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remixed22c · May 18, 2004, 02:59 PM

Any suggestions on what kind of printer I should get?

It's immediate use would be for printing a couple hundred 'formal' invitations, thank you cards, and small envelopes. They would all be in black and some shade of red/pink on fancy cardstock-like paper.

After that's over, I want to keep it around as a photo printer for pictures that could be shared with friends and put in a family album. Mostly 4x6, but larger capability would be nice. Nothing professional.

I guess I'm really asking if there is a specific photo printer capable of both or an inkjet capable of doing both with good quality?

I don't want to spend more than 400 (but please mention all notable printers, regardless of price).

Thanks!

Socially Awkward Solo · May 18, 2004, 03:05 PM

Canon inkjets are all incredible.

Lexmark is garbage, HP has bad drivers and expensive ink, Epsons clog and have expensive ink.

tooki · May 18, 2004, 05:05 PM

I bet you'd be totally happy with a Canon i960/965.

It's fast, it's a superb photo printer, the ink is cheap, the printhead is replaceable, should it ever clog (unlikely), and it's about 1/2 your budget.

tooki

X-Ray · May 18, 2004, 05:37 PM

Having owned an HP or two, an Epson or two, I can't overstate how pleased I am with my Canon i960 for all of the above stated reasons.

Freeflyer · May 18, 2004, 07:12 PM

Can't say enough good things about my Canon i960. If you want good, cheap ink, try these people

http://private.abacus24-7.com/(dpn22c55ffxoy255ad5qaums)/tpg.aspx?tpt=compat2&compat=12640

At around $2 per cartridge you can refill the entire machine for the cost of a single canon cartridge. Search the http://www.dpreview.com/forums/ for info on them.

J.

mbryda · May 18, 2004, 10:02 PM

Been there, done that.

Had a Stylus Photo 875DC. Great output, but slow as molassas.
Had a Stylus Color 880. Great for text/spot color, but got slow. Ended up clogging and tearing a gear inside.

Got a Canon i960 to replace the 875DC. Awesome output and fast as a racecar.
Got a Canon i560 to replace the 880. Fast and cheap ink - cheaper than a laser to operate. Decent photo output. On good color laser (dono why) paper (I use Hammermill) at medium speed it's indistunguishable from a color laser.

If you don't mind speeds of 2-3ppm, get the i960. You will get awesome photo output, and decent office output (black text looks OK on it, but not great).

If you want great speeds (8-21ppm), get the i560. You get decent photo output (very close to the i960.

If you want awesome photo and great speeds, I hear the i860 is a great printer as well.

I'd stay away from HP - they and Lexmark are #1 and #2 cost per page. HP is way overrated in their printers (both laser & inkjet).

Have nothing against Epson - my Epsons provided great service. I just loved the speed of the Canons. Also, buying 1 set of ink for both printers is nice too. BCI6 on all, with BCI3e for the i560 ($21/2 BCI3e @ Costco, good for ~700 pages.)

cjrivera · May 19, 2004, 12:40 AM

I've been looking into the Canon i960.

Does anyone have personal experience with the borderless printing with the i960?
What sizes does it print borderless? Are there problems printing boderless with OS X? (I've had borderless printing problems with my Epson and OS X)

Thanks.

Back up 15 and punt · May 19, 2004, 08:08 AM

Originally posted by cjrivera:
I've been looking into the Canon i960.

Does anyone have personal experience with the borderless printing with the i960?
What sizes does it print borderless? Are there problems printing boderless with OS X? (I've had borderless printing problems with my Epson and OS X)

Thanks.

Your friendly Canon representative can tell you that the i960 will print borderless 4X6, 5X7, and 8.5X11. As far as problems with OS X, I haven't heard of any yet.

mbryda · May 19, 2004, 08:11 AM

Originally posted by cjrivera:
I've been looking into the Canon i960.

Does anyone have personal experience with the borderless printing with the i960?
What sizes does it print borderless? Are there problems printing boderless with OS X? (I've had borderless printing problems with my Epson and OS X)
Thanks.

Works absolutelully beautifully. Load a stack of 4x6 paper in the holder and it prints borderless. No tear offs or any of that BS to worry about. Also does borderless 8x10 perfectly too. Supposed to do borderless 5x7, but I've never used that.

No issues with OSX in 6 mo.

fisherKing · May 19, 2004, 10:58 AM

another vote for the canon printers. my favorite (having been thru a few epsons, and an hp)

tooki · May 19, 2004, 11:59 AM

I have an i850, and borderless printing in OS X works like this: in Page Setup, choose the paper size as borderless (e.g. you have "US Letter" and "US Letter - Borderless"). Then, in the Print dialog, you can use the Borderless Printing pane to set the "extension" -- how far off the page it prints, which you increase if you get a white border by mistake. The default has always worked for me.

Indeed, Epson's borderless printing in OS X is a farce, forcing you to set up multiple printers for borderless, low-border, and big-border printing.

tooki

C.J. Moof · May 19, 2004, 01:22 PM

I just picked up an i860 a few days ago. It's quiet, quick, and the 4x6 color printouts are just plain great on quality paper. I haven't had it long enough to comment on reliability or ink life, but 95% of the commentary I've read on this printer has been positive.

Plus, after rebate it's going to cost me a whole $110, shipped. From Amazon. Oh yeah, I gotta submit that rebate.....

remixed22c · May 19, 2004, 06:07 PM

Thanks for all the input. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get the Canon i960.

Has anyone had troubles/success with printing on custom sized paper? I read one or two reviews that said it was an issue with the i9100, but maybe they were using some kind of wide format paper and not a size smaller than 8.5 x 11.

For about $100 more, I could get the i9100, is it worth the extra $100 only if I want to print a 9.5 x 13? Everything else appears to be the same as far as I can tell...

Back up 15 and punt · May 19, 2004, 11:52 PM

Originally posted by remixed22c:
Thanks for all the input. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get the Canon i960.

Has anyone had troubles/success with printing on custom sized paper? I read one or two reviews that said it was an issue with the i9100, but maybe they were using some kind of wide format paper and not a size smaller than 8.5 x 11.

For about $100 more, I could get the i9100, is it worth the extra $100 only if I want to print a 9.5 x 13? Everything else appears to be the same as far as I can tell...

Actually the 9100 prints as large as 13X19. It will also print on 8.5X11, 5X7, and 4X6. And you have the option of printing with or without borders. The only advantage you have with the 9100 is the larger format. The droplets on the 9100 are also slightly large, four pico-liter versus two pico-liter for the i960.