Buying a Printer

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Kodiak

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Dec 31, 2007
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Hi
I'm looking to buy a new printer. I've had an Epson 400 Stylus Colour for 4 years now, and its still working well. I'm a brand loyalist, so I'd like to stick with Epson, but I'm open to suggestions from HP etc...

I'm not looking for either the cheapest not the most expensive printer out there. I'd prefer to buy something on the sweet spot of price/performance curve: i.e. something that will give me the best bang for the buck:)

I don't print a whole lot, and when I do its mostly B&W documents. However, I do print an occasional picture here and there, and when I do it has to be as good as possible and I print it on the best paper I can get (Glossy photo etc)

Any suggestions as far as models and price are appreciated. (Note that I live in Canada)

I've been thinking about Epson 880, anybody have one?
Does anybody know why the Photo 750 is the same price even though by specs it seems much worse (lower resolution, slower, while apparently the same technology...)

Thanx in Advance! :)
 
I just bought a new printer after a lot of searching. Of the Epson printers, I saw a lot of rave reviews on the 900.

I personally prefer the HP printers. They are solid, reliable, and the tech support has always been outstanding in those rare cases when I need support. I have an HP2000 that had a failure with one of the printer heads prematurely. HP replaced it for free!

I personally went with the HP970CXI. Its $279USD at buy.com which I admit is still pricey but it is worth it. The text output is as good as what I get from the laser printer--very important to me. The graphics and photos I have printed on plain paper have been outstanding. I have yet to try the photo paper. It also comes with a duplexor. I print a lot of text and this is a great feature for me.

😎 James
 
I have the HP 932. Great color photos and perfect B&W documents. Never a problem, not once.
It costs $200, but I got mine free through Buy.com while there was a promotion going on with a software maker called EStamps.
Best printer I have ever had and I have personally owned and I have used probably a dozen at my different jobs and school.
 
no, I love HPs and personally I'd recommend them to anyone...

but their paper feed system really bothers me -- not for any rational reason, just seems unnecessarily complicated. Drives me nuts when it starts banging and moving and clicking and... you get the picture:)
Plus, it gives any paper a good 180 twist, so I can forget about putting in anything thicker...

and than there is the old prejudice that HPs are great for text but not so good for graphics -- I guess I should get that one out of my head:)

I've taken a look at epson 900 -- can somebody explain to me why a printer twice the price of 880 has half the resolution??? It mystifies me...

I love their compare page... one of them has # of pages printed at 15% coverage, the other with 5% coverage... yeah, that's the fair way to compare:)

Thanx everyone for your replies:)
 
No banging, moving, or clicking with my HP 970CXI. It is the quietest printer I have ever had. I have to look to see if it is working.

😎 James
 
I agree. I have the 970 CSE (of course I paid $400 for it last January). I don't use it very much as I use my laser for most things. I'm still using my original inkjet cartridges and they work fine.

I'm sorry Kodiak, but I'm afaid both ravenprime and I must insist that you get this printer!

Mike
 
We sell heaps of HP printers and never have a problem with them, My fave is the 950 model, it has 2400x1200 res, photoret3 technology and a cancel print button so no more going into the print file or pulling the powercord, The Lexmark Z52 is a good printer too, it has the same res as the Hp, and it has the Lexpress warranty whereby if it breaks down they give you a new one and come and take the old one away (In Aust anyway)
 
At buy.com there is less than a $10US difference in price between the 950 and 970. They have the same features except the 970 also comes with a duplexor attatchment. It is a great feature and it doesn't cease to amaze me that it doesn't misfeed.

😎 James
 
I think you would be well served with HP Deskjet 930C, it has photo technology RET III and up to 2400 X 1200 res. in coulor...if you want to put more buks, you can go for higher models like the 950 or 970 or even higher but they use the same photo technologie...only difference is, of course, the bang and whisles, the higher spead etc.

If speed is not an issue to you, best bang for the buck would be a 930C model but there are other good machines on the market...930C, is about 299$ canadian.
 
I would look into getting either an HP 932C or a Lexmark Z-42 or Z-52. All three have gotten great reviews, and cost ~$200 or less.
 
As a fellow Canadian I'd recommend:

HP932 - <$299CDN - 4MB ram - 600dpi 4.5ppm blk / 0.6ppm colour - 2400dpi photo
HP952 - <$379CDN - 4MB ram - 600dpi 5ppm blk / 0.6ppm colour - 2400dpi photo
HP970 - <$399CDN - 4MB ram - 600dpi 6.5ppm blk / ?ppm colour -2400dpi photo - duplex
HP990 - <$599CDN - 8MB ram - 600dpi 6.5ppm blk / 1.2ppm colour - 2400dpi photo - IR

I have the 1220 which is a large format (13x19") version of the 990 print engine and it rocks - blazing fast speed and breathtaking photo printing. It'll crank out a 13x19" CAD drawing in less then 10 secs. The best printer driver / toolbox I've ever seen too.

Most of the above listed printers should have a straight through paper path (manual feed) as well, my 1220 does and will handle 67 lb bond cardstock.

The "Cancel" button is the best thing ever...

BTW: Those are real ppm speeds, not the "advertised" speeds so don't use them for comparison between brands...

-JW

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by JCLW on 01/19/01 10:13 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 
Thanx all for your posts;
In case anybody's interested, in the end I got the Epson 880. Reasons are few:
first of all, I'm a brand-loyalist to a point -- Epson 400 has worked so well for so many years, I felt I should buy another Epson; Why mess with a good thing is my moto:)
second of all, its almost the same as Epson 400 as far as usage goes -- it looks similar, has exact same buttons, almost exact same software/drivers, etc -- in other words, no re-learning, a very very smooth migration.
Of course, it is quieter, faster and better than my 400 -- while having the same simplicity. I'm pretty happy with my choice right now, I've networked it and three of us (we have a small LAN in my family) are printing off of it:0

Thanx again for all your suggestions; even if I didn't follow them, I read, considered and appreciated them:)
 
I know this is after the fact of your decision, but thought to throw my .02 anyway.
I'm always surprised people look just at the initial cost of the printer without the cost of usage involved. The HP932 and 952 both have low cost/page (3.6/11.1 bw/color) from pcworld review; with Lexmark being higher (5.2/19) and a Compaq I looked at near 11 for b/w. Epson 980 came in at 3.5/9.8, which surpasses HP. Output is important, sure, but to me, I want to look at the real total cost.
 
Nice..
I am a brand loyalist as well. 7 Years ago I got an Epson Stylus Color II. It was heavy dissapointment, and since then I never get any printer but HP. 😉
BUT as I can see, Epson has changed the way they make inc printers? I know theyr dot matrix printers are good. But may that be the case in inc as well?

And they said schizophrenia is annoying?
 
do you mean Canon when you say Compaq?
Don't know their current situation, but when I was a salesperson, I got all these customers trying to tell me that HP is so much more expensive, because their cartridges are a few bucks more expensive than Canon's...
sure...
and then you take a closer look and see that HP's cartridges held 42ml of ink, whereas Canon's only held 9ml !:)
HP's could have been 5 times more expensive and still be a better deal!
Plus you get the printheads thrown in for free:)

Epson 400 got really cheap last few months, I guess they were trying to get rid of the inventory, I could get colour cartridges fro $20 Canadian... then I made mistake of finally getting the 3rd party cartridges (not refillable, just regular cartridges made by another company)... and that's pretty much why I needed a new printer -- after the second no-name cartridges, basically the whole printer is flooded with leaked ink, including the foam and the head cleaners... I cleaned them as much as I could, but its still just a backup-printer now...

which is why I'll be wiser and stick to original cartridges from now on:)
 
hi kodiak!

I think you did right to get an Epson. I have an Epson stylus 670 right now and I'm always amazed by the quality I get every time I print something.
ages ago I had a HP. was not bad but the paperhandling and the driver options didn't really make me happy.
I think the epson drivers are really good. I like especially the preview feature, makes a cancel button unnecessary. the print quailty is outstanding. pictures, taken with my digital camera, printed on photo quality paper look to the most people like normal photos. they are always surprised when I tell them that in fact it was printed with the Epson.
I was thinking of the HP930 when I was up for bying a new printer but it was £50 more than the Epson and I couldn't see any advantage (picture quality, driver, handling) of the HP. I'm glad that I took the Epson.

respect
 
Epson 880 is a piece of crap. Only if you want excellent photo quality that is. If you like to SEE all the individual dots used to make the picture from up to 2-3 feet away, it's awesome. I bought one and returned it so fast my head was spinning. I have figured you can't be a wuss. If you want a great printer IT WILL COST YOU. I am going with the HP1220 (?) large format so I can make BIG photo's that look like PHOTO'S. I'm through playing w/shitty printers. I had an Epson 600 for 2 years and tried the "Brand Loyalty" thing HA! HP from now on me thinks Uh-huh
 
I bought an Epson 880 about an month ago. I like it a lot. The print out looks fine. Printing text is very fast but printing full page picture is kind slow.
 
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