More on Printers...

[stormygirl]

Hi all,

Stormybloke here.

I'm thinking of getting Stormygirl a new printer. (My old Canon doesn't cut it.)

From reading mic's thread last week I know a lot of you have the Epson R1800. From the rave reviews it has received here, it sounds like a mighty fine printer. However, I was discussing it with a workmate who's also looking for a printer. He brought up the point of printhead clogging. This wouldn't be a problem if you could replace the printhead easily, but I am also told that there are no user servicable parts inside. When clogging occurs you have to send it off for a service. I'd love to hear any comments/experiences from the forum gurus

Also, have any of you checked out the HP8450 or HP8750 (Link to specs)? If so, how does it compare to the equivalent Epson?

Thanks!

Stormybloke (aka Stu)

[jethro]

stu i like the hp's even though the print head is on the cartridge. we just bought a 450cbi and its fantastic no banding crystal photo prints and its portable with a battery. choice is choice the missus will decide based strictly on budget. Bribes usually work well, but i dont know in you case.

[marcus]

Hi Stu,

I prefer the epsons as you can purchase the inks so cheaply. I can buy a black and colour set for $10.00 on ebay (RRP $90.00). In fact I find the generic inks I buy from ebay actually last longer than the epson inks with no noticable quality difference. I understand the printhead wear factor, but I've had a couple of epsons and the first one died in a flood after 4 years of no hassles work, and I still have the 2nd one after 3 years.

You do have to clean the heads if you have not used it for a while but a small waste of ink at $10.00 a set is nothing. The ink cost is the key for me. If I had a HP I could by a new decent printer after going through only 4 sets of ink, if my epson dies after 40 sets I've still saved money!

[Nnnnsic]

I highly doubt this will even compare to the Epson... HP aren't really known for doing inkjets all that well.

Mind you, here are the oh so lovely negatives against this model:

1. It uses tri-colour tanks.
Why couldn't HP just be smarter and adopt individual ink tanks like everyone else? This system of three colours in a tank makes the unit less economical.

2. The prints aren't water resistant.
The R1800's are. Yes. I've tested.
It's odd too, considering that Canon have had water resistant prints in their last generation of printers, you'd expect that HP would have caught up by now.

3. It's apparently quite slow.
From what I'm reading, it's fairly slow... I mean c'mon, five and a half minutes for an A4 print!?

4. No CD printing.
What?! No CD printing?! And this is a high-end printer?!

5. Doesn't support rolls.
Damn. What a shame... and here I thought this was a serious medium-format printer.

Here are some reviews for you to see for yourself:
http://www.cnet.com.au/photography/phot ... 984,00.htm
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/hp8750.html

I haven't seen the nozzles on the R1800 get clogged yet but I imagine you just run a head clean.
The whole head cleaning thing seems to be something I've seen as a constant throughout my tenure in dealing with Epsons and it's become one of the reasons I've disliked them so, but I have yet *touch wood* to see that problem occur on the R1800.

[KerryPierce]

Like everything else, printers have good and bad points. I've had Epson and HP in the past. The last HP photo printer I had, caused me so much aggravation that I literally threw out into the driveway and then went out and smashed it with a small sledge hammer. After I picked up all of the pieces, I drove down to the store and bought a Canon s820, which still prints just fine, after more than 2 years of use. I also have a Canon 960 now.

The Canon printers have 6 individual ink carts. I chose Canon over Epson because I don't print photos very often, which is supposedly one of the reasons the Epsons have nozzle clogging issues.

[gstark]

HP have truly been left behind when it comes to high end colour printing. It's that simple, and today you look at Epson or Canon, and that's the ballgame.

At this stage - two months into R1800 ownership - I have nothing but praise for this printer. Awesome is not too strong a word.You need to just see the results it's capable of producing to understand my words.

[the foto fanatic]

I have had the Epson R800 since it was first available here. It has the same printing mechanics as the R1800, and uses the same ink cartridges. I am really happy with it.

I am an infrequent printer, but I have had absolutely no print clogging issues with this machine.

I previously had an Epson Stylus Photo something, and it used to clog up a bit, but I'm not seeing it on the R800. BTW, if I were buying a printer now, I'd be buying the R1800 because of its ability to print A3.

[birddog114]

I'm with other, I have the Epson 2100, it's now replaced by the Epson 2400.
Other Epson R800 is an excellent photo printer and the new R1800, able to print on A3 or roll paper is an other ideal, while it's new and no stock from Epson for more than a month now, I have about 45 of this baby on back-order list. I got the first lot of them, two gone into the hand of our members. Now I'm waiting more to come.
If anyone is interested in it, pls. back-order.

[huynhie]

I didn't realise that the R2400 has come out untill you mentioned it Birddog.

anyway here is a link

Epson R2400

[birddog114]

I didn't realise that the R2400 has come out untill you mentioned it Birddog.

anyway here is a link

Epson R2400

It's out for 3 weeks now, but stock is still not healthy.

[Greg B]

stu, I have the Canon i965 (very similar to Kerry's printer)

Photographic output is fantastic, and I have recently been printing onto printable DVDs, very nifty.

For text, I use draft mode which reduces ink uasge by 50% and I can't tell the difference.

6 individual colour tanks makes for good economy.

Happy with it.

[stubbsy]

stu

I have a Canon Pixma i8500. This has eight ink tanks and prints awesome colour and photo quality. Like your current Canon and the Epson it takes ink tanks and the head is separate. I have NEVER had clogged heads so I don't see this as an issue. The principal reason I bought the Canon over the Epson is that my old printer took BCI6 ink cartridges and so does the new one.

My advice - buy an Epson or a Canon like has already been said. Don't worry about clogging the head and only buy genuine inks (sorry Marcus) One reason genuine inks work better is they have things in them to ensure the heads don't get clogged that may be missing from the cheapies. Plus the colours are conistent which can't be said for generics.

One final point - if you want pemanence the Epson inks are better since they are pigment based whereas the Canon are dye based. Probably means after 10 years or so the Epson will start to look better

Cheers

[Glen]

Stu,
I went the R1800 and while I haven't given it a torture test. It has been absolutely perfect and the only small niggle with it has been when using canvas to print it has trouble feeding. As the amjority of my printing is on paper not canvas this is not an issue, everything else is perfect. The R1800 prints up to A3+ which is 329mm X 483mm. Worth folding a newspaper to that size to see how big it really is, much bigger than A4. If you have the funds I couldn't recommend the R1800 highly enough.

Ps Stormygirl must think you are a good partner to buy her a printer

[stormygirl]

Ps Stormygirl must think you are a good partner to buy her a printer

I do! He bought my D70 for me as well as my PC setup. Very lucky, I am!!

Thankyou each and every one of you for your much valued input! I don't know the first thing about printers...Stu has been doing the research (his money!). I'll have to wait for him to get home and read this, but I think I'm pretty much sold on the R1800....but will look into it further!!

Thankyou once again!

[stormygirl]

Hi,

Stormybloke here again...

Wow!! What a fabulous response. I showed my work colleague this thread and he was most impressed at your helpfulness and knowledge. I think he is also sold on the Epson.... I only wish the R1800 had a network interface!!

Thankyou all for your help. It's very much appreciated.

Well! I guess it's now up to Stormygirl to tell me exactly what she wants.

Stu (aka The bloke who lives at Stormygirl's house)

[SoCal Steve]

He brought up the point of printhead clogging. This wouldn't be a problem if you could replace the printhead easily, but I am also told that there are no user servicable parts inside. When clogging occurs you have to send it off for a service.

Stormygirl -
Sounds like somebody jumped of a cliff here. I've owned a string of A3 Epsons; 1270. 1280 and now R1800. Although I have had some clogging at times, the printer includes simple utilities to test for it and clear it up. (Not a bad idea before printing an A3). I've never heard of one being clogged so badly that the head had to be replaced or returned to Epson for cleaning.

I've only had my R1800 about a week. (No clogging yet.) Time will tell if they have cured the problem completely with these new pigmented inks. (Sits with fingers crossed). The R1800 is an awesome printer that does not disappoint. Extremely quiet, too.

Cheers, SoCal

[Nnnnsic]

Steve, the higher end Epson's have never suffered from the clogging problems as severely as the lower end ones.

For some reason, Epson never seemed a need until recently to not include those problems in their non-A3 models.