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Which printer to buy?
Questions you should ask yourself:
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Is ink cost per page a
significant factor in my decision?
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What is the primary application
I will be printing from?
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Am I going to need to print
non-standard sizes – i.e. ‘banners’ or images
wider than 8.5 inches?
Regarding ink costs:
Unfortunately some of the printer manufacturer’s
statistics regarding ink/operating costs are
misleading. The information is based on “color usage in
an office environment”. This information assumes 5-20%
ink coverage depending on the manufacturer and the
model. Photo applications and color intensive
applications related to fabric may use up to 200% ink
coverage!
This means that if the printer vendor
tells you that “color costs about $.10 per page” they
could be off by a factor of 10 and your cost is really
$1.00 OR MORE per page. If ink cost will be a
consideration (and we think it always is …☺)
then you should focus your search on printers that have
individual ink cartridges or tanks:
HP MODELS
- CP1700, 2230, 2280, & 2600.
Canon Models
- i550, i850, s520, s750, s820D, s900.
Epson -
Stylus C80, C82, C80N, C80wn,
Photo
960,
Photo 2200.
Note: The photo
printers ALL put down copious amounts of ink in an
effort to enhance the image. If you choose a photo
printer YOU MUST SET UP A CUSTOM PROFILE. This usually
involves reducing the black output by about 30+% … your
ink costs will still be very high.
Application support:
If most of what you print is ‘text only’
kinds of documents then almost any printer will work.
On the other hand if you will be printing specialty
medias like photo papers or fabric then getting a
printer that has adjustable head height (like the
Epson and Canon) to accommodate thicker
media(s) is important.
Sizes: Most
of the new printers have a “banner mode” that will allow
you to print images up to 44 inches or 59 inches
depending on which printer and model you select. 11,13
or even a 17-inch printer is faster than 8.5-inch
printers because of the width. (It takes less time for
‘wider’ printers to print a page) You may want to also
consider a 24-inch printer as the costs on these devices
have come way down!
8.5 in. wide - $59 and up
11 in. wide - $199 and up
13 in. wide - $400 and up
Wide format printers start @ 24 inches
and go all the way up to 80 inches. Vendors include:
Canon, ColorSpan, Epson, HP, Kodak, Mimaki, Mutoh, Océ,
and Roland. Prices range from $2500 for the 24 inch
Epson up to $35,000 for the 80 inch Mutoh.
Other Features:
The HP and Canon both have a
function in the print properties box that allows the
user to adjust ink lay-down for each color, saturation,
and brightness on output. This can save a tremendous
amount of time from opening Photo Shop or other image
manipulation software to change the color and or levels,
saturation etc.
Maintenance/Service: Desktop
printers are not designed nor intended for continuous
printing. Cleaning debris from inside the printer is
important. When threads or lint gets on the print head
it affects the image quality. Both the Canon and HP
have a removable TIJ (Thermal Ink Jet) print head that
facilitates cleaning and maintenance. The Epson print
head is a Piezo print head and is fixed in the unit.
If the printer is
not used every day or so it will be necessary to clean
the dried up ink out of the print head nozzles so that
it will print correctly. It may be necessary to have
the printer do a “cleaning cycle” or “prime” to get
clogged print head(s) working again. Cleaning cycles
use a lot of ink and they take several minutes to
complete. Piezo print heads require more cleaning and
priming than do the TIJ heads.
The ‘cheaper’
printers have paper transport mechanisms that are not as
robust or reliable. Repairing the cheap printers is a
waste of time and money … pitch it and get a new one!
Inks/Light
Fastness: Most printers come
with “dye” based inks and a few have “pigmented” based
inks. In general the dye-based inks appear brighter
while pigmented based inks are much more stable in
sunlight and do not fade as much. Environmental
variables including sunlight, humidity even ozone and
pollution can affect the color in an image. Bottom line
is ALL INKS FADE, some just faster than others. There
is an ANSI standard in photography for fading – as yet
none has been established for inkjet images. The
manufacturer’s claims of archiveability and light
fastness should all be taken with a grain of salt.
There are a number
of cheap 3rd party inks for the Epson and
Canon printers. Much of the 3rd party ink
performs as well as the OEM inks. There are also some
poor inks; specifically the refill kits sold in the
superstores “as seen on TV” and the inks sold by 123
Inkjet over the Internet are some of the worst inks we
have tested.
The HP Dye based
black ink is excellent on Color Plus fabrics and the
Epson pigmented inks work extremely well on Color Plus
Silks. The new Canon microfine droplet technology with 4
separate inks offers the best performance from an
operating cost standpoint.
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