printers!

yooperdooperyooperdooper Registered Users Posts: 231 Major grins
edited January 13, 2015 in Digital Darkroom
hello:my r1900 Epson printer served me well for a long time.now it is time for a new printer.i am looking for a printer that ideally uses the least ink,the least expensive ink,produces a 13x19" print and produces an excellent product.epson would be great and I am open for other manufactures.i can spend up to $1000 thanks

Comments

  • AceCo55AceCo55 Registered Users Posts: 950 Major grins
    edited December 27, 2014
    I have an epson 3880 which uses 80ml ink cartridges (17'' printer). The cost/ml is SIGNIFICANTLY less than for 10-11ml cartridges. I think there was a about a $600 difference in the ink that came with the 3880 and the cost of replacing that much ink with 10-11ml cartridges.
    It brought the total cost of owning and operating the 3880 close to a 13" printer.
    The print quality is superb and with four black/grey cartridges, if you are printing B/W the tonal range is fabulous.
    A couple of things to be aware of:
    1) although it has 10 cartridges, there are only 9 lines to the print heads. The gloss black and matt black share a line. So if you swap from gloss to matt, the line has to be cleared and this is going to use a bunch of ink. Solution is to plan your printing and do a bulk run of matt or gloss rather than swapping often.
    2) you can't print a 6x4 ... too small (not a problem for me - I print those on a different printer - if ever)
    3) it doesn't have a roll facility (no big deal for me)
    For me it was a no brainer ... the 3880 gives me bigger print capability and its significantly cheaper to run than a 13" printer with small cartridges. That's just going to cost you more in the long run.
    My opinion does not necessarily make it true. What you do with my opinion is entirely up to you.
    www.acecootephotography.com
  • yooperdooperyooperdooper Registered Users Posts: 231 Major grins
    edited December 28, 2014
    hi ace thanks for all the advice on the watermarking and resizing
    (if you remember me
    the r3830 semms reasonable,i am still looking for more options. for example canon?it looks like Epson no longer makes the r1900-is there no way to get a warranty?it is for sale on amazon.thanks happy new year!
  • yooperdooperyooperdooper Registered Users Posts: 231 Major grins
    edited December 28, 2014
    hi ace:i priced out the ink for the r3380.wow! $62/cartrage or $607 for the whole set!that is if I got it right.one problem I have is that I may not use the ink up in six months at which time it would expire.thanks
  • yooperdooperyooperdooper Registered Users Posts: 231 Major grins
    edited December 28, 2014
    hi again ace:i noticed there are different editions for the r 3880:the standard the designer and the signature worthy
    any recommendations?
  • AceCo55AceCo55 Registered Users Posts: 950 Major grins
    edited December 28, 2014
    hi again ace:i noticed there are different editions for the r 3880:the standard the designer and the signature worthy
    any recommendations?

    Hmmm. Sorry - can't help you with that.
    Oh I dream of $67/cartridge!! Here they are around $90 ... but it still works out to be more economical
    I sometimes won't print for a few months - I have never had a problem with blocked cartridges. It has always just fired up and printed perfectly first time. I have cartridges that I didn't use up for over a year. Still not a problem for me.

    The other thing to consider it the physical footprint of the printer. The 3880 is surprisingly compact for such a big print capability.

    Best wishes on your research.
    My opinion does not necessarily make it true. What you do with my opinion is entirely up to you.
    www.acecootephotography.com
  • yooperdooperyooperdooper Registered Users Posts: 231 Major grins
    edited December 29, 2014
    thanks ace.your advice is very valuable.happy new year!
  • andiamoandiamo Registered Users Posts: 67 Big grins
    edited December 31, 2014
    AceCo55 wrote: »
    Hmmm. Sorry - can't help you with that.
    Oh I dream of $67/cartridge!! Here they are around $90 ... but it still works out to be more economical
    I sometimes won't print for a few months - I have never had a problem with blocked cartridges. It has always just fired up and printed perfectly first time. I have cartridges that I didn't use up for over a year. Still not a problem for me.

    The other thing to consider it the physical footprint of the printer. The 3880 is surprisingly compact for such a big print capability.

    Best wishes on your research.
    Amazon sells the ink and it is usually in the upper $50- range
  • andiamoandiamo Registered Users Posts: 67 Big grins
    edited December 31, 2014
    hi ace:i priced out the ink for the r3380.wow! $62/cartrage or $607 for the whole set!that is if I got it right.one problem I have is that I may not use the ink up in six months at which time it would expire.thanks

    I have owned a 3880 for a few years now and I rarely use the cartridges up in 6 months. I find that they work perfectly up to a year.
  • yooperdooperyooperdooper Registered Users Posts: 231 Major grins
    edited January 12, 2015
    thanks
    thanks
  • GlortGlort Registered Users Posts: 1,015 Major grins
    edited January 13, 2015
    I have canon Printers, 14 of them and one epsom. Forget what it is, bought it about 2 years ago when it first came out for the front load / eject.

    I can honestly say I'll never buy another Epsom unless something drasticaly changes.
    I just find the canons do so much more so much simpler and easier and while I was lead to believe the epsom would be better print quality, even at 3 times the price of my Canons it's not.

    Doubt I'm going to change your brand loyality but what I may open your awareness up on is aftermarket ink.

    I have about 8 I think Bulk ink systems for the canons and one for the epsom. Each tank holds 100-120 Ml of each colour. The price of the tanks, cartdridges and a fill of ink was about $120 a few years back and the ink alone is worth like a grand at OEM prices.

    Yeah, I have read and heard all the claptrap, kill your printers, void warranty, crap quality... Ho Hum.
    I was brainwashed to when I first looked into it and rang the company. Guy had heard it all before and said if the ink kills your printer I gaurantee to give you twice it's value back for your trouble and refund the ink kit.
    Nothing to loose, everything to gain, OK. Man that guy was smart. I was his biggest client for a while. He couldn't believe it when I rang about 12 months later and said " Do you sell this chit in 5L bottles?" His reply was what in hell are you printing? " A lot!" :0)

    I have printed literally 10's of thousands of 8x12 prints and I was buying the ink by the litre, usualy 5L at a time of each colour. I think it could be said I have done more printing than most.

    I have certainly burned out heads but they are a limited life product anyway. The quality of the prints IMHO is better than with the OEM ink because the aftermarket stuff is far more true to life which for me is important. The savings I have made and therefore profit in my pocket from using the aftermarket has been huge and made otherwise unviable jobs very good money spinners.

    I have used OEM printer profiles and they were the same as when I used OEM ink. Generally not great so I got a claibration spyder and found that too was lacking. Eventually made my own profiles by literally ding 100 test prints till I got them spot on. Was no different with OEM or aftermarket ink except where bright colours were concerned, the aftermarket looked more realistic instead of like the OEM cartoon that printed out. Colour balance in faces etc was the same.

    As for longevity, well going by the prints I have done for myself and family going back 4 years so far, I can't fault them. I did have some pinned to my office wall that faded badly but then I picked up that was on one type of paper I used and the others were fine even though older.

    My choice of printer would be based around the availability of aftermarket cartridges. To hear people say they pay $50 for A Cartridge when I pay around $100 a LITRE which is over 100 Carts in my machines, just does my head in. I think the canons I use are about $30 a cart. You can still see the incredible economics. It pulled my ink cost from about a dollar per print to less than 2C close as I can figure it.

    The thing I like about the bulk systems is you can bulk print. I had 6 printers each on 2 tables with a dedicated print server being fed by up to 3 workstations and my daughter just pulling off prints and putting in more paper. I refilled the ink at the start of every print run and was good for around 5-600 8x12's at a time.
    When I do onsite printing, I usualy just take some refilled carts to make handling easier and save on desk space. Rarely go through more than 2 carts at an event. When the first colour is empty we change out the whole lot to stop having another stoppage 10 prints later or whatever. If a cary is still even half full, who cares, top it off and it's good to go a full cycle next time. When I get back home I refill them all and they are ready for the next outing.

    I know for the epson you can use Dye and Pigment ink in the OEM's. Personaly I couldn't tell the diff so went for Pigment even though it was dearer but still didn't look as good as the canon Dye.
    Anyway, as someone that has used LITRES of aftermarket ink and printed tens of thousands of prints, I say don't believe any crap about there being anything wrong with aftermarket ink and bulk feed systems. Buy from a reputable company and you won't have any problems. The guys I bought from fixed a lot of my problems even though they were no where near ink related. They just had great customer service and stood by their product.

    You can buy prefilled carts or fill them yourself or get a bulk system. The ink in my Epsom has been there 2+ years now and the print quality is the same as it always has been. I just give the tank a shake when I think of it, maybe a couple of times a month and that's it.

    I reccomend everyone give The Aftermarket ink a go and save themselves a fortune.
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