[AussieBloke]

I'm about to purchase a new printer and would like to canvas views on the Epson Stylus Color 760 as opposed to the HP DeskJet 935c.

[giantmike]

My bvote goes for the epson. You can't beat their photo quality (for an inkjet), and the text is also superb.

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The Mac Information Depot. Why go anywhere else?

[joe]

I own the HP930c which is the same as the 935c but without the extra Mac software or cover accent. The 93x series are the entry models for HP's 2400*1200dpi printers and are USB/parallel and rated at 9ppm. I've had mine attached to my iMac almost a year now along with the duplex option (auto 2-sided printing). It works excellent no regrets. It's particularly quiet, fast, compact, has excellent print quality (photo and text), can handle evelopes and 4x6" photo paper individually without removing the plain paper from the main tray, and has yet to jam on me (including duplex). The front in/out trays make it very convenient if your tight on space. And they fold too for an even smaller footprint. This is the only HP model I've seen that does this which is a shame. It's a great idea and HP should use it on the rest of the line. I have my 930 sitting on a small book shelf on my admittedly small computer desk. This would not be possible for any ink jet I've used at home or work - and that's with the duplex option installed.

The Duplex option rocks! You control it on the fly from the print screen in any program. IE one print job can be double sided and the next single sided. Saves on paper and clutter. I use it mainly for printing readmes, docs, or web pages. The only downsided is the printer has to pause briefly every 2nd page to allow the ink to dry before printing on the back of the page. But I've yet to have any smudged or smeared text or images. The Duplex unit is a set of enclosed rollers about 9"x4"x2" and it snaps on the back. Because of the design, it only adds 2" to the back of the printer. It's standard on the more expensive models but optional on the based model.

The driver allows for both Apple Color Sync and HP Color Matching with plenty of settings that come in handy when printing photos. The included HP Utility also monitors and displays the ink levels in both cartridges as well as allowing self tests or cleaning. I'm not familiar with the extra Mac software that comes with the 935c though. The earlier 930 and 932 models just came with Mac drivers and the utility.

Finally, gone are the days when you had to align HP ink cartridges with those horizontal and vertical bar print outs. The 93x series has some sort of green scanner built into the head. The 1st time you turn on the printer it automatically aligns itself. Ditto any time you change the carts.

I'm not familiar with the Epson 760 so I can't comment. From my experience, if you end up with the HP935, you won't be disappointed. You might want to check out a display model at a local store before you buy. Staples and Office Max usually have floor models for both Epson and HP with demos that allow you to run your own test prints. Good luck on which ever printer you decide.....joe

[Chuck_star]

I have a 760 color attached to my G4

Cons
Software conflicts with remote access
Banding lines with low ink levels
Requires both cartridges to print text

Pros
Initially inexpensive
It works

If you go for the HP let me know how it goes because I am concidering it myself

[Miner49er]

I have an hp and it is fantastic. Great color photos, and functions well from both the G4 and the PC that print to it.

I came very close to buying the epson, when I discovered from a friend that those of us in high ozone areas (LA and sometimes San diego) can experience VERY significant fading of epson inks in particular the cyan in as little as a few days, but definitely in a few weeks. Paper choice is critical, but doesnt solve the problem.

See this site for an obsessive look at this problem.
http://home.cox.rr.com/meyerfamily/epson/epson.html

I recommend the HP until epson resolves the issue, then we will have to take another look at the epson.
http://home.cox.rr.com/meyerfamily/epson/epson.html

[andi*pandi]

epson has lousy tech support.

I have a 740 that I will not replace with another epson... maybe hp.

Search this fora for epson, and see all the badness.... baddddd...

[Hlecter]

I have an old HP 850C. It never let me down once. I'll replace it soon by an HP 99X. My son is still using a more than 10 year old Deskjet 500... No further comments.

I have an HP932C, which replaced an HP855C. In the past HPs were known for reliability and driver stability, while the Epsons were known for their photo quality. I dealt with many Epsons at my workplace, so i've seen a few. With the latest generation, I think HP has pretty much caught up with the Epson photo capibilities, and they're still put together better and the drivers are less tweaky. I'm 100% happy with mine.

[ginoledesma]

I have had experience with both Epson and HP printers.

Epson Stylus Color 860 – superp color output, excellent text output although not as speedy as the HPs
HP Deskjet 895Cxi – outstandingly fast crisp, black text output, ok color ouput

Color Photos (Epson) vs. Speed (HP)
Ink price/cartridge (Epson) vs. Ink quantity/cartridge (HP – ~42mL per cartridge)

Both do well with ColorSync
Both do well with Mac drivers
Both are networkable via external devices
Both are easy enough to maintain

[Paulos]

"I have a 760 color attached to my G4

Cons
Software conflicts with remote access"

This has been fixed with a software update for at least a month or two now. (Can't remember where I downloaded it from)

I have an Epson Stylus Photo 1270. Amazing prints but like someone else stated, the prints do fade, quite quickly in some cases, but only using glossy paper.

[exa]

I have to recommend the HP printers and I notice such a nice difference after using Epson.

My HP DeskJet 950C;
pros:
-extremely fast on draft mode
-awesome text quality, even on draft
-incredible picture quality (2000x1200 dpi!!!)
-easy to maintain, good ink system, each ink refil replaces the head unlike Epson inks. If the head on the Epson dies, the printer dies...
-ultra reliable and working drivers/software, can use color sync (otoh word 2001, takes FOREVER for the print screen to show, probably just my system)
-small foot print as it uses a rolling paper system

cons:
-on ultra fast draft mode, I've had the paper actually rip because the printer sucked in way too fast
-very thick papers have diffuculty making it through the rollers

Old one: Epson Stylus 800
pros:
-Great print color quality (1440x720)
-Fairly fast printing
-Options to customize printing output (like color/contrast/brightness/type of ink spread, etc) in software, more than HP software
-can take fairly thick paper

cons:
-A lot of maintence required, it finally crapped on me
-Ink system is not that great, doesn't seem like there is much ink in a cartridge, if head of printer dies, whole thing dies
-Gears of printer can get bad easily
-Large footprint
-Software not as good as you would like, no desktop printer for example, can be unstable on some systems

Well, thats all I can think of now....

[scottiB]

This similar to comparing a Lexus to Infiniti: they both are solid Mac compatible printers.

I have a Epson Photo EX and at work use a 3000 and Photo 700. I've never has a lick of problem with any of them. I've read about quality issues with Epsons, especially in these forums, but I've not encountered any.

My father purchased an HP PhotoSmart something or other (the $499 one). It, too, is very nice. The duplexing feature is cool, and, since it's newer, prints at 2880x (I think 1220).

I don't think you'll go wrong either way.

(Oh, and exa, Word 2001's print screen takes forever on my system, too: Pismo connecting to the Photo EX, either via AirPort or ethernet.)



[This message has been edited by scottiB (edited 01-14-2001).]