Buying a new printer.......... thoughts?

[gazroid]

Hey guys, how are you all doing? gonna buy a new printer, failry budget printer but would like your opinions on which one? I really want the Canon Pixma ip8500, but cant really afford it, what about the 5200? the 6000? hope your all well. please respond!! gazroid

[I26]

How much are you looking to spend?

[Phoenix]

I myself like the Epson.. They have that Durabrite ink. But that’s just my preference.

[jdog]

I think it is hard to beat an epson printer...but I am partial!!!

[I26]

Well I have an Epson R200 for now and I must say that for $80 it is an awesome 6-color printer. It will even print directly on CD/DVD. To get an 8-color Epson setup using Ultra-Chrome inks you could get an Epson R800 for about $365 shipped.

[spence]

I have a Canon Pixma ip 4000 and think its great, very fast and super prints so I presume the ip8500 should be super super prints and like lightning.

[stewartsmith]

I have an Epson R200 too and it is far superior to the canon I had before.
The six ink system is great and pics look so much better.
It has been superceeded by the R220 and R240 so look them up and judge for yourself.
Another thing you might want to consider is that most Pros use Epsons.

[pip22]

I've always used Epson printers, though only the mid-priced one's as I'm only an enthusiast/amateur. However, I have fallen victim to the dreaded, incurable print-head blockage recently, which rendered the printer useless since the print-head is (unlike HP printers for example) built in to the printer housing and can't be repalced simply by fitting a new ink/print-head cartridge as used in the HP models. I don't know if the 'pro' level Epson printers have this same design flaw or suffer the same fate if not used every day, but in my opinion it is a design flaw if you're only an enthusiast who prints full-colour only a couple of days a week which leaves plenty of idle time for the static ink to dry out in the printhead. A shame because Epson printers are capable of producing excellent photo prints in the right hands, but I won't be buying another one unless they change to an 'ink and printhead' cartridge like HP. Lexmark also do it like HP, but I think we all know that Lexmark is not even in the running as regards quality photo output. The purpose of my post is simply to give the potential printer buyer something to consider if they only print photos occasionally -- do you really want the hassle of running all those cleaning cycles (as I did) with the wastage of ink that goes with it, and then one day find that not only have you wasted ink, but the stupid printer is still blocked!

[Jan]

I have always had Epson Printers also, and had this problem in the past, but for the last couple of years I have never had the problem with the printer I bought then. The Epsom in my opinion is the only one for photos. I sure the experts will chime in and help you with more technical data.
Welcome to the Zo.

[gquiring]

I own the Canon ip8500 and love it. It prints great and is very fast. I have owned two Epsons in the past and although they print great the clogging issues have steared me away for good.

The only odd thing about the 8500 are the two new color cartridges. I have printed many photos now on my 8500 but the red and green cartridges are never drained.

[Landis]

Re the Epson problem of clogged nozzles mentioned above. It's my experience that they will clog for one of two reasons:
1 - Lack of use. You really need to keep using them and not let them sit around to dry up.
2 - Using second party inks to save yourself some money. These inks are poor quality and will probably clog your nozzels after a while.

On my Pro7600 I have in the US, the man who watches our home while we are gone goes and does a cleaning cycle the first of each month. Last year, after 6 months of no use, I went and did two cleaning cycles and it printed like a new printer the entire time I was up there and ran about 250 feet of 24 inch wide paper through it with only one print that wasn't quite right due to a clogged nozzel, which was cleaned immediately. The 7600 printer has the ink traveling through plastic tubes that are about 30 inches long to the head.

My Epson 1280 seems to be more problematical without constant use. I have it at the office and use it mostly for documents now. The color nozzels are all clogged, so it's now just a B&W printer. I can't seem to get the color ones working so gave up.

[JimL]

Here is a 1/2 tall by 7 inch wide (200DPI) color bar which I print once a week to keep my print heads clear. Have used it with Epson and Lexmart printers and it seems to have worked well for me. One impression per week (not a whole page).
JimL
Link provided because file is too long for display on forum

http://www.photozo.com/album/data/50...tHeadClear.jpg

[pip22]

Thanks all for your comments/advice. I did not use my printer everyday because I had no need to -- but it never stood idle for more than a couple of days, even so it may have been used only for text printing for several weeks (only black). And it was 4 years old before the blockage became 'permanent', so I guess for a 'non-pro' printer that's par for the course. As regards third-party compatible cartridges, I know full well they are to be avoided like the plague so I've only ever used genuine Epson. As you say then, must have been lack of use, or at least lack of use as regards all the colours other than black. I still maintain this problem was exascerbated by the fact that Epson puts the print head inside the printer during manufacture, rather than integrating it with every new ink cartridge. I certainly don't use a printer every day, not even every week, so I've decided that an inkjet photo-printer is not for me. A 4 x 6 dye-sub iss currently doing sterling work for me with no wet ink to clog it up , and for knocking out web-pages and letters Iive bought a cheap tri-colour inkjet. If I want any images printing larger than 4 x 6 I put them on a CD and take it to a lab.