004 02:45:37 PM · #14 |
| Why not get the biggest printer you can afford. I been satisfied with my Epson and HP printers. Now I'm using the Canon i9100 (under $500). The 13" x 19" prints are awesome. These prints sell themselves. I'm hearing high praise about the other printer manufacturers, so brand does not seem to matter. But size does! Note that a minimum 5 megapixel camera is recommended for most larger format prints) |
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01/06/2004 02:53:49 PM · #15 |
| I bought an Epson C82 I think but I returned it because it was incredibly loud! It did a very good job at printing, but it was just way to loud. I went to a Brother MFC and I have loved it! |
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01/06/2004 02:54:43 PM · #16 |
| I'm very happy with my epson 2200. |
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01/06/2004 09:13:32 PM · #17 |
| I just got an Epson R300 from my brother for my birthday last month. It's been really great, makes great prints, 6 seperate ink cartridges, ability to print directly from 8 types of digital media and a usb port on the front to connect the camera if you want. The prints are very high quality, and the ease of installation and use have been great. My only trouble so far is getting the printer and the monitor to match. |
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01/07/2004 01:57:36 AM · #18 |
| I started out with HP's and then switched to Epson. I am very very happy with my Epson 2200 and before that the Epson 1280. I always use Epson paper though. I tried one other brand and it didn't seem to work as well. Also on a lot of the HP's the ink sort of looks "laid" on when you hold the paper up and look at it from the side. |
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01/07/2004 07:04:47 AM · #19 |
| I am really pleased a couple of contributors have already suggested you take a look at Canon. I bought an S800 Photo about four years ago. I was swayed to buy because they adopted the six separate ink tank system so early. Even today, it's a competent A4 printer. And I have heard good things about the latest batch of Canon kit. Take a look at Canon! |
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01/13/2004 01:15:35 PM · #20 |
Originally posted by lockjawdavis:
I just offed my Epson C82 on eBay and am ready to upgrade a bit. I'm on the fence between the HP 7660 and the Epson R300. Both are between $150-$200. I'm mainly taking family pics, and want an easy-to-use printer with consistent quality. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
Thanks! |
Another consideration when evaluating printers for the business aspects of this sport.....I recently was able to quote and get a reprint job from a local business owner. He had 30 old photos, which he cherished, was the original photographer, had had them published, but lost the negatives. They were from the 70's. I was able to scan them at 2200 dpi, edit them, and reprint 8x10's on my Epson 2200 Photo printer. He was very pleased, plus I included a CD of the scanned images so that he now has an electronic "negative". Due to the high quality of the reprints, the 56 year life of the reprints color, and his framing these for presentation in his business, it was important to have a printer that was worthy of the fees charged.
Not everyone needs this level of print quality, but for those who think that part of their income might come from reprints, then consider the quality and longevity of the photos that you are selling. And purchase your printer accordingly. The 2200's 7 ink system is quite well done.
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01/13/2004 02:02:08 PM · #21 |
I have seen a lot of reviews on printers on the TechTV Channel and I believe Epson would get more photos out of it then the HP! I know this much I never buy another lexmark wont even replace the ink in the 2 I have cause it cost as much for the ink as it does replacing the printer. I have a HP Photosmart 7620 that come with my one of my cameras HP635 and it really does have good quality to the pictures , I got about 26 8x10 full color pictures before both cartridges were ready to be replaced.
I am thinking on just getting an Epson to replace all 3!
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01/13/2004 04:14:09 PM · #22 |
I agree about Canon. We love our i960.
Message edited by author 2004-01-13 16:15:20. |
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