Best Printer To Buy?

[Lobin]

anyone have experience of the canon IP5000 printer? or advise on a.n.other?

i am looking to print sellable prints so high quality and res is paramount, also CD/DVD printable essential, speed not such a key factor.

thanks in advance

[Firefoxx]

Most pros that sell prints use Epsons, especially the wide types that print on A3. The IP5000 is a consumer printer... it does print nice, but it doesn't have the special inks (fade resistant, consistant, matte, etc) that Epsons have. If you're going to sell to normal folks for a small price, or are just going to be acting like a photo shop, then the Canon is OK. If you're going to sell to rich discerning folks, you should get an Epson.

[Lobin]

Most pros that sell prints use Epsons, especially the wide types that print on A3.  The IP5000 is a consumer printer... it does print nice, but it doesn't have the special inks (fade resistant, consistant, matte, etc) that Epsons have.  If you're going to sell to normal folks for a small price, or are just going to be acting like a photo shop, then the Canon is OK.  If you're going to sell to rich discerning folks, you should get an Epson.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

cheers for the info. which epson would you advise to, a3 is good for me as well, pros and cons. and when it comes to making the prints the ip5000 has a print res, i beleive, of 9600 x 2400, which was one of the reasons for buying it, as was told that this really affect the quality of the prints. and what about ink? obviously to refill yourself is the best way, but does the ink quality/different inks that you can buy matter a great deal?

Edited July 9, 2005 by Lobin

[stumonster]

I just purchased from panthip last week an epsom C65 for 2350 baht.

printing an a4 photo from a 1600x1200 pixel photo taken with a 5meg pentax produced a very nice print - I was a little suprised at how good it was.

this printer has my recommendation for a personal desktop printer - though I have yet to find out the price of new ink carts.....

[Lobin]

I just purchased from panthip last week an epsom C65 for 2350 baht.

printing an a4 photo from a 1600x1200 pixel photo taken with a 5meg pentax produced a very nice print - I was a little suprised at how good it was.

this printer has my recommendation for a personal desktop printer - though I have yet to find out the price of new ink carts.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

thanks for info, for ink catridges maybe try this place in singapore www.sepoms.com.sg, dedicated ink place so might be worth a go, although not sure of what happens with sending stuff in from Singapore to here tax wise.

[Firefoxx]

Sepoms is sold in Thailand as well. Again, for normal prints of photos, like those from a store, using things like third-party inks is ok, but not for art prints.

The big Epson printers I'm talking about are the Stylus Pro 4000 or 4800. These use big cartridges and can print A3 size. They're quite a bit more expensive than the canon IP5000, so you should think about whether you're doing normal or art prints.

[Thetyim]

I just purchased from panthip last week an epsom C65 for 2350 baht.

printing an a4 photo from a 1600x1200 pixel photo taken with a 5meg pentax produced a very nice print - I was a little suprised at how good it was.

this printer has my recommendation for a personal desktop printer - though I have yet to find out the price of new ink carts.....

You can get compatible cartridges for your printer in thailand

T0461 B 5.40

T0472 C 5.00

T0473 M 5.00

T0474 Y 5.00

Prices are in USD but the factory is near Pataya

Just add a bit for postage.

[Lobin]

Sepoms is sold in Thailand as well.  Again, for normal prints of photos, like those from a store, using things like third-party inks is ok, but not for art prints.

The big Epson printers I'm talking about are the Stylus Pro 4000 or 4800.  These use big cartridges and can print A3 size.  They're quite a bit more expensive than the canon IP5000, so you should think about whether you're doing normal or art prints.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

where can i locate these printers, i have had a look in a few shops, but as these are consumer and not pro shops they didnt have these?

also what sort of price am i looking at in thailand?

[waldwolf]

Lobin - Most printers today, even very inexpensive ones have the capability of printing pictures with a higher resolution than most digital cameras are capable of taking.

As Firefoxx indicated, other important decisions involve, inks, paper type and print size.

If your pictures are "art" and sold as such for framing and presentation in the home or public buildings, then you should most definately secure the best raw materials available.

Your statement "CD/DVD printable essential" will greatly limit your choices, especially if you talking about printing directly on the CD/DVD themselves. I would suggest you think of that as a seperate operation (needing seperate equipment), if at all possible.

Remember, too many compromises and your likely to end up with inferior products, overall.

good luck and success

[barryofthailand]

I've always had good luck with HP. Thier photosmart all in one printers are excellent. They print, scan, and copy. Excellent photo programs.

[francois]

hi'

I have read all, and I have to say a little thing

take a look at replacement ink cartridge prices ...

canon has been and is the lowest you can find, beside the fact that a canon printer like the ip5000 is the only one that print with so fine inkjet.[1pcl]

I have an ip4000 and be very glad with it.

I would say, epson are more expensive and not much better than any other brand name.

still canon is the one that will cost you the least at the end and for fine results, they print almost what you want, cd included

francois

[Beachcomber]

Hi

Er! Slight hijack – I’ve got a Canon ip1000 which cost less than 2Kb and when it works am well satisfied with.

Trouble is it does not always work. I can’t pin it down but it seems to be a software problem.

Sometimes I can load the driver (I have to do this on a regular basis) and it works fine for a while then will come the message “printer is offline”

Other times when I switch the printer on I get the Windows “ding-dong” as in found new hardware then some time later, could be seconds or an hour another “ding-ding” as in hardware removed.

I am running XP Pro and using USB ports for the printer. There seems to be nothing wrong with the USB because if I plug say the scanner into it that works OK. Sometimes if I plug the printer into a different USB that will work for a while then it seems to get fed up with that port and we have to go through the whole routine again. One time it took nearly all day to get the printer to work in any port.

Guess it could be the printer but if I take it back to shop and it works fine, which it naturally will, what can they do? One odd thing I have noticed sometimes while I am changing the printer from port to port I get a mild electric shock from the USB printer cable plug. Is this right?

Sorry if you are not geekish (is that the word) but maybe somebody else reading this will have some idea.

Just to prove I did note the original post. I read somewhere sometime, BKK Datapost I think, some one wrote that he used HP printer because even though he didn’t use it often the nozzles didn’t dry up and clog. This is a problem I have, and has cost me a few cartridges.

[Firefoxx]

To reiterate folks, there are the "photo" prints and there are "art" prints. These are two very different entities. Photo prints can be printed by sub-10k baht printers, found in most stores, and using normal inks with normal photo paper. These are of a similar quality you can get from your local photo store, and are sold for 10-20 baht.

Art prints are large prints, usually on large specialty matte paper, and are actually used in photo exhibitions. They require archival paper and archival inks, which are resistant to light changes, fading, acid, etc. These types of prints are usually sold for $$$ in the US.

Now, I'm not quite sure what Lobin actually wants to print, since "sellable prints" in the photographic industry usually means "art" prints, but in laymans terms it can also mean "I want to open a little photo shop".

The big Epsons I mentioned don't print on CDs, AFAIK, but you can get a canon IP3000 for cheap to do that.

[stumonster]

One odd thing I have noticed sometimes while I am changing the printer from port to port I get a mild electric shock from the USB printer cable plug. Is this right?

can I presume from this statement that you are in thailand? most domestic electrical outlets in thailand are not earthed , so any potential on the equipments ground plane does not have a path to earth. A search on earthing in the forums should bring up a few threads discussing it. ( usually you can also get a boot form the metal parts on your comp and the monitor screen )

you also might want to check on the power plug for your printer , I have always found that they do not mate well with the cheap powerboards and you have to leave them out a little to get good contact.

[Beachcomber]

One odd thing I have noticed sometimes while I am changing the printer from port to port I get a mild electric shock from the USB printer cable plug. Is this right?

can I presume from this statement that you are in thailand? most domestic electrical outlets in thailand are not earthed , so any potential on the equipments ground plane does not have a path to earth. A search on earthing in the forums should bring up a few threads discussing it. ( usually you can also get a boot form the metal parts on your comp and the monitor screen )

you also might want to check on the power plug for your printer , I have always found that they do not mate well with the cheap powerboards and you have to leave them out a little to get good contact.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes you’ve guessed it I’m in Thailand. I did have problems with getting belted from the computer chassis till I connected own my earth via a grounding rod which solved that problem.

I also thought it might be the wobbly plug so bought a cheap round to flat pin adaptor that solved the problem, besides the printer light is on all the time so guess it is connected.

On reflection I realize this problem will be almost impossible to track down as it never happens on-cue, unless someone has had similar experience and found a solution.

Think I will just have to get a new printer as it always happens just when I need to print something in a hurry. (Why is that?) Don’t really want to spend the money but on the positive side I’ll have a spare set of ink cartridges.

Thanks for your input.

[Crushdepth]

I am very happy with the Epson C80 we got at work (after a fair bit of research a year or two ago). We use it to produce photographic-quality CD labels. The ink is rated to last longer than I am.

I think this model would probably have been superseded by now, not sure what the 'next' one is.

[bino]

The big Epson printers I'm talking about are the Stylus Pro 4000 or 4800.  These use big cartridges and can print A3 size.  They're quite a bit more expensive than the canon IP5000, so you should think about whether you're doing normal or art prints.

To reiterate folks, there are the "photo" prints and there are "art" prints.  These are two very different entities.  Photo prints can be printed by sub-10k baht printers, found in most stores, and using normal inks with normal photo paper.  These are of a similar quality you can get from your local photo store, and are sold for 10-20 baht.

Art prints are large prints, usually on large specialty matte paper, and are actually used in photo exhibitions.  They require archival paper and archival inks, which are resistant to light changes, fading, acid, etc.  These types of prints are usually sold for $$$ in the US.

Now, I'm not quite sure what Lobin actually wants to print, since "sellable prints" in the photographic industry usually means "art" prints, but in laymans terms it can also mean "I want to open a little photo shop".

The big Epsons I mentioned don't print on CDs, AFAIK, but you can get a canon IP3000 for cheap to do that.

Firefox is right on the money. My stepfather is a fine artist- his paintings take about two or three months each to create, and sell for 5 figures CAD. He uses an Epson 4000 to create reproduction art prints that sell for $200-300 each to the people who can't afford an original.

If the OP is wanting to be in this league, there are no equivalent printers to these from Epson which use quality acid free paper and genuine pigment based inks.

[tso310]

I would also suggest you look for a printer that has separate cartridges for the primary colours, 4 or 6 usually. Its a great saving on ink costs just having to replace just a single colour cartridge rather than a all in one cartridge. Quite a few of the cheaper printers now offer this. Quite a few printers also now offer double sided printing.

[francois]

Sepoms is sold in Thailand as well.  Again, for normal prints of photos, like those from a store, using things like third-party inks is ok, but not for art prints.

The big Epson printers I'm talking about are the Stylus Pro 4000 or 4800.  These use big cartridges and can print A3 size.  They're quite a bit more expensive than the canon IP5000, so you should think about whether you're doing normal or art prints.

agree on this, if you want to make art print, you'll need 2 printers, one "normal" and one A3 ...

and again think about ink prices

francois