My Next Printer

[Seven]

Ok so I am thinking of buying a printer again soon as my old one doesn't work.

I used to have a inkject epson 4 tank which with epson paper printed good quality prints that I was happy with.

Now I am wondering what I could buy now eg laser or still get inkjet. The wife loves going to harvey norman, but I am wondering is there a good option for home use that doesn't break the bank and still allow good prints with out chewing thru ink for only a handful of prints.

Would be interested in what people are finding and what is a good buy. Remember I am only really doing 6x4's and a few larger ones.

[MarkW]

forget laser - good for office work ie reports and documents - crap for photography

Inkjet is the only type. You need to pick between short or long longevity of the print first before deciding on what printer model:

Short term - dye based inks
Less than 10 years in an album (5 years on a wall inside out of direct sun light)
Has the best colour reproduction available.

Long term - pigment based inks
Accelerated tested to give 70 to 100 years in an album (estimated at 30 years on a wall out of direct sunlight).
Not as good as ink based but can be equal or better than commercial "mini lab" type prints you would normally get from K-Mart, Hardly Normal, etc.

Once you know how long you want the print to last, then pick the suitable Epson printer to give you this. Epson are the best I have ever found - far surpass HP and Canon for print quality.

Something you should also look into is the ease of getting replacement cartridges - you cant generally purchase high end printer inks from outlets like officeworks, dick smiths etc.

I use an Epson R1900 which comes with pigment based inks but I also have an aftermarket ink tank kit which runs dye based inks. The pigments are worth about $25 per tank and it has 8 tanks. The gloss cartridge goes pretty quick. At least you dont have to replace all the colours in one go (single colour tank).

[ShaneB]

Gidday

I have an Epson R800. Not the cheapest, but prints will last 100 years - and they look great.

Regards

[Seven]

I'm glad to here epson is still a winner and is the paper for epson still the best to use

[MarkW]

I'm glad to here epson is still a winner and is the paper for epson still the best to use

Ive tried all the papers available at the local officeworks and the Epson Ultra Glossy and Premium Glossy is by far the best (and most expensive) I've ever used. The whitest, glossiest
and heaviest paper.

If I'm doing Christmas Cards or something that really doesn't matter all that much then I use Kodak Premium glossy photo paper as you can get it from Woolies and its pretty cheap. I'd never hang a Kodak print on my walls.

[Seven]

Ive tried all the papers available at the local officeworks and the Epson Ultra Glossy and Premium Glossy is by far the best (and most expensive) I've ever used. The whitest, glossiest
and heaviest paper.

If I'm doing Christmas Cards or something that really doesn't matter all that much then I use Kodak Premium glossy photo paper as you can get it from Woolies and its pretty cheap. I'd never hang a Kodak print on my walls.

Yep nothing has really changed in 3 years then as the prem glossy was by far the best with colour etc. Oh well back to getting another epson I think

[Calxoddity]

Just a couple of thoughts

1. the current generation dye-based inks from Epson, Canon and HP all claim long life as long as you don't have it in bright sunlight, and do print onto their premium papers - typically swellable polymer papers.

2 Dye-based generally produces more vibrant (and glossy) results, with the downside of the fading risk (noting also point 1)

3. Dye-based not so flash if you want to print on art papers or print b&w a lot

The Epson 1410 is well worth a look if you're going to go Epson again, and it's A3 oversize (yum!).

Regards,
Calx

[MarkW]

Calx
Just from a point of interest (as I'm unlikely the purchase a 1410 after just spending $800 on the R1900), can the 1410 be used with pigment based inks or is it limited to the dye base only. As my family history images need to last as long as possible, I still preffer the pigments but have the dye stuff for the short term images on the wall.

[Calxoddity]

no, it's dye-based only, although I understand that some aftermarket suppliers claim pigment-based offerings but are a little suspect.

If I had the $$ and could tolerate the de-clogging hassles that would occur with my occasional use of a pigment printer, I'd get an R1900 too.

As for the longevity question, I've got traditional film photos from negs that were fading badly after 10 years of reasonable care, so I'm not about to have an anxiety attack over the academic difference in life between dye and pigment when the worst case scenario under similar care is likely to be double that. It's not like I'm in the business of creating archival prints... and my OCD isn't that bad - yet.

Regards,
Shane

[MarkW]

With the R1900 whilst its still quite new (about 6 months old I think), Ive never had to do a head clean and I only get it out on the weekends - and once going almost 4 weeks without use.

I still have my old Epson 830 which is used for day to day printing which can manage to clog after less than a day without use and waste half a catridge trying to clear it. That printer was never a good system for keeping the head clean but it did give reasonable prints just not as good as the local mini lab.

My want for long lasting prints has more to do with having family prints going back to the turn of the century (1895) and a desire that my additions to the family history will last as long as my ancestors work than it has with my alzimers. Although the memory is getting a bit sketchy of stuff that happened a while back.

[mrsgrumblebum]

I recently updated our 6yr old canon printer. The photos were starting to look real crappy but was still ok for document printing. I ended up getting an Epson Photo RX610, The photo print quality is fab, downside ink quite expensive but you only replace what needs replacing, (has 6 tanks) you can buy 2 sized ink tanks one just holds more ink, less photo prints/ more prints.
That being said I have found this online place that sells the inks and they are cheaper by far and once my order was placed I had it before the week was out.
Really happy with my purchase.

http://www.cartridgesdirect.com.au/cart.php?m=product_list&c=1829

Good luck with your decision :)

[ShaneB]

I'm glad to here epson is still a winner and is the paper for epson still the best to use

Yeah. The constant message from Wilhelm Research is that genuine papers and inks work best - regardless of brand.

Unless there's no need to worry about qaulity/lasting qualities, the the good stuff is the only way to go.

Regards