Printer that does great photos, but also prints ok text?

[libby_ross3]

I currently have a Canon MP500 and I'm just not very satisifed with it. It

prints ok, really pretty good. But the scanner is AWFUL. I mean I might as well

just not have it because I get better images using my digicam to take a photo

of a photo.. now that's pretty pathetic. After reading through reviews, I've

decided it's a waste of space at this point, and I am going to buy an Epson

scanner and another non multifunction printer. Now, the thing I like about my

Canon is that while it prints decent photos, it also does well with normal

every day documents. I don't want to end up with something so specialized for

photo printing that I can't print anything else on it. Can someone please

reccomend me a printer?

 

Pretty sure I'm going with the Epson 4490 or V500 scanner.

[Carl Stone]

The sad truth is that no printer does photos and text well. Text printers can be had very

cheap, and I highly recommend having both a photo printer and a text printer. All in one

machines do not excel at any one task, they are a compromise.

[hakon_soreide]

For everyday documents, get a laser printer to complement your photo printer. It's cheaper in use and basically any laser printer would also a lot faster for text than an inkjet.

[Kent Shafer]

The HP Photosmart printers print photographs quite well and are also fine for everyday printing of documents, web pages, etc. I happily used a Photosmart 7960 (now surely replaced by a better model) for both purposes for several years. Recently got an Epson 3800 but still use the Photosmart for documents.

[morrie_gasser]

My life has changed since I got a Brother 2070N laser printer (for under $140) to augment my photo-quality inkjet printer. Now I can leave the inkjet turned off except when I want to print photos or color, and I have a high speed networked B&W text printer ready for me at all times. I put the inkjet on a table and keep the laser on a stand right under it. Now I no longer hestitate to print a web page or 20-page document because I don't want to waste precious ink on it. The Brother can be left on all the time in low power mode and is pretty fast to warm up for the first page, and it services all computers in my house, too.

[craig_gillette]

I'm one of those who would suggest using a separate printer for text purposes. I'd had an Epson Photo 750 (old) and it does text extremely well, as does the new R800 - but they aren't cheap to run for text. I was able to get a reconditioned Brother 2040L for well under $100. I've run a couple of other laser jets into the ground doing church bulletins, group newsletters, etc. They also handled almost 100% of the printing tasks for my family's various school printing needs.

 

That also reduces or eliminates some of the paper swapping as well.