Printers

[Soccer Princess]

Anyone have the HP compact photo printer? Are you pleased with the quality? Do you find it was worth the money? I think the model is 385??
What about the Canon PIXMA All-In-One Photo Printer/ Copier/ Scanner?


Thanks!

 

[ukcatfan]

I do not have experience with the printer, but whenever I see these type of posts, I always like to ask what your reasons are for wanting a photo printer. I am not trying to deter you from buying one, just offering some info. There are many times where the convenience justifies it, but there are other reasons that can be misleading. Many believe that it is cheaper than using a professional service, but due to the cost of supplies it is actually about twice as expensive. Also, the quality and durability of a professional service is better than any home printer. They tend to not be as sharp and the images will fade much quicker. Some may only last a year or so before a re-print is needed.

Kevin

 

[bazzanoid]

To expand a little on ukcatfan's post:

If you want to print just photos, and you already have an adequate printer for printing your other bits n bobs, then as recommended, get them done professionally. Not sure on the cost in the US, but here in the UK, you can get the cost down to about 5 pennies per 4x6 print, especially when done in bulk - i had 140 photos printed at a cost of £6.57 including tax - to do this at home would have been two packs of photo paper (£30) and two colour cartridges, two photo cartridges at about £20 a pop, so i saved around £113.63 by getting them done professionally!

If you need a new printer in general, I would recommend (from personal experience) one of HP's photosmart DeskJet printers - all the features of a desktop printer with the added bonus of the ability to take a photo-specific cartridge in place of black, and borderless photos, so you could happily feed it 4x6 pre-cut sheets if you wish to or if the need arises. I tend to find that i only print photos at home if i need an odd size, like for a small photo frame, locket, passport or ID card, that sort of thing.

Ocassionally i'll print a christmas card, and this is another very handy use for printing at home on a photo-quality printer, especially since I have a habit of manipulating photos for the necessary use (i once replaced my brother-in-law's head with that of donkey from Shrek, and turned his hands grey and hairy for a christmas card following his college's xmas ball photos)

 

[manning]

This is what I use for 4x6 prints. With the 120 sheet pack the cost is 24 cents a print. Saves on gas and wear and tear on the car. If you buy thru sony there is a 15% discount on the packs plus free ground shipping.

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/><w...5&Dept=cameras&CategoryName=dcc_PhotoPrinters

 

[Dznefreek]

I use an HP 8150 that will do 3x5, 4x6, 8x10, and more. I did not want to be locked into a printer that only does 4x6 since I like to print 8x10's and put them on the wall above my desk.

 

[ukcatfan]

This is what I use for 4x6 prints. With the 120 sheet pack the cost is 24 cents a print. Saves on gas and wear and tear on the car. If you buy thru sony there is a 15% discount on the packs plus free ground shipping.

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/><w...5&Dept=cameras&CategoryName=dcc_PhotoPrinters

That is not a bad price, but you can get them delivered for less per pic as long as you are buying more than a handfull.

Kevin

 

[jann1033]

i have an hp printer also ( 1610 all in one, was about $100 on sale) and i get great photo quality pics with the photo cartridge...since i learned to set( which was just today in fact ) the print quality on the page set up to max (4800x1200 dpi) and the pic itself to 300. i do use kodak premium paper and i have to say they look good. but largest i can print is 8x10...hp has an ink guaranteed to last for a long time
but snaps i send to snapfish for .10 a print( have for years and always have been happy) and i got some big ones( 14x11 and 16x20) printed at shutterfly( had some freebies and one turned out great, one not so good( was washed out looking, more faded than the pic i downloaded)

hopefully the quality is better now but my last printer was a canon all in one and never again..the first never worked, i had to fight for 18 months to get it replaced and the second one did the same thing...headache after headache with that thing and the pic quality was nowhere near photo quality even with the photo cartridge

 

[boBQuincy]

I agree with the post about the price of home printing, it is almost always more costly than sending it out, at least until you go larger than 8 x 10.

I do not agree that home printing does not look as good as commercial printing. The good inkjet prints are better anything available from a lab, especially when you factor in the control you have.

Now, this doesn't come easy or cheap, it requires monitor calibration, printer profiles, and good paper, to start with. And ink, *lots* of expensive oem ink!
I currently print on a Canon i9900, mostly using Ilford paper, and the prints look good, really *really* good. Good enough that the only ones I send to a lab are the ones that are too big to print at home (> 13 x 19).

 

[captaincrash]

I've always sent out....

... until recently I bought an Epson. From what I've read and from friends who are serious enthusiasts, semi-pro and pro they all told me to get an Epson 90% of the time or send out to a pro lab. However... my reasons for getting a home printer were to print images on the spor to give away. So I got one of those Epson portable Picturemate printers. Shoot... I have not even opened the box yet but the sample Epson prints at Best Buy looked rather nice. And for the record the HP, Canon and Sony prints looked OK too. But the Epson display was bigger and they had more sample prints on hand. BUT... the Epson was the biggest and slowest (by spec) portable printer there.

I send out to dotphoto, mpix, propicsexpress and (gasp) Costco. I've found that Costco is the worst quality in general but it is the fastest and most convenient when I'm in a hurry and no one cares much about perfection. Their 12"x18" prints for $2.99 are a show stopper. And propics has inexpensive wood framed canvass mounted prints on Kodak Endura Supreme paper (100 year exhibition life in the home if the surface is spray sealed). Theirs deals change over time but generally you can get an 8x10 for $6.95 (blk wood) or 8.95 (cherry wood) or 10x13 prints for 10.95-13.95 depending on frame style. And they make a 16x20 special with a fancy frame edge and seal spray for $40. Put code 101 in the comments section of your order for 10% off. Shipping is usually cheap too. So - can U tell ??? ... I'm a Propics fan and have bought probably a couple 100 framed prints from them for school fundraiser projects and for use as gifts.

Oh well... hope you feel this was constructive....

 

[safetymom]

I love my Epson Picture Mate for printing 4x6. The cost per print is 21 cents. Sure maybe I can get it done a little cheaper somewhere else but I don't have to get in my car and drive anywhere.

They also last longer than traditional photos. I love the fact that I can print them at home or take my printer with me to an event.

 

[whogirl'smom]

Just my 2 cents--I really wanted a photo printer with my new Canon S2 (our first digital, yeah, I know, welcome to the 1990's!). We waited due to cost and I tried printing some on our Brother printer b/c it has PhotoCapture. I was not pleased with the results at all and changed paper, ink you name it. Finally I took my CDs of our WDW trip to CVS and the pictures were really beautiful and 17 cents each! I think they were so good b/c our CVS just got a new printer machine and is the only one in the area with the capability to print pictures in seconds now. Just an idea to try out a couple of places like this while you shop for a printer of your own. We just decided that the cost of printing ourselves was far too much for the quality we were (not) getting.

I've had friends also send out to Snapfish, etc. and really liked the quality of the online places.

 

[Furgus]

I third the PictureMate. I have had mine for over a year, and I love it. It really makes some great prints. I also have an Epson R340, which I am still tweaking to get some prints to look right, but over all I am happy with it. Next printer purchase is this.

R2400