Printer Poll..

[surrealchereal]

What do you guys think is the best bang for the buck printer for printing photos..
Where is that line that is considered consumer grade, but to get a better one you have to go pro..

Or any opinions as to a good one in the 2-300 dollar range?
I have an HP psc 500 and it sux at printing pics, and it doesn't work with XP. I have a 98box still just so I can scan with it. :(

But the main issue is it sux at photos.
Also ink!! It's too expensive. I would rather pay a little more for a printer that had cheaper ink!:eek:

[NDC]

Personally, I favor the HP line of printers. The 93x series are low in price but produce very nice photo prints. Although the ink may be pricy, it's worth the money. One of the reason HP ink is so expensive is that they have the printer head built on to each ink cartridge itself. Therefore, you printer heads are replaced eachtime the ink cartridge is replaced. Epson is another company that makes great printers and the ink is less expensive. However, because the printer head is built onto the printer itself and not the ink cartridge, you will eventually have to take it in for service. You'll hear many people say that they've had a certain printer for a long time and their printer head's just fine! They're obviously not looking very close. I've learned to get an eye for detecting faulty prints and they aren't just fine! If you look very close, you will see difference in contrast and the worst, you will see these difference in contrast in streaks... The conclussion is, when you get printers that use ink cartridges with the head built onto the cartridge itself, this is one thing less you need to worry about...

[Herb]

Tried different printers, even lasers, they all suck:(

If I need a print, I send them to online-shops and can pick them up at four locations here, 2 days later, high quality, more less no difference to normal fotoshots, up to letter sized paper with a 2Mpix JPG, for just one buck that size, 20 cent standard size.

[skywalker]

My HP 960c is a great printer

Great price and the ink cartridges last FOREVER!

[jadison]

I have an Epson Stylus 777 that prints photo's well with proper paper. It's also worked well on other kinds of prints (B&W, Color, etc) and my print cartridges have a good life as well as a low cost. But, it's not as good as the higher-dollar printers, such as the HP Eight & Nine Hundred series (my printer was only $75- @ BestBuy).

I recommend HP's tho, as I've had the most experience with them and they've produced the best pictures (a little more pricey).

[KenKun]

Well, i have Fuji NX-500 a digital printer to print small sized Photos only ... quality is really nice ..

But now i want to get a printer to print photos in many sizes .. my next printer will be Epson for sure :D

--Edited for spelling-- (jadison)

[surrealchereal]

I don't know. I've had 4 HP printers, and not one has been something where I've said, "I love my printer."
I'm thinking the next one will be a different brand.. :rolleyes:

[skywalker]

Surreal:

The High End Epson printers are really good
you might wanna check them out nextime you hunt for a printer.

[madfish]

I'm a HP kinda guy for printers.
{ shhhhh don't tell anyone I still use a old star 800 for text printing, it still works like new }

[wizofid]

Cheap lexmark - target practice

HP 2 - old but reliable -
HP 6l - I think - works well with maintenance - used for image printing going to a CNC cutter.

Cannon bjc5000 - It has the print head replacement cartridges - works well - I leave it for the good printing though - It kinda bit me in the butt when the outlaws were running B&W invoices off $150 worth of my cartridges-
So for what it worth - $$ does == quality - spend wisely

wiz

[cyclone2]

I went to Futureshop [like Best Buy] and they had sample printouts from all of their printers, I had money to buy a decent printer but their bottom line Epson was equal to or better than many more expensive printers. I even got them to set one up and run through a pic in it and a more expensive HP> bought the Epson :)

[dusty]

Just bought an HP-940 for work that does a great job on photo's
cost about $150.00 US

Been using an HP-990 at home ever since they came out for printing photos that I scan in and I'm talking going through a color cartridge a day. This Printer Works great for me. Even with XP Pro.

Rick

{started with an HP-890 on Photos. It was not too shabby either.}

{Edit} Actually at this very moment I am scanning in photos and Printing from 2-6 8 x 1o's of each one on my HP-990!!

[surrealchereal]

bottom line Epson
Which one?

[Kuasimodem]

I love my old HP 832c, I've had it for over 2 years, gone thru 3 sets of ink cartridges, and still love it.

My brother liked the pics it prints so much that when he upgraded, he went with an HP 942.

The HP's print GREAT pictures when you use HP Premium photo paper:D It has a coating that reacts with HP ink to quicken dry time and prevent any smudges.

[piman314]

Have an HP 952c. Does a really nice job but kind of expensive to feed. Black cartridge is around $30 and the high capacity color cartridge is about $50+ at most retailers. Use a Canon BJC610 as much as possible for everyday printing and try to save the HP ink for when I need better quality.

piman

[NDC]

Although HP cartridges are expensive, for the reason mentioned above, I would say HP printers are good in the long run... :)

[surrealchereal]

The HP's print GREAT pictures when you use HP Premium photo paper
I wonder why there is a specific setting for HP photo paper on them?

[NDC]

May be due to the different surface texture... HP photo paper and Epson Photo paper have a smoother surface vs. Kodak photo paper. Personally, I always use generic mode for all my printing done on Photo paper...

[fosin]

I can't really recommend an Epson even though I've had 2 and they worked good except for one thing. My 777 have those new ink carts with the chips on them. After about 2 months the color ran out (I never printed any color, it ran out from the priming or something). Well even though the cart was in it, the chip tells the printer it's out of ink (so you can't use a refill kit).

I thought there might be a problem since it should still print black, one person at epson admitted this behavior was correct and another thought something was wrong with the printer. Don't know who was correct but I imagine the first person. Rather annoying for me since I want to leave the color out when not used. One more annoyance I don't need, like MS WPA :D. But, now I use a laser for black and they have cheap carts for 777 with the chips on them. So it's good for occasional color printing. I found a hack that works somewhat and leave an empty color in it and use the full one only when needed.

Are other makers are doing the same thing?

[linux_guru]

I use my Xerox laser for general printing, and my Canon S450 for photos & colour stuff. Both do a great job. The Canon is very economical to run and has great quality.