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What model, make, and brand of printer do you own (primary printer), and are you happy with it?
Brother
Canon
Dell
Epson
HP
Lexmark
Samsung
Sharp
Other (which one?)
Discussion is locked
I am happy with my Epson 785EPX. I have never used the built in Card reader and I always print from Photoshop.
Colors are very good and although I see a spider in my future I have not felt aneed for one yet.
Although it is difficult to show it, the paper from the printer's manufacturers works better with their own paper. Of course, if a store brand paper -generic- is manufactured by the printer's then you may argue to be equal.
I have the c-84(2),the RX500,the R320 and the R340.I love them all especially the R340,This unit prints on dvd's and makes them look just like the original.Only flaw is the genuine ink cartridges are a bit on the pricy side.I found generic's are fine for almost everything however I won't use them on pictures
My main printer is the Samsung 1740, which works well and I think is a great bargin for its small price. I also own and use an HP color laser 2600n, an HP 6P, a Minolta color laser and a Minolta laser 1350W. With the exception of the Minolta Color Laser which is a pain in the *** to change the expensive cartridges and slow to start up; all work well and perfom to my liking. The text comes out well, but laser printers don't do well with pictures. To get back with my main printer, it is fast economical to operate, so I am very happy with my choices.
I've owned and used just about every printer in existence including the high-end models and it's hard to beat HP. I own a HP Photosmart 1215 and picture quality is impecable and document printing is better than a trip to Kinco's.
i had an hp 2710 but the printer packed up after 6 months, not break down but had software issues which did not allow it print. Their tech support is hell if you talk to an Indian but if you get an America your problem will be resolved quickly. What am trying to say is that they have good tech support and not only am i the proud owner of a 3310 but the features on it is to die for, including picture print quality. So i will suggest that you try hp.
I have an HP 2000C which is about 8 years old and still going strong and an HP 8250 which I just got, but am happy with it so far. Also an HP 375 Portable printer which does an amazing job of printing wherever I am.
Happy as all get-out! Previous printers were always HP but this canon puts them all to shame. Canon paper and ink are a bit pricy but having tried many others I now stick to canon paper and ink for the best results.
I agree the Canon i9900 is the best printer ever for photos,and using the Canon ink and paper proves it..HP is great for everyday.But Canon is great even more so if used with a Canon powershot G2 camers..
I agree fully. I can't til I can afford one. I recently bought myself, my son and grandson each a cp400 which is a dye sublimation printer. Unfortunatly, it only will print 4'' X 8'' photos. I guess you can buy a part that will allow you to print larger, but not full size. I think the photos are even better than the i9900, but the i9900 is fantastic as are all Canon products that I have tried.
The printer is awesome for printing high resolution photos. The printer is capable upto around 12 Megapixels photo at 13x17 paper. However, ink is still not cheap and the large paper is very (x5) expensive. I believe that you should use this printer ONLY for printing photos, and get a cheap monochrome laser for those documents. You don't want to wear the print heads on this Canon.
Another word about printing large pictures. It is still cheaper compared to what photography shops charge.
If you don't have the printer, it has 2 USB and 1 Firewire on the back to connect to PC [and Mac]. There is a USB port on the front that supports Exim prints and Bubblejet direct.
I would definitely agree that the printer is excellent for photo printing. However I find that its not cost-effective for documents/other stuff. I use this photo printing only.
My primary printer is a Epson CX5200 multifunction.
I am very happy with it it has been trouble free for years, but it only likes it's own Epson ink. you can't buy cheap ink and get good results.
I also have 3. An Epson 2200 for Photos, a Canon 1860 for text & also photos.
I have an Alps 5000 dye sub printer for photos. Only problem is that you have to use Alps paper for the results & have to fiddle a little bit with it but the photos are terrific, ink doesn't smear.
I've been using the Canon i850 for about 1 1/2 years and I'm extremely pleased with the results. I'd pit the results against any photo lab. For me the secret is using Canon brand paper
I bought an i850, except I have had mine for 2-1/2 years. It has been an AMAZING printer, and people STILL to this day look at the things printed on Canon Photo Paper Pro and think I used professional services, or that it is a REAL photo! I've never had ANY problems with it, and it consumes ink at a resonable rate. The thing is SO freakin' quiet too! Not to mention still darn quick...
If I didn't want one of the upcoming Pro9000/Pro9500's for their 13"x19" capability, I could hang on to this printer for a long time :o)
-JB
I've had mine for just at 3 years now and it's been a workhorse. Just this week, however, the print head has gone south and I've read in many user's comments that print heads in these machines do that, usually well before 3 years. It's always the black nozzles and it happens with OE ink as well as aftermarket. New ones cost $65 or so, so it's almost as cheap to buy a new model. But I hate to throw away an otherwise good machine. Sometimes they can be cleaned, but usually don't last much longer after that.
Print quality has always been very good and it's so much quieter than my old Epson 600.
This is my 5th Canon over many years. I was always drawn to the fact that the ink cartriges were separate by color, and relatively inexpensive. But the Pixma IP8500 far exceeds any (realistic) expectations I ever had about a photo printer. I use mainly Epson Heavyweight Matte paper and the Printer's MP1 profile in Photoshop with ICM enabled and have yet to be disappointed with the results. One of the responders mentioned print head failure and buying a new printer rather than replacing it. That is why this is my 5th Canon, but I believe that unless something else really extrordinary comes along, this printer will get the new printhead when the time comes.
This is my primary multi-function... I bought it because I needed the scanner and it has become my primary. Mostly because Lexmark ink is cheaper. Print quality is inferior on photos, but for text it is ok. Print speed is SLOW on b/w or color.
my 1150 is ok,it a bit slow but does a wonderfull job,i have used the hp all in one and find the lexmark beats it hands down.
I have used several printers and prefer the HP to any other brand. I currently am using an older model - PhotoSmart 1000, and it still is as good as new. I use HP photo paper for pictures I intend to archive, but use generic for pictures that are not. (ie: I may have several similar pictures and print the BEST one on HP paper, and maybe 1 or 2 others on generic paper)
I have an older HP Deskjet 612C which serves the needs of daily printing chores.
I think they are all pretty much the same in that respect. It's when you get to phots, and such that I see the biggest difference.
On the negative side, like all printers, it kills me financially. Even using refilled cartridges, it goes through them faster than I can get them refilled (well, not quite that bad, but pretty close). If I buy new, I could buy a new printer every couple of times of replacing the cartridges. That speaks volumes about what I think of the printer manufacturers. I know we need the inks, but that's insane.
And print photos? Mortgage the house for a roll of film! That's why i prefer to use fim cameras for general purpose, and only use a digital on occassion.
What's the ratio? 7-10 photos per ink refill?
I played heck teaching people to be very selective about what they print. Some of my students were printing every piece of email the got just to read later.
I own a HP All In One and I can only recommend it.
It has never let me down and makes the most perfect prints. Furthermore the scanning and copy functions have all come in very useful to me.
Apart from the model number my experience is the same. only down side with this model is you can't use the HP cd with XP. But XPs scanner option works faster than the HP original. Used HP 'R' and 'S' series at work and the 750 isn't that far behind at a fraction of the price. If it ever dies another HP will replace it.
We have an HP 6211 p/s/c. We bought it for Word documents only but when the top-rated Canon photo printer (iP5000) failed right out of the box and proved to be junk we turned to our trusty little HP for our photo printing needs. It does an incredible job with photos, much better than the high-dollar Canon. You just can't beat HP printers!
I currently own an Epson 2200 and Epson R200. IMO nothing beats Epson for reliability and quality. I use the 2200 for photoshop work and it prints as flawlessly as it did when I purchased it in 2001. The R200 is my everyday workhorse and it even prints on CD/DVD. HP has constant feature creap for me to ever by another printer from them.
Canon i850 and Epson Stylus Pro R220.
The Canon is a few years old now and definitely needs some care. I was happy with it, until the last 6-8 months, when I've had to do maintenance almost every time I use it.
We bought the Epson because it can print on CD's. It works great, so far. I haven't printed photos on photo paper yet, but the photo that we printed on the CD's came out awesome.
Very happy with the quality of print, cost of machine, and cost of generic ink.
Very unhappy that the widest acceptable size is 8-1/2'' because I like to print #10 and #11 envelopes from my template with my return address and a photo (usually of my dog, a scenic location, or a family member). These envelopes are too long to fit into the printer in the normal way. The printer will handle the envelopes flipped 90 degrees which is fine for my addressing software, but I am unable to flip my template at all for the return address/photo. I can print only the short 6-3/4 envelopes, but I don't use them!
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