Printer recommendation?

photogmomma

Hi! I need to get a new printer that meets the following requirements and would LOVE some suggestions! (And if there is something that I should have found that suggests some, I'd love that link...)

• less than $500, or even less than $300
• works with OSX (My HP 7550 does not do this well at all - plus it prints crooked now. Bleh.)
• prints good photos for fun - not to sell (I like the labs I use)
• prints documents well
• At least 8.5x11, not necessary to be larger, but wouldn't suck, either!

See, not a lot of requirements! I just don't need to do a ton with it - mainly printing docs for clients (what to do, contracts, general information) and will sometimes print photos for myself so I'd like it to be good. But since it's not a pro thing, it's not critical for it to be an amazing printer for that. (Although that would be nice! LOL!)

Thanks so much in advance!

darkdragon

You might not beleive me because of the price of this printer, but I recommend the Epson Stylus Photo R280. I have the older R260 that I've been using for about 2 years or more, exlusively with my Mac (OSX). I purchased it ($80) for doing printing on DVDs, but it became my "everything" printer for the Mac.

It works great, printing text pages is flawless - full coverage DVDs flawless. I also print 4x6 and 8.5x11 photos, I was actually very suprised at the qualit this thin put out (I use Epson 5* paper for photos). I've ever only had one issue and that was printing a high-key portrait, the grays looked a bit blue - My guess is that i could be corrected with an ICC profile (i'm still new to that part).

In short I highly recommend this printer. I actually have seen it on sale for as little ast $70 but normally find it at MSRP of $100.

LINK

swintonphoto

Whatever you get, make sure it is an Epson.

photogmomma

Whoa! That sounds VERY interesting! And I didn't even think about printing on DVD/CDs! That's actually a GREAT idea for my clients... Doh!

I'll definitely check that printer out!

And thanks for the tip on Epson, Swintonphoto. I'd heard that before, but had forgotten!

heatherfeather

I use Epson RX700- it has the scanner/ copier cd printer etc and I looove it. I have had it for 4 years. My one beef is the cartriges are so expensive and I can not get them locally AT ALL. (Of course being in AK that is to be expected sometimes, but I sure wish CompUSA hadn't gone out of business up here.)

It does a pretty great job at printing prints as well as regular documents. The software isn't that shabby either. But I would say that printing on the DVD's are about the best thing- and will print on a hub printable disk no problem.

Tee Why

I'd recommend a Canon iP4500. It's about $130 and prints upto letter sizes.
It's very fast, has two trays, one for regular documents and one for printing photos.

Compared to the Epson RX 580 which I replaced with the Canon, it is much faster and has a slightly more vibrant colors. I also found it to use less ink (it may be b/c the free inks provided with the Epson printer does not have much ink) work well with my Canon's DPP since I already use a Canon camera. I had difficulty printing with DPP/Epson combo. It worked fine in MS document viewer/printer but not in DPP.

photogmomma

Hey, all! Thank you SO much for the recommendations! I started out looking at the $80 one, but decided that if I could get a better one for my budgeted price, I would. I finally settled on the Epson Stylus Photo 1400 for about $250. I'm BLOWN AWAY with the quality, the speed and the quietness of it.

It does everything I need and more and I know I"ll have it forever. (I had my last one for many years.)

Thanks again for all the help!!!

JDouglas

Good choice. I have the Epson 1400 on OS X. I like it.