Good InkJet?

[mendel_leisk]

<p>I have a HP B9180, photo quality 13x19 inkjet. It's given good results, but of late it's just one issue on top of another.</p>

<p>Recently tried to print only to find it had lost it's network connection. Downloaded HP's "Print and Scan Doctor". It supposedly sorted things out. I sent a test page through, and it comes back with warnings, more warnings, and finally refuses to print to low cartridge.</p>

<p>Replace that cartridge (mail order purchase, took several days), repeat process, same warnings, *another* cartridge reported low, refusing to print.</p>

<p>That's it: time to recyle the printer... Oddly, at the beginning of the process all cartridges were reporting generous levels...</p>

<p>Anyway, enough rant:</p>

<p>Any suggestions for a mid-level 13x19 inkjet, or other? Reasonable ink price, decent quality, minimum of trouble? FWIW, I'm a very infrequent printer, which could be part of the issue.</p>

<p>Or is it a fool's mission these days: just give up and head for Costco?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for any suggestions.</p>

[digitaldog]

<p>Epson 3880, hard to beat! And no, don’t give up on Costco. While nice, they can’t get close to the quality potential of something like a good Epson ink jet on nice paper. Gamut, longevity, your ability to control the process are all key.</p>

[curt wiler]

<p>+1 for the Epson 3880. I had a similar run of troubles with an HP B9180 several years ago, compounded by continually plugged nozzles and an overflowing waste tank that smeared ink on the print heads and transferred to the paper. Partly my fault for not printing more often - but with the Epson I have had zero problems when running a batch of prints every couple of weeks.</p>

[mendel_leisk]

<p>Thanks all, I'll check it out!</p>

<p>Hmm, I go to B&H to look into it, and see I've already got it in my cart. Must have put it in to see the price, something like that.</p>

[Spearhead]

<blockquote>

<p>While nice, they can’t get close to the quality potential of something like a good Epson ink jet on nice paper.</p>

</blockquote>

<p> <br>

My local Costco uses the Epson 7880 with the profile available online.</p>

[mendel_leisk]

<p>The 3880 is capable of printing 17" wide. Do they have a comparable 13" printer?</p>

[chris_letts]

<p>HP make brilliant laser printers but I don't think they've ever got the hang of colour printing - go Epson or (my preference) Canon. It's still usually cheaper to get the photos printed commercially though.</p>

[digitaldog]

 

 

<blockquote>

<p>My local Costco uses the Epson 7880 with the profile available online.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I don’t believe all Costco’s use Epsons and even if they did, someone who’s a decent printer will produce a better print, with more control in less time and I suspect less money once they pay for the printer. Of course lots of people don’t want to print which is AOK with me. </p>

 

 

[digitaldog]

 

 

<blockquote>

<p>The 3880 is capable of printing 17" wide. Do they have a comparable 13" printer?</p>

</blockquote>

There is the 2880, the 3880’s little brother but in the long run, the 3880 is a way better unit and will save you the difference in cost due to the larger ink carts. Keep in mind that Epson basically sells the printers at cost. They nail you on ink.

 

 

[patricklavoie]

<p><em>The 3880 is capable of printing 17" wide. Do they have a comparable 13" printer?</em></p>

<p>the R3000 (849$) will be perfect for color and BW if you need only a print that is 13 inch wide.. the 3880 (1300$) is the big brother where you can print 17wide... the R3000 is the best bet for is price. But the 2880 is also a really good runner.. at 499$ this is a real deal.</p>

<p>Just remember that the less expensive the printer is, the higher cost it will be to get ink.</p>

<p>The 2880 use a 10ml ink cart for 20$ vs the 80ml at 60$ for the same ink cart... 3x the price for 6x the ink.. do the math.</p>

[Robin Smith]

<p>Let someone else do your printing. I've had Epsons and HPs - in the end they all give you grief - now its someone else's problem not mine.</p>

[mendel_leisk]

<p>Thanks again to all. Will think on it, including the Costco option ;)</p>

[mendel_leisk]

<p>Here's an interesting site, apparently not linked with Costco, basically a tips page on printing through Costco:</p>

<p><a href="http://photsy.com/blog/?p=457#setup">http://photsy.com/blog/?p=457#setup</a></p>

<p>I tried a print of one of my old color slide scans, made with Scan Elite 5400. Didn't fuss with downsampling, just cropped it to exactly 2/3 ratio, tweaked the curve a little (the jpeg was initially created through Vuescan, then uploaded it (maybe 10~15 seconds). I made sure (per the above link) to untick the auto color correction option at Costco end.</p>

<p>Well, a 12"x 18" print came to $3.49, plus tax. Submitted Friday night around 8 pm, it was ready for pickup by noon Saturday. Came out beautifully. Might be the new "printer". Especially with my sporadic usage.</p>

[mendel_leisk]

<p>After some marathon sessions (a few hours, weekends after weekends), googling B9180 issues, and just thinking it through, I've resurrected the beast (knock on wood). Tried various things, including hooking up directly with USB, and installing the identical firmware version. This last one-two punch seemed to do it, the bugger is printing again, even back on network connection. Woohoo!</p>

[mendel_leisk]

<p>Well..., printed a few 4x6's, then this afternoon a 5x7, centred on 8.5x11, trimmed down to 8x10 and framed. The B9180 is back ;)</p>