[Dov]

I have been doing some research for an ink jet printer, and the two that I have basically decided to choos between are the HP DeskJet 970, which I can get for about $255 including shipping, and the Epson Stylus 980, which I can get at outpost for $199 after $50 rebate (free Shipping). The other printer that I think I can reject is the Epson Stylus 900, which I think the 980 improves upon, but I am not sure about that either (so if anyone has any info on that as well, it would be great). Basically, I will be printing mostly text and web pages, although when i print pics, i want the quality to be good. From what i have read, ink replacement costs are significantly less on epsons. And also, there is more and better software included on the epsons. Due to the price, and from what I have read about the Epson 980, i am inclined to go with that. But the HP also happened to have gotten rave reviews. Am I comparing Apples and Oranges on these two printers? Or are they very similair? Finally, which one should I get? Is the HP worth the extra $$ ? Thanks in advance for all your help!
dov

[zigzag]

I'm not familiar with the Epson, but my HP 970 has been great, and the reviews are justified. I'm especially happy with the automatic double-sided printing - it has spoiled me and now I don't think I'd be happy without this feature.

[Dov]

Originally posted by zigzag:
I'm not familiar with the Epson, but my HP 970 has been great, and the reviews are justified. I'm especially happy with the automatic double-sided printing - it has spoiled me and now I don't think I'd be happy without this feature.

How's the text printing, especially on cheaper paper?

[tjcrebs]

Hi Dov,

Me too, it came down to the Epson-980 or the HP-970 for me recently. I bought the HP-970 for the following reasons:

1) significantly better text-printing for the HP;

2) duplex (2-sided) printing is a very nice feature;

3) almost as good photo printing (I gave the Epson the nod here though);

4) HP cartridges were more readily available; and,

5) I thought the HP was better built--the Epson appeared flimsy in spots.

The above are definately subjective; but Consumer Reports also gave the nod to the HP-970 rating it as the Best inkjet you can buy. I've had mine for over a month now, and I've been very pleased with the HP-970--fast and very quiet too.

Good Luck, T.

[PeteWK]

Hey! What kind of crap is this!? My post was cleared out when they changed over the servers (or whatever).

Anyway, I own the 900 Epson and I bought my Secretary the HP 970Cse so I can shed some light here. The Epson is ideal for desktop publishing due to speed and pass through paper feed. Even heavy paper and card stock runs through flawlessly. I print 1000 (you read that right) church bulletins in one production run without a hitch, including a 3 x 4 picture. Each one takes about 11 seconds on the Epson.

The HP does an equally good job but has problems with frequent jams. I admit that I use my inkjets as printers, but this is a good comparison. The HP just doesn't cut it when it comes to the heavy paper and the large number of copies. The major reason is the front / bottom loading paper. If I were only to do black text, the HP would be great (it is a little better but not as much as some claim). But I'm much more demanding of my printers.

Bottom line is that they're both great. But if I could only have one, it would be the Epson hands down.

PeteWK