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mavapa · Mar 29, 2001, 10:42 AM

I have a laser printer, but want a decent, cheap color printer to print the occasional image from my digital camera. Any recommendations?

suprz · Mar 29, 2001, 11:07 AM

i've recently purchased an epson 777i it has 2880 dpi and with photo paper, it prints out very nice photos. good color and clarity. i know there are better out there, but you said cheap and decent and for 100.00$ how can you go wrong?

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" I think,
therefore....IMAC

denim · Mar 29, 2001, 11:33 AM

Or did you want a "cheap" color laser printer?

davidflas · Mar 29, 2001, 11:40 AM

I've had two HP printers recently that I've been very happy with. I had a 935c which can be had for less than $200, and it was great crisp text and excellent image quality. I upgraded to an HP 1220c/PS for the tabloid printing and postscript level 3 support. While not cheap at $599; it is extremely flexible. I had an epson 800 for a while, but it never really impressed me. I hope that helps.

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"life is pain, Highness, anyone who tells you different is selling something."--The Man in Black from The Princess Bride

Paul S · Mar 29, 2001, 11:58 AM

I too had an Epson 800 and it sucked. Epson made a lemon on that model (and admitted it to me once). Their newer printers are vastly improved and are easily the best I've seen out there. The Color Stylus Photo 780 is $149 after a $50 mail-in rebate. It does outstanding photo printing for not much more than an entry level printer.

PeteWK · Mar 29, 2001, 12:10 PM

I've got (take a deep breath) an Epson 900, Epson 777, Epson 740, HP 682C and a HP 972Cse. As for good and cheap I would go with the Epson 777. When price is a consideration, that's the best overall. When price isn't a big concern, I would get the 900 or whatever 900 series is current (980 now). They can be had for 250 bucks and really rock.

PeteWK

mavapa · Mar 29, 2001, 01:46 PM

The low-cost injets and such are what I was interested in. $100 is truly a can't-go-wrong price for a decent printer, and the other, slightly higher cost ones also sound like good bets. I will check them out.

Thanks for the input.

Feathers · Mar 30, 2001, 08:02 PM

Epson 750 or what's the new replacement? The 790?

Apr 3, 2001, 03:48 AM

I just did a bunch of research and ended up getting the Epson 777. In various forums, the photo quality printing was praised but the text quality was not so good. However, in my opinion, the text looks fine.

One complaint was the amount of noise it made when turning it on and off. Yes, it makes plenty of noise, be prepared.

Also, the inks are expensive, in comparision to ink refillers. The ink cartridge has a microchip, supposedly to measure the remaining ink, but making it impossible (so far) to refill the inks. So plan on spending fifty bucks to get the color and b/w cartridges.

Other than that, I am pleased with the 777. In fact, I found an open box version at Best Buy for 60 bucks, marked down from 100.

Good luck,

Ed http://www.iipix.com
Ed's Photos

ddiokno · Apr 3, 2001, 07:11 AM

Another consideration is the ink cost... sometimes the cheap printers are exactly that... the cost of consumables is more than the printers themselves... so be careful in your choice, you can find a happy medium where you get great prints, decent volume, and don't get raked over the coals for the cost of the ink. The Epsons are a great choice when it comes to inexpensive replacement cartridges... for example, you can buy third party ink for the 900 printer from http://www.ink4art.com , for $49 for a six-pack (where epson charges anywhere between $25-$30 for the same cartridge). Someone mentioned the Epson stylus color 900, I have that and it is an excellent printer, as is the 740, and many of their other printers. You might want to check out Epson's store, they sell their printers refurbished (but they still come with a full 1 year manufacturer's warranty). I think last I saw, the 740 was around $60, and the 900 was around $100-$150. The 740 (and the range of other 700 series printers that they have) would be great for occasional color prints, and photographs -- the quality would be excellent-- but if you were looking for volume (more prints per cartridge and faster) you would want to look to the 900 (or the 900 series). http://www.epson.com . Best of luck and let us know what you decide on.
dave

mavapa · Apr 3, 2001, 10:37 AM

I truly appreciate the input from everyone. I am going to do some checking online today, and maybe go by a couple of stores after work.

Thanks, you all.

mavapa · Apr 3, 2001, 10:59 AM

I just checked the Epson store. A lot of the lower-end printers seem to be unavailable from them now. Does anyone have any experience with the 780? It's called a "photo" printer. It was $199, with a $50 rebate bringing the final price to $149. The 777i was $99. Resolution is the same for both. The 780 color ink cartridge is a little cheaper ($17.96 from Epson), and they brag about the photo quality and permanence. The color ink cartridge for the 777i was $22.95 from Epson. I don't know whether price differences are similar from other sources.

ddiokno · Apr 3, 2001, 03:04 PM

Originally posted by mavapa:
I just checked the Epson store. A lot of the lower-end printers seem to be unavailable from them now. Does anyone have any experience with the 780? It's called a "photo" printer. It was $199, with a $50 rebate bringing the final price to $149. The 777i was $99. Resolution is the same for both. The 780 color ink cartridge is a little cheaper ($17.96 from Epson), and they brag about the photo quality and permanence. The color ink cartridge for the 777i was $22.95 from Epson. I don't know whether price differences are similar from other sources.

The primary difference between the two printers (the photo vs regular) is the color cartridges. The 777i uses three colors plus black whereas the photo printer uses 6 colors. What this equates to in quality is a smoother transition between colors. You'll get fantastic color photo prints from both printers, but a little better quality from the photo printer. basically having more colors to mix allows for more shades and skin tones. I have a non-"photo" printer (the 900), but am often complimented at teh quality of the photos printed from it. You can't go wrong either way...
best of luck
dave

mavapa · Apr 4, 2001, 08:40 AM

I decided to go with the Epson 780. Since I have a laser printer for text, the only use of the color printer will be color images. The 780 looks like a good bet, and with rebate, it's only $50 more than the 777. I bought at Outpost. Without sales tax, but with shipping, it is a few dollars cheaper than retail.

Again, thanks for the input. It helped.