evphotography Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 I would go with 3800, awesome printer for the money. Another consideration is R1900, I owned the R1800 and got excellent prints so I'm sure the R1900 is as good or better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad_ Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 I wouldn't consider a 4800/4880 unless your print volume is high, and handling roll paper is a must. If your print output is low and 13" max paper is OK, then a 2880 makes sense. If you need to handle up to 17" paper and volume is low/medium, and have no interest in roll paper, then the 3800 makes sense. www.citysnaps.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Ingold Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 Peter, I stand corrected about the ink type of the Epson 1900 - it is indeed pigment based. However the replacement of the light CMK inks with Red and Orange and Gloss Optimizer is still designed to play to the masses who want "more...more" of everything. Popular Photography gushes over every product they review, which speaks to their credibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_lawrence Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 Edward, the inclusion of the red and orange pigment inks is to increase the R1900 color gamut which the two inks do. The R1900 has the widest color gamut of any Epson printer. And the inclusion of the Gloss Optimizer is to eliminate "bronzing" from glossy prints which it effectively does. You ought not to be so cynical about these enhancements. And regards to PopPhoto, the reason they "gush" over every review is simply because they, as an editorial policy, won't publish reviews of photo equipment that reviewed badly. Their "public" reasoning is that they don't want to waste limited magazine space on products they can't recommend. (Of course, the real reason is probably they don't want to upset their advertisers by publishing bad reviews of their products.) But the PopPhoto Labs cameras, lenses, and printers test results that they do publish are accurate and reliable. That has been my experience for the past 20 years of reading the magazine and their test results have usually always matched those from other reputable sources too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buck Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 I have been very pleased with the Canon 9000, 8 ink cartdridges, amazing color. will print up to a 13x19, does well with the 11x14. Also will handle the photorag Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnigro Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 Get the Epson 3800 but you MUST buy a monitor and printer profiler. The Colormunki made by Xrite is a superb little machine. After simple calibrations what's on your screen is what your printer will put out. Custom profiles for all the different papers you use will far exceed those provided by the paper manufacturers. Save you a ton of money in wasted paper and ink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patricklavoie Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 "..Custom profiles for all the different papers you use will far exceed those provided by the paper manufacturers.." for sure, Michael dont have or never seen a 3800 in action!? You dont need any custonm profile if you use a 3800 and up using epson ink and paper. I test it myself, and it was a bad decision..that didtn cost much, but just to make sure myself. The epson profile are really good, if you know how to print..only 1 way. not 2-3..1 only good way to print. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mel_unruh Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Count me as another happy user of the HP B9180. Both color & BW portraits look supurb. However, it has not been the outstanding print quality that has me sold. It is HP's service. I had an issue with this printer with some banding. We ran some tests with the support tech, who decided it must be the printheads. They REPLACED THEM ALL! Then on top of that, because we used a bunch of ink testing things, (I hope you're sitting down for this) they also sent a complete set of ink cartridges. All of this was completely free of charge. The B9180 - Outstanding print quality (up to 13X19). Outstanding service. Check it out. Mel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aplumpton Posted October 5, 2008 Share Posted October 5, 2008 Mel, that is great news. Epson makes good printers, but their reputation vis-a-vis HP and Canon is overstated. The competition these days puts all these printers at a similar level. I make my choice for the HP 9180 based upon reviews but also ink cost (better to have larger ink cartridges for cosr per print value) and quality. Wilhelm Imaging Research has given the HP inks a 200+ year endurance rating. You got fine service. The 8 inks are probably worth at least half the cost of a new printer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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