Looking for a Printer any suggestions?

[Admiral_A300]

Just like the title says, I am looking for a printer. I want the Epson R2400, but they don't make it anymore, and was replaced by the R1800. They stopped making that one too, and was replaced by the R1900. They still make that one, seems like a good printer on paper, pun intended, but the customer reviews aren't all that promising.

If you have an R1900, how do you like it? Is it worth my hard earned money? And could you list some of it's downfalls.

BUT, if you don't have an R1900, are there any printer suggestions? Doesn't have to be Epson, could be any kick ass printer as long as the quality is as good as or better than Epson's R2400, as that is what we use at my college and it's what I am used to.

[RKDauph]

I have both the Epson 1400 and 3800; can recommend either one.

[Admiral_A300]

I know Epson is pretty consistant with print quality, but on the 1400 is it good like on the 2400? I would assume on the 3800 the quality surpasses the 2400. Thanks! I'll definately look into them.

[rab3rd]

this is a good deal....

http://www.texasphotoforum.com/forum...waco-only.html

[jeffkohn]

Just like the title says, I am looking for a printer. I want the Epson R2400, but they don't make it anymore, and was replaced by the R1800. They stopped making that one too, and was replaced by the R1900. They still make that one, seems like a good printer on paper, pun intended, but the customer reviews aren't all that promising.

The 1900 is not the replacement for the 2400, the 2880 is. The 2880 has gray and light-gray inks, if you think you ever you might want to print B/W, or even color images that have a significant amount of neutral tones in them, the 2880 will be better than the 1900. The 1900 does have the gloss optimizer, so if you primarily want color prints on high-gloss paper it might be a good choice. I personally prefer matte and fiber-gloss/semi-gloss papers, and the 2880 is the obvious choice for those papers IMHO.

The 3800 and the 2400 have the same ink set and head technology, only difference is print width and ink cart size. Same goes for the 3880/2880. The 3880 can be a good choice for a couple of reasons: 17-ink prints from a surprisingly small printer (it's much smaller than any other 17-incher). Also the 3880 uses much larger ink carts with lower cost per ml that don't need replacing nearly as often. The one big downside of the 13-inch and smaller printers is that the tiny ink cartridges seem to always need replacing. In a lot of ways the 3880 is the perfect mid-level printer, my one big gripe is the lack of roll-paper support, a real bummer if you want to print panos.

Right now the Epson website has the 2880 for 30% off, which makes it a pretty good deal IMHO. The 1900 can be had for a similar price at itsupplies.com. There aren't any specials right now on the 3880; but if you wait until there's a rebate running, the 3880 can be a very good deal when you consider how much ink you get with it.

HP pulled out of the mid-level printer market, nothing to recommend there. Canon has some nice models, I especially like their large-format printers (I own an ipf6300). I'm not as familiar with Canon's desktop printers; but I believe they have 13" pigment models to compete with the Epson 1900/2880, that you should probably consider if the price is right. The one thing I'll say in favor of Canon pigment printers is that they don't clog as often as the Epson; clogs can be a PITA with the Epsons if you only print occasionally.

[Admiral_A300]

First off, you are exactally right, Jeff. I misunderstood the Epson website, the 19 replaced the 18, the 24 replaced the 19 and the 2880 replaced the 24. I am very sorry for the mix up.

Second, which Canons? I am a horrible researcher when it comes to things like this. I usually tell my wife what I want and she looks up the comparibles and tells me what she thinks then I look at them. But in a quick little look at the Canon website I found the PIXMA iP1 and the PIXMA MG8120 And the only HP I found, which doesn't seem too good is the B8550.

Also, I would assume that the more inks you have in the printer, the better color quality? Maybe...I don't know. I know the Epson's have like 8-9 ink systems, but the Canons I have seen only have like 5-6. I keep going back to the Epsons, specifically the R1400 or the R1900, those seem like my choices.

[Admiral_A300]

I think I like the R1400 better. I don't want glossy ink if I'm trying to do a matte picture. Besides I'd probably use the Ultra Premium Photo Paper Luster anyways. Now all I need to figure out is if the R1400 does good B&Ws as well. Anybody know?

[jeffkohn]

The 1400 is a dye printer. Dye inks don't last as long, and while they make nice glossy prints they're not as good for matte prints. The 1400 doesn't have any gray inks, so getting neutral B/W without metamerism will be impossible. If you can swing the current sale price, the 2880 is the way to go IMHO.

For Canon, the PIXMA Pro9000 Mark II is their Epson 1400 competitor (dye inks, no grays inks), while the PIXMA Pro9500 Mark II uses 10 pigment inkset with grays for monochrome printing.

[KJ Smith]

Originally Posted by rab3rd

this is a good deal....

http://www.texasphotoforum.com/forum...waco-only.html

You would have to drive to get this one, but its worth it.

That is ~$450 worth of ink he is giving away with that printer.

A 3800 for ~$300 is a steal.

Read all about them here.

[KJ Smith]

The are just a couple of differences between the 2880 and the 3880.

By the time you have used as much ink that comes with the 3880, you will have made up the difference in price.

The 3880 is a pro model.
Epson Pro models are hand calibrated before they leave the factory.
2880 are not.

3880 will handle 17" wide paper.
2880 is limited to 13".

[Admiral_A300]

I'd love to get that printer, hands down. But I'm not in Texas right now, won't be for some time. Wish they'd ship, too bad. Maybe somebody will get it that's a lot closer than me at the moment, lol.

[Admiral_A300]

Thanks for all the help and suggestions! I just bought a Canon Pixma Pro 9000 Mark II. It was kinda a spur of the moment puchase, there was one brand new on ebay, real close to where I currently am in Virginia, the price was an unbeatable 179.99, I was the only bid and I got it! It was one of the 2 printers I was debating between, R2880 or the Pixma Pro 9000 Mark II. Thanks to your all's suggestions, I did some research, and I was fully informed, and got a KICK A$$ PRINTER!!! Thanks again everyone!

[TeknoJunkie]

You can't go wrong with the Canon Pixma Pro9000...I love mine!!! Wow you got an great price...$179.99...I got mine for $225 w/ free shipping.