Recommend an A4 Printer

[John27]

Hi Peeps

Not had a printer for a while, usually use online printing services. Im starting a college course, so thought I'd better invest in a printer. I will be using to print up to A4 photographs, and not much else. I had a look online for reviews, but believe in hands on advice to be better. So, if you have a printer you use and like, let me know make and model.

John

[Hereford_EOS2]

Re: Recommend an A4 Printer

Printing photographs can be expensive and with up to A4 sizes can be very expensive.
I suggest a printer where refills don't cost an arm and a leg, so avoid HP & Epson.
Look at the Kodak or Lexmark range as ink is less expensive.

[John27]

Re: Recommend an A4 Printer

Printing photographs can be expensive and with up to A4 sizes can be very expensive.
I suggest a printer where refills don't cost an arm and a leg, so avoid HP & Epson.
Look at the Kodak or Lexmark range as ink is less expensive.

Thanks for your response Stephen. I will have a look at the both you recommend. I also have to look at the quality as well as costs, so hopefully Kodak and Lexmark offer this.

Anymore recommendations, or are you all using online printing services?

John

[Muscat]

Re: Recommend an A4 Printer

I use Canon printers and have found them good but the ink is not the cheapest

[MX5]

Re: Recommend an A4 Printer

Canon today launch the new Pixma iP4950 (See Canon UK Press Release).

At an opening price of £79 that's not too bad me thinks.

[Hereford_EOS2]

Re: Recommend an A4 Printer

Canon today launch the new Pixma iP4950 (See Canon UK Press Release).

At an opening price of £79 that's not too bad me thinks.

Never just look at the price of the printer as the biggest cost is ink and ink re-fills.
The Canon PIXMA_iP4950 may be a very good printer but each ink cartridge (there are 5) will cost £12+ to replace, and the costs mounts up.
Whilst Kodak cartridges will cost less than half the price.
The real cost is ink.

I personally use a HP Photosmart Premium printer. Yes it was expensive for an injet printer and cartridges cost £12 but I do not print photographs.
It had the features that I wanted including printing CD/DVD.
Nowadays most printers are very capable and it does not really matter which brand you chose.
Epson, HP, Canon, Lexmark, Ricoh, Kodak .. the list goes on.

Take a look at the KODAK site, look for the features you require and then work out the cost (long term).
Then look at the other brands and again look at the features and the long term costs.

It's a bit like buying a car. Do you buy a car because it looks good? Goes fast? Large boot? Economical?
Myself I have an economical but fast and comfortable car, not too big and not too small.
Petrol/Deisel costs was a major factor in my purchase but I also wanted a car that could do 0-60 in less than 10 seconds.
So long term I chose a Diesel Vauxhall Astra SRi 2.0 CDTi. Mileage 50+ mpg, 0-60 in 8.6 seconds.
The comparable petrol version less than 40mpg.
So if I do say 10,000 miles a year then i can save over £300 a year in petrol/diesel costs
Over 5 years then i can save over £1500, that's a new "L" lens or a 5D mark II camera.

Petrol or INK are the real running costs and not the car or PRINTER.

Stephen

ps AVOID cheap copy ink cartridges (I am talking from experience)

[briansquibb]

Re: Recommend an A4 Printer

I run my Epson 1400 on compatible inks - cant tell the difference except that they are quarter the price. If I really want top quality then there are pro printer places to take them too.

My wife has a Kodak printer - just doesn't cut the mustard for photos

As for the petrol/diesel analogy doesn't work for 5000miles per year - higher purchase price, higher cost per gallon. So if you only want a few prints then the cost of the cartridge is not so relevant. Want to print a lot - cheapest is through a photo printing company.

[MX5]

Re: Recommend an A4 Printer

Never just look at the price of the printer as the biggest cost is ink and ink re-fills.
The Canon PIXMA_iP4950 may be a very good printer but each ink cartridge (there are 5) will cost £12+ to replace, and the costs mounts up.
Whilst Kodak cartridges will cost less than half the price.
The real cost is ink.

I know I run a Pixma Pro 9000 II which take 8 cartridges ... but I shop around and they cost about £10 each. Fortunately they deplete at different rates so that spreads the pain. For bulk printing I use an online service ... less control but less cost.

Agree with Brian some printers don't just give the results. But you pays your money ...

With a car the depreciation is a major factor in TCO not just fuel.

[Hereford_EOS2]

Re: Recommend an A4 Printer

Agree with Brian some printers don't just give the results. But you pays your money ...

True, I look at review sites or Which?
For my photos I actually use Jessops, prices are acceptable and quality and service is good.

[John27]

Re: Recommend an A4 Printer

Thanks for all the replies, still none the wiser tho lol.

Stephen, I had a look at the kodak website, and quite liked the look of the KODAK ESP 7250. Although Brian mentions his wife having a kodak, and it not being very good.

I was thinking of the pixma pro 9000 II, yes I know it's an A3 printer, but Canon have stopped running the £100 cash back, so this makes it very expensive up front.

Anymore opinions, I'm still open to advice.

John

[Hereford_EOS2]

Re: Recommend an A4 Printer

Stephen, I had a look at the kodak website, and quite liked the look of the KODAK ESP 7250. Although Brian mentions his wife having a kodak, and it not being very good.

It's like comparing a Canon 1D with a Canon 1100D. both are Canon but one is superior to the other.

[MX5]

Re: Recommend an A4 Printer

Canon have launched a range of printers [and point and shoots] today ... no early discounts but worth a look.

I got my 9000 II with the £100 cash back and at a £100 off list. So as I wanted to print maps at A3 this was just the job.

But printing at home isn't going to be cheap ... especially if you want display quality. But you need to decide what you want to print on besides paper (like card, 'rag', 'art', CD/DVDs, ...) then look at the ink consumption figures. Then the cost of cartridges from say 7dayshop & MyMemory (I've used them both ages ... choose the cheapest when I need supplies) will enable you to work out the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership). Then there's the cost of Pro papers ... a lot of folk use Permajet papers (http://www.permajet.com/) although I prefer Canon's own and Fuji Premium Plus.

Perversely, a friend of mine buys a Lexmark every time it runs out of ink ... he reckons it’s cheaper than new cartridges!

So it's a complex subject TCO vs Quality. It really depends upon how much printing you intend to do (as I said before you can outsource bulk printing to the highstreet or Internet).

[John27]

Re: Recommend an A4 Printer

It's like comparing a Canon 1D with a Canon 1100D. both are Canon but one is superior to the other.

I know I'm asking the old unanswerable question, how longs a piece of string. But I'm looking to see if there's a popular printer that is generally good with quality and costs. lol

Canon have launched a range of printers [and point and shoots] today ... no early discounts but worth a look.

I got my 9000 II with the £100 cash back and at a £100 off list. So as I wanted to print maps at A3 this was just the job.

But printing at home isn't going to be cheap ... especially if you want display quality. But you need to decide what you want to print on besides paper (like card, 'rag', 'art', CD/DVDs, ...) then look at the ink consumption figures. Then the cost of cartridges from say 7dayshop & MyMemory (I've used them both ages ... choose the cheapest when I need supplies) will enable you to work out the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership). Then there's the cost of Pro papers ... a lot of folk use Permajet papers (http://www.permajet.com/) although I prefer Canon's own and Fuji Premium Plus.

Perversely, a friend of mine buys a Lexmark every time it runs out of ink ... he reckons it’s cheaper than new cartridges!

So it's a complex subject TCO vs Quality. It really depends upon how much printing you intend to do (as I said before you can outsource bulk printing to the highstreet or Internet).

Now if I could get that kind of deal on the 9000 II, I'd be having some of that lol. If I had a load of printing to do, it would be off to photobox. It's just nice to be able to print something off at home with a good quality look about it, and it didn't cost too much.

John

[MX5]

Re: Recommend an A4 Printer

If it's just now and then printing at home then the unit print cost may not be as important as quality. But High Quality 20p (say) A4's just can't be done at home.

[John27]

Re: Recommend an A4 Printer

If it's just now and then printing at home then the unit print cost may not be as important as quality. But High Quality 20p (say) A4's just can't be done at home.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I won't be printing loads of images, I would use online printing services for that. I suppose quality is the most important factor in my choice. As long as the UPC isn't OTT. What I don't want to do is buy a printer because it was cheap, then decide I should have went for the more expensive one.

John