Printer advice

[cjjones1714]

I have a Fz-5 and I want to a printer. What sort of dpi etc should i look to get? Any suggestions of printers that aren't too expensive.

[Honest Gaza]

I think you will find that most printers are "cheap".....it's the ongoing cartridge costs that will kill you.

Not trying to be unhelpful....just pointing out that the first up purchase price should not be the only overiding factor.

[genece]

Printers change so fast .....I swore off HPs beccause the price of ink was too high and epsons the heads went bad too fast...ANd I have been using a Canon for a few years....good life and resonable ink but they may not be the best choice anymore.

But any modern day printer is as good as you need.
Durability and the price of ink is more important.
And I think Canon still ranks pretty high in those points, plus they are reasonably fast.

[BonjiB]

I look more at quality than price when i try to decide on something that will be as important as a printer. However, i have a good reasonable solution for you. Canon's ip4200. It prints like 9200x4800 or something stupid like that. Drops as small as one picoliter. I can't see dots when i print at the highest resolution even with a magnifying glass. It uses canon's pigment based inks so they're good for 70 years or so and water resistant... i said RESISTANT, not proof. I've had a few pictures of mine get spattered with water on the kitchen counter once and they survived without a mark... rain... not so much. Either way, the quality of this printer is amazing. Each color is seperate so you use each color to the last drop and to replace EVERYTHING is only like 70 bucks at a retail store (online is cheaper) and the plus side is you can replace em as they go out. I seem to burn through a lot of magenta so i can just replace whatever color goes out and not fool with the others till they die. Helps me spread my cost out a bit which is handy for someone like me: poor. I've printed over 100 4x6's and prolly 5 or 6 8.5x11s since i've had the thing and i still have i'd say about 85% of my ink left. THis number i'm given based on an eyeball of the clear cartridges. So for 100 bucks (prolly less online) i've found it to be a great buy. I've really gotten my money's worth out of it. So good luck.

[Steve B]

I have the Canon i 455. I use it mainly for printing at A4 size. The quality is superb but the paper you use is important. I get the best results from Fujifilm Multijet glossy with the printer on the transparency setting. The printer cost me £60 sterling and the paper is £10 for 40 A4.

[Dmares]

I have the Canon i 455. I use it mainly for printing at A4 size. The quality is superb but the paper you use is important. I get the best results from Fujifilm Multijet glossy with the printer on the transparency setting. The printer cost me £60 sterling and the paper is £10 for 40 A4.


The question is if you just need a printer for photos, or a printer for day to day business too. No matter how you decide or what company you take the ink cartridges is what is expensive- even if you order by net.

Lately I have been printing my pictures (10x15) at the service stations within the drugstores (Fuji and Kodak). You stick in your SD card, chosse the pictures and it prints on the spot. With prices as low as about 3 Eurocent per picture - this is the cheapest way. Or if you send an order of 100 prints = € 8.-, it takes a few days but still cheaper than printing at home.

If you want to buy a photo printer I would recommend HP´s photosmart serie or Canon. Both have ad/dis-advantages - at the end of the day they get your money - no matter whom you choose

Cheers
Dennis

[genece]

I do not want to argue the price of printing but one thing that will save you money , is not to buy regular (4 X 6) photo paper....I buy a fair quality paper at Walmart in the 8.5 X 11 size and use that for both printing photos and making cards. The software that comes with printers will let you print 4 photos per page and then separate them with a paper cutter.....Does a nice job for me and is much cheaper than buying the
4 X 6 paper.
Also it gives the option of printing 5X7s with a border that does not crop your photo. Same with 8 X 10s and the larger sizes are a better savings. IMHO.
But the thing I like is I can have the photo now!

[pappekak]

I look more at quality than price when i try to decide on something that will be as important as a printer. However, i have a good reasonable solution for you. Canon's ip4200.

I agree with BonjiB on the ip4200. I've had one for about a year and the pictures are gorgeous. Definitely photo lab quaility on the 8x10s.

Be sure to run it on greyscale for normal printing so you don't waste the color ink on web pages, etc.

[Mike63]

I do not want to argue the price of printing but one thing that will save you money , is not to buy regular (4 X 6) photo paper....I buy a fair quality paper at Walmart in the 8.5 X 11 size and use that for both printing photos and making cards. The software that comes with printers will let you print 4 photos per page and then separate them with a paper cutter.....Does a nice job for me and is much cheaper than buying the
4 X 6 paper.
Also it gives the option of printing 5X7s with a border that does not crop your photo. Same with 8 X 10s and the larger sizes are a better savings. IMHO.
But the thing I like is I can have the photo now!

This is what I do also. I bought my paper at Sam's Club, HP 30 dollars for 150 sheets. I tried a cheaper (very heavy) no name paper to no avail, my printer thinks its edible. I have had very good luck with HP, but as has been mentioned they get you with the ink. I paid 106 for a 3-pack, 1 color and 2 black. I am going to try some remanufactured ink next time from this place.
http://www.maxpatchink.com/hp4578.shtml
I tried refilling mine but the quality was not very good.

[Dmares]

Hi There

just out of curiosity what are the costs for HP ink in Amerika. Here in Europe we pay for

Black HP# 56 19ml = € 20.-
Photocartridge HP # 58 17ml = € 24.-
Photocartridge grey HP # 59 17ml = €24.-
Three colors HP # 57 17ml = € 34.-

Cheers
Dennis

[cjjones1714]

Well thanks for the advice the Canon iP4200 looks like a good buy to me.

[genece]

Its about 20 bucks for the black and 30 for the tricolor....the list price is about 10 bucks higher for each.......Its the tricolor cartridge thats the problem.....For instance I can get the canon ink for about 10 to 12 bucks a cartridge and only replace whats needed...... Maybe HP has changed something but I was forever changing the tricolor and the cyan (I think) was still pretty full....As I say I swore off them a few years back....
I am pretty happy with Canon ...perhaps have a look at them the next time your ready.

Hi There

just out of curiosity what are the costs for HP ink in Amerika. Here in Europe we pay for

Black HP# 56 19ml = € 20.-
Photocartridge HP # 58 17ml = € 24.-
Photocartridge grey HP # 59 17ml = €24.-
Three colors HP # 57 17ml = € 34.-

Cheers
Dennis