Thoughts on photo books

[mercphoto]

Just ordered my first Blurb book with the new ProLine photo paper. Really curious on how much better it is. And it got me to wondering just what makes the difference in quality between all the various vendors. Blurb uses HP Indigo inks, but so does Apple and I feel the Apple book is noticeably not as good. But Black River Imaging also uses Indigo inks (with an option for 6 colors), and I *think* (but not sure) that so does Bay Photo and Asuka Book.

This begs the question where the difference in the appearance of the quality of the books come from. Is it the particular press those Indigo inks are put into? The quality of the paper used? Something else entirely? Or is the difference really not as large as I've convinced myself it is?

I know there is a difference in bindings, etc. But for this conversation I'm only concerned with the quality of the printed page.

I guess the big reason why I've only used Blurb for the non-essential photo books, and gravitated towards a BRI or Asuka for the important photo books, is that I have seen a difference in the past. In a week I should know if the new ProLine papers blurs this distinction some. Other than that the other big thing is I prefer the 10x10 format, which Blurb does not offer.

So, are the vendors like Asuka, Bay, Black River Imaging not worth cost differential anymore? Or is there still a big difference in press books?

Thanks for any thoughts on the subject.