Printing Pictures-which printer?

[ugadog99]

I need to purchase a new computer for home and am seriously considering an HP. I also want to get a new printer which will be used for printing photos as well as other things: school projects, etc. What printer do you recommend for printing photos at home?

 

[AZ JazzyJ]

Printing is pretty subjective but I have had very good luck with Epson photo printers. I began with the Photo 1200 but I've also had a lot of success with the R300 and the new 4800. Right now my new favorite is the Epson Stylus Photo R1800 due to the new ink technology that is rated for 100 years non-fade. If you are looking for a smaller footprint the Stylus R800 is a fairly decent printer. I look for something with good well defined ink distribution and have been happy with the Epson. I've heard good things about the Canon i990 but I felt the colors were not as realistic as those on the Epson. Of course your mileage may vary.

Jeff

 

[ugadog99]

Thanks. I'm pretty new at printing digital photos so I'm looking for all suggestions.

 

[Razor Roman]

I have an Epson Photo R320 and I love it. It's around $200, and it prints borderless 4X6, 5x7 and 8x10 photos, as well as regular letter paper.

It uses six in cartridges, so you have the cost savings over HP in that when one color runs out, you replace only what you need not the whole cartridge. Also, the 6 different inks (instead of the 4 that most printers use) give you better colors.

I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a nice, affordable photo printer than can also be used for other things.

 

[SWDopey]

You have 2 main choices:

Hewlett Packard & Lexmark etc have the print heads as part of the cartridge - this means that every time you change the cartridge, you're also putting fresh heads in - there's less problems with having to clean the heads, but the cartridges are a lot more expensive. They're a good option if you don't plan on printing much.

Epson & Canon etc have the print heads as part of the printer itself - cartridges are therefore much much cheaper, and there are some very good compatible cartridges around too - but you may have to clean the heads from time to time. Because of the cheaper cartridges, though, it's a great choice if you're likely to print a lot.

In terms of print quality, all the big brands turn out fairly good prints these days.

One other thing to consider - you may find it works out better to have your photographs printed at Walmart or somewhere similar, or one of the many online processors instead of printing them yourself - by the time you've bought all the photo paper and inks, it works out about the same price.

(Oh, btw, I've got a collection of Epson's myself, but mainly upload to online labs)

 

[Dznefreek]

I have an HP 8150. I love it! You can print 3x5 up to poster size (it breaks the image up to individual sheets ie. 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, etc.)
HP has come out with a printer that uses individual color packets and I am thinking of switching. The advantage is if you print something that is intense in a single color you can purchase a single cartridge for 10.99 as opposed to 19.99-34.99 for photo or tricolor cartridge.

 

[safetymom]

I would suggest looking at the Epson photo printers with the pigmented inks if you are going to print photos. That would be the R800,1800,2400. The pigmented inks are archival which is important if you are printing photos.

You might want to look at www.wilhelm-research.com to find out about the archival rating of the printer you are interested in.

Epson is the only company using all pigmented inks. They are also waterproof and smudge proof. You can't say that with other inkjet printers.

 

[Charade]

Or.....

You could just send them out to a place like Walmart (less than $2 for an 8x10). About 20 cents for a 4x6. The quality is pretty good without all the fuss.