st. patrick Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Gggrrrrrrr . . .. . . We previously had an HP inkjet that was fine, but the Mrs. wanted a photoprinter. We got an HP color inkjet but it wasn't necessarily great, nor was it long-lived. Sales guy at Comp USA was pushing the Epson RX 600 as the best thing since sliced bread, at least in July 2004, so we next got that. The epson printed good photos if you used the expensive paper, but gosh it was slooooooowwwww, and i mean very s l o w , as in old ladies walk faster than that thing prints, even in B&W. The Epson has a gremlin inside that i can't diagnose, though i have tried. I just remembered I got the extended warranty . . .. . so tomorrow i am gonna go shopping, and that is where your collective wisdom comes in! Am i wasting time and money trying to have one machine do BOTH the regular black and white printing for letters, school papers, etc AND color photos?? Any recommendations on good machines ( and i am willing to pay for quality, as long i get quality)?? Should i just stick to printing letters here and get the photos done at costco? Any constructive (or funny) criticism welcomed. Thanks, Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 I know there are some photo labs where consumers can upload their photo files and the lab will print on real photo paper. Don't ask me how they do it, but it is three layer photo paper struck with light from some type of printer that used the digital files. These look better than any home-based ink system. Then you could get a laser or multi-office machine to do fast black and white at a fraction of the cost of ink based systems. The whole ink-jet based printing philosophy is so darned expensive, clogs and smears. I hate it. A good analogy would be a dealer selling you a car for $1000, but the gas costs $30 a gallon. That's what they're doing with ink-jet, killing us with consumables. Great for the industry, lousy for theindividual. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom3 Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Canon makes a wide range of photo-printers that use individual ink carts. The BC6 series carts (used across many models) are between $10-12 depending on vendor. Try pricegrabber.com I have had HPs (fast but mediocre) Epsons (touchy as the devil, demand Epson paper, and prone to clogs) and now a Canon S-9000 (I think the replacement model is i9900). I'm sticking with Canon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sputnik Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 I know there are some photo labs where consumers can upload their photo files and the lab will print on real photo paper. Don't ask me how they do it, but it is three layer photo paper struck with light from some type of printer that used the digital files. These look better than any home-based ink system....... Michael Are you thinking of the Lightjet printer (Cymbolic Sciences)? It's a cool printer - it "jets" laser light across a photo paper that is then developed in a photographic printing process. I had some poster size work printed this way by a pro lab in Denver several years ago. That is good way to go if there is a local lab. I found that proper color control was difficult to work out with the lab from a long distance. It could also be pretty embarassing if you want to have any of those kinky pictures printed. I'm using a two year old Epson Photo 2200 for hobby prints and it's been great. It was their top regular format photo ink jet printer - about $750 or so I think. Yes, it's slow but the print quality rivals the Lightjet. It prints up to 11 x 17 stock size and 11 x whatever on a roll or banner. I've had no real problems with inks etc. You have to experiment to find the best paper. With mine, I use the Epson glossy photo paper for the best results. You can also replace cartridges for each color individually rather than a single multi-ink cartridge. They've probably upgraded this printer by now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 I'm with colterphoto on this - every ink jet i've had clogs, dries out from lack of use, etc... I gave up on them and now use the online photo printing options to print at Walgreen's, Walmart, etc... for local pick up. I find with digital photography I don't need to print actual pix that often. I just stuff them into a PDF slide show and email them to friends/family. For those few prints, the above method is best for me. Buy an inexpensive Samsung laser printer. I've got 2 of them that print 10-20 ppm and paid about $70 each on sale with rebates at various electronic big box stores. I get toner refills and the occasional replacement toner cartrdige at http://tonerrefillkits.com and have never had a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Most of the major drug stores, and Wal-Mart, Sams, have printing services that will take most forms of digital images and print on a real photo paper. Depending on who it is, the paper is Kodak or Fuji. Memory stick, compact flash, SD cards. Even from CDs. It is cheaper per print and is on real photo paper. How can you beat that? Colter will hate this, but I know a woman who does weddings on two digital cameras. She edits the images, puts them on a CD and takes them to the local Sam's Club to be printed. They look outstanding. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st. patrick Posted October 16, 2005 Author Share Posted October 16, 2005 Guys, thanks for the various perspectives. I very much appreciate the input, especially since I expected someone to inquire as to how recently I transitioned to crayons for my colored artwork . . . . . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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