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Appleman · Dec 24, 2002, 01:02 PM

Considering buying a new printer to upgrade from Epson 740i.

I'm looking at a photo printer and specially are wondering your experiences with availabilty of drivers, common problems, quality etc.

-Q- · Dec 25, 2002, 12:08 AM

I'm using the Epson Color 880 and I've been very happy with its performance. I have a laser for black and white prints so I pretty much use it exclusively for printing pictures. With photo paper, it's a great printer.

rambo47 · Dec 25, 2002, 01:08 AM

I'm using the Stylus Color 880 as well and it works flawlessly. It's one of the many printers supported by OS X natively (no additional downloads needed). True plug-and-play. Superb quallity printing both text and pictures. 5 stars out of a possible 5.

I hear good things about the new Canon printers. Canon was not originally as widely supported by OS X, but apparently that has been rectified. I believe the Canon printers are also a bit more economical with ink. Epsons are notorious ink-hogs.

jamerican · Dec 25, 2002, 01:12 PM

Originally posted by -Q-:
I'm using the Epson Color 880 and I've been very happy with its performance. I have a laser for black and white prints so I pretty much use it exclusively for printing pictures. With photo paper, it's a great printer.

Just bought myself a Canon i850 which makes my old Epson SC900 look like an old dog. Very quiet with outstanding quality. Also has native OSX drivers.

Socially Awkward Solo · Dec 25, 2002, 03:23 PM

HP makes great hardware but the software is terrible.

Epson makes ok hardware but the software is much better.

If you want to print Photo's then Epson is the way to go.

If you want to print mostly text get an HP.

OldManMac · Dec 25, 2002, 08:17 PM

I have an Epson Photo 870, which I love for photos. When it gets replaced, which may be early spring, I'll buy the new Epson 2200, which is large format, has FireWire and USB, an automatic roll cutter, etc., and it is a steal at $699.

I have a Samsung ML-1210 for documents.

xyber233 · Dec 25, 2002, 10:57 PM

If you are printing photos, get an epson. I'll also be getting a new printer soon and it will be an epson.

ewiesner · Dec 26, 2002, 03:47 PM

I'm using a Canon S530D. Nice photos and the text isn't bad either. Only gripe is the OS X driver must be downloaded from their site and the weekend I bought mine the site was down. Ink prices very reasonable compared to the HP and Epson printers I've owned. 4 color printer with card reader and adapter included if you want to print straight from the memory card.

Zitax · Dec 26, 2002, 04:31 PM

Using Eson Stylus Photo 820.
Its very nice, photos and text, also trying to make this work with it that is a very nice solution, but I can't meke it work

wingdo · Dec 26, 2002, 05:03 PM

Originally posted by Appleman:
Considering buying a new printer to upgrade from Epson 740i.

I'm looking at a photo printer and specially are wondering your experiences with availabilty of drivers, common problems, quality etc.

MAc Design's Sept / Oct issue rated inkjets. The top three were Canon's with the #4 being the HP Photosmart 7550.

I've got the 7550 and love it. I like the seperate built in 4x6 photo tray and the auto duplex option. Nice machine.

I like it so much I'm getting ready to sell my C80.

Chito · Dec 27, 2002, 08:34 AM

I made the mistake of buying a Lexmark Z53 when my Epson 740 died. BIG mistake....I was on limited funds at the time and couldn't afford a better printer. Now I'm looking to replace the Lexmark. I think I'm going to buy a Cannon, although I've really gotten good service from the HP's I've had in the past......my two cents.

eddiecatflap · Dec 27, 2002, 08:42 AM

..i use an epson 875DC - exc but the driver conflicts with sleep on my ibook - mucho crashes..uh-oh..

quality is stunning tho. - photo quality REALLY is photo like..!

KidRed · Dec 27, 2002, 12:28 PM

Epson lost me as a client when they chose not to support my printer in X. After I got my HP 940c, I was simply amamzed at how quiet it was. Any Epson owner will tell you how loud their printers are. HP's are simply better made, much quieter, cost the same and support X out the box.

Nostrildomus · Dec 27, 2002, 12:30 PM

I am very happy with the printing quality of my HP 950c, but the ink cartridges are too expensive. This is something I will check in to when I purchase my next printer.

wingdo · Dec 27, 2002, 12:40 PM

Originally posted by Nostrildomus:
I am very happy with the printing quality of my HP 950c, but the ink cartridges are too expensive. This is something I will check in to when I purchase my next printer.

Ink pricing was one of the reasons I moved from my 950c to the C80. Big mistake. I thought having a seperate cartridge for each color would help reduce printing costs, but I found all three colors ran out about the same time anyway (within a week of each other). I've had good results with the Rhinotech cartridges, somewhat cheaper but still a good quality.

coolmac · Dec 27, 2002, 02:49 PM

We have the following printers:
Epson 1280, Epson 890, Canon S800 and just got the Canon i850.

My favorits are from best to last:
Epson 1280
Canon S800
Canon 1850
Epson 890 (last only due to slow speed)

The Canon's are actually tied, they are extremely fast, much faster than the Epsons. The S800 has 6 ink tanks, the i850 has 4.

I really like the new Canon i850, it's very fast and prints beautiful photos.

Vanquish · Dec 27, 2002, 03:26 PM

I have an Epson Stylus Photo 750 and I still like it alot. But I would never buy a Canon because the colors *suck* on a Canon. The Epson is the best if you want nice photo-quality.

itai195 · Dec 27, 2002, 06:14 PM

I have a Canon i850 and I must say, it's extremeley fast and makes some beautiful prints. If you want better colors, you can get the S900 or the soon-to-be i950, which are dedicated photo printers with more color tanks. Dedicated photo printers just aren't economical for me though.

reynard · Dec 31, 2002, 03:12 AM

I just got the Canon. The print quality is similar to the 740, but, as has been said, light years ahead in speed and silence. Also, I had another 740 that broke(inherited it from father). And this one is starting to show the same symptoms.
But that it has great print quality and being about 3 years old is commendable. I do think that Epsons give you the best quality for the money.
I have a question, btw, about my i850. Perhaps one of you who also have one can help. I cant seem to print on the 4x6 paper that was included. Am I loading it incorrectly or is it a driver problem? I just put it against the right side of the tray. I downloaded the software for OSX and the option for 4x6 borderless prints shows as an option. But the paper just shoots through with no print.
(Im sorry if I'm not violating manners here by asking my own question. If so, I apologize.)

itai195 · Dec 31, 2002, 04:26 AM

Reynard -- I assume you're using iPhoto. The problem is that iPhoto and the i850 driver aren't exactly on friendly terms. Here's what I do:

1) Select page setup and choose 4x6 (borderless)
2) Choose print, choose 'full page' in the style menu
3) Click on advanced options, and choose borderless printing from the list
4) set the amount of extension to minimum

If you want true borderless prints you have to also crop your photo to 4x6, which is easy to do in iPhoto. If someone has figured out a better way to do all of this please let us know. This method prints images nicely on the borderless 4x6 Canon photo paper though.

I also had an Epson 740, my third Epson printer (had another 740 and also a, I think, 640). Epsons just strike me as disposable printers, they all break down eventually and faster than you'd like. The i850 has some nice features in terms of printing speed as well as boot up and shutdown speed, a huge plus for me because I like to shut off my printer generally. It also folds up nicely and takes up less space and, imo at least, the photo printing is above what the 740 was capable of. Obviously you can get better quality if you go for a true photo printer.

MickS · Dec 31, 2002, 09:54 AM

We have an Epson 1290 A3 printer for photos and an Epson 900N for black and white.

The photo quality off the 1290 is very good. We have some A3 and A4 prints from digital photos on the wall next to standard photo prints. It's difficult to tell which are the photos and which have been printed.

OreoCookie · Dec 31, 2002, 10:06 AM

I got a Canon S630 and I love it. I'd pick the i550 today, excellent speed, great quality, ok for photos, and all for a reasonable price. And Canon has the cheapest ink. Do not get an HP, my parents already spent 1.400 � on ink! E. g. if you check the greyscale box, it just uses the black ink, the HP printers still use a little color.

Epson printers aren't as fast and the ink is more expensive. For photos, I recommend the S900.

Although I haven't seen the i850 yet, the specs sound good.

I've had 6 HP printers before (everything from DeskJet 510 to LaserJet 3100, G85), so I do have some experience with other brands.

Paul S · Dec 31, 2002, 01:02 PM

I have an Epson Photo 870 and love it. The quality of the photo prints is outstanding. And, unlike older Epsons, it's very quiet. Most newer Epsons have gotten past the noise issue. Ink is reasonable and the speed is also OK. Not the fastest, but I've seen reviews (MacWorld, etc.) that said their print quality far exceeded their slowness and therefore got the higher rating than others.

reynard · Jan 1, 2003, 03:21 AM

I can now print on the 4x6 paper. Duh! Where I was going wrong was not selecting the "full page" option.
There is a bit of a border, by the way, on the sides of the print. Not that this bothers me, it gives you a place to hold it. I just wonder if that is what is meant by borderless.
Again, thank you.

mousemd · Jan 29, 2003, 11:17 PM

Is there a way to print using canon s900 borderless on a 4x6 print without the edges being "bordered" with the white area? I am able to do this on the PC(gasp) but not on the mac.

I use both iphoto and photoshop

turner · Jan 30, 2003, 06:52 AM

I have had a Canon S800 for quite some time and it is a great printer. If buying now it would be the S900 even faster. As for ink, I've been using Weink refill kit and it works great. Much cheaper than OEM ink and results seem to be the same.

cortexbomb · Jan 30, 2003, 11:22 AM

I have an Canon S900, and I haven't tried the 4x6 borderless from a Mac, but I have a trick for doing borderless 5x7 and 8x10 which might help (even under Windows, the S900 only does 4x6, Letter and A4 borderless by default): In photoshop, create a new document with a white bg at letter-sized (8.5x11), and put your image in the top-left corner. Then in the print settings, specify letter-size and borderless. It will come out borderless, and no ink is wasted because the extra canvas is all white.

good luck!

mousemd · Jan 30, 2003, 11:50 AM

Hmmm...I'll try that at home, but will that work on a 4x6 paper as well without losing some of the edges that would be on the 5x6 print? You know what I mean right? Sorry I can't be more literate, but I'm a little under the weather right now.

I'm so so bummed that this isn't working on the 4x6 prints. Does anyone else have this problem w/ 4x6 printing on the canon s900 with the mac?

Mick

fetopher · Jan 30, 2003, 12:31 PM

Just had a sales rep from a local Apple store come by. He showed us some of his own prints off the Epson 960. It was amaing. He had a 2.0 megapixel camera and had blown the shot up to an 8x10. It was the sharpest print I had ever seen.

Anomalous · Jan 30, 2003, 06:13 PM

I'm using an HP Deskjet 842c, and I would recommend an HP model based on my experience with it.

Mac Zealot · Jan 30, 2003, 06:54 PM

Hp 940c here. It's MUCH better than the lexmark z53 it replaced.

It's much quieter, prints at about the same speed, and the pictures are sooooo much better.

Canon wins my heart for having the cheapest, easiest to refill 'ink tank' things however

But epson, hrm. Their standard printers are ugly, the 'round top' ones are nice, and the 'flat top' ones look like toilets. They're also noisy, and well, geeky.

*shrug* I want one of these:

yummy. 13x19 max size color laser

But only 12ppm color. Well I guess at 6ppm photo quality it can't exactly be beat.

mousemd · Jan 31, 2003, 10:21 AM

Well guys, I managed to fix my "borderless" problem with my canon s900. Seems that I need to force photoshop to print it in 4.5 x 6 and then it works without any problems. As far as I can tell, there isn't any loss (or significant) of pictures stuff.

Mick

kovacs · Jan 31, 2003, 11:18 AM

I use a small HP printer for text and an huge A2 Epson printer for printing photographic posters. I have had constant problems with the epson but once you get the color correction right and learn to deal with all the small problems it has it's a great printer. The HP is the best office printer, it's fast and really quiet compared to the Epson ...

OreoCookie · Feb 1, 2003, 05:30 AM

I have a Canon and print a lot. Ink is the cheapest on the market -- one tank for each color. The tanks are transparent so that you can be sure that they are empty when it says empty.

The print speed is great (for an inkjet), even in color. The quality is great, also for more than occasional photos.

I've got a Canon S630, now, the equivalent of that would be an i850, I guess.

Oh, Canon had OS X drivers from 10.0 on!