Epson 925 vs. Canon s900 (or others)

I�m looking to get the best photo printer possible for around $250.

Although price is very important I would be willing to spend a

little more for a printer that improved on my hot points over the

two printers I�m currently looking at . . . the Canon s900 and the

Epson Stylus Photo 925. My biggest concern is photo quality and to

a certain degree the archival qualities of the printed photo. I

don�t care about speed or how loud the printer might be when

producing the photo. I would be printing mostly 8� x 10� photos for

my own personal use, gifts for friends and potentially for the

commercial purpose of selling the photos in local gift shops. I

would love to print larger photos (11� x 14�), but here price seems

to be a factor. Finally, I would like to have the option of using a

variety of different types of paper (I have heard the Epson printers

prefer Epson paper) and the cost of ink is important (I have heard

the Epsons use a lot of ink).

 

Any advice you folks can offer would be very helpful.

 

Note: I have read many of the other discussion topics in this area

but most of the answers dealt with the higher priced printers.

 

Thank you.

I do personally have S9000 and I like it a lot, for its speed mostly.

 

I used to have Epsons before and have some reasons not to like `em, the last of `em I`ve lost due to the same old problem - printhead got spoiled with dried ink.

I would personally suggest the Canon. I have an S800 and aside from the speed advantages over the Epson, I think it produces more fine detail than the Epsons in some situations and the individual ink cartridge in combination with the replaceable print heads are an advantage.

 

The biggest workflow advantage I find is it's behavior with various papers and how it handles different resolutions better.

You might also consider getting a refurbished 890 direct from Epson. Epson USA lists them for $219. It has more paper handling capacity (notably rolls of paper for up to 8 1/2 x 44" prints). I got one a couple months ago, it has the full warranty, not a 90 day deal like many refurbs...

I have an Epson 890 Photo Printer and the results are very good, so long as you have everything adjusted properly. This I have found, takes many test prints. I do seem to go through a lot of ink, when I print photos. The cartridges are rather small. Also, my printer prints much faster when I use the USB connection, rather than it's parallel port. From the specs I have seen, all Epson have a rather small print buffer or ram, so it's helpful if your computer has a lot and you have a USB or Firewire connection. It's probably like comparing a Nikon to a Canon camera. They are both good and you can get great results with either one, if you use them correctly.