Recommend a A3 Printer?

[maritimus831]

hey guys, can u recommend me a good printer that can print A3 size? which performs better, and which is cheaper? can they be used with Continuous Inking Systems?

also, are epson ink cartridges contain print head? i heard from a friend that canon print head is built it, so if something goes wrong when using CIS, print head spoilt, have to buy a new printer, but if using epson, can change ink cartridge as the cartridge is mounted with print head on it

[kajun_liu]

i'm using canon i9950 with CIS(inknovation), quality is ok, color is not as bright as original inks, but amazingly, when using ori inks on konica premium glossy paper, fade faster than non ori inks(CIS).

[rueyloon]

nothing but an epson, I've used both epson and canon A3 printers, if color fastness is important to you and you plan to use original ink, use epson.

[kex]

i have no experience with Canon printer,but the prints i get from my Epson 7800 are really really good.
It's so simple to get a print really close to wad u see on a callibrated monitor.

[Watcher]

There are two A3+ Epson printers right now. The R1800 and R2400. It really depends on what you are printing to select either printer. If you want to get more confused, read DPReview where there the question is asked many times. Both have CIS though the best from the various comments is from US (Ink Republic).

R1800 - Best for RGB printing and glossy/semi-gloss printing, not so great for color separation, reasonably good for B/W, can print with both MK and PK (matt and photo black) without changing ink tanks

R2400 - Best for b/w and color separation Can take in thicker paper than R1800 (1.3mm vs 0.5mm) for those special art paper eg Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 460 GSM, canvas, etc

[Neo]

Originally Posted by maritimus831 hey guys, can u recommend me a good printer that can print A3 size? which performs better, and which is cheaper? can they be used with Continuous Inking Systems? also, are epson ink cartridges contain print head? i heard from a friend that canon print head is built it, so if something goes wrong when using CIS, print head spoilt, have to buy a new printer, but if using epson, can change ink cartridge as the cartridge is mounted with print head on it

Hi there,

I think your friend is confused. Both Canon and Epson uses print-heads that are separate from the ink cartridges (i.e they are in the printer itself). The difference is that the Canon print head is designed to be removable and replaceable by the user, so you can just flip the catch and change the print head, while the Epson requires you to lug the entire printer to the service centre to replace the print head.

If you intend to use 3rd party inks (which I dun advice if you're concerned about life-span of the print), do check out the numerous user experience with Canon and Epson's printhead durability. I'd advice you to go with Canon for trouble-free operations, if there's a CIS system for it.

[Watcher]

Neo is right that both do not have print heads on their ink carts; HP does. This shows in the significant difference in the price of the ink carts. Also, yes, Canon can have user replacable heads.

The Epson heads on these two pro printers however are so durable, people have printed > 10,000 A4 with no problem as they are piezo-electric vs thermal on Canon printers which can burn out if you print continuously. Someone here had mentioned it before. Furthermore, a printhead cost a significant percentage of the printer. If you printer has run out of warranty, it might be cheaper to get a new printer...

As for CIS, Ink Republic has a great reputation. You can even use other 3rd party inks like those from MIS, WeInk, etc. Many have no problems with it.

[Neo]

I don't know who had a problem with burnt out Canon print head, but I (and many others) had nothing but positive experience with Canon. No burning out or clogging (common with other brand), even though I've personally printed 800 over A4 photo prints and more than 1000 CD labels (I'm using it commercially). Search the threads in this section and you'll see the user's feedback on their various brands of print head.

Watcher has different experience from me with regards to use of third-party inks. I've had bad encounters with such inks, so I'll stay with original inks and experiment with only third-party papers (trying out Hammamule papers... not bad... but a high premium over Canon's MP101 matte paper). Not saying that he's wrong, just that we've different experience. I think the only time I'll risk my printer again would be with specialty 3rd party inks for pure monochrome inks, cuz the Canon b/w tends to run slightly magentish.

If you really intend to try CIS, advice that you try on the more affordable printers like the Canon iP3000 or Epson R210, and not the higher end series first.

[Watcher]

Originally Posted by Neo Watcher has different experience from me with regards to use of third-party inks. I've had bad encounters with such inks, so I'll stay with original inks and experiment with only third-party papers (trying out Hammamule papers... not bad... but a high premium over Canon's MP101 matte paper). Not saying that he's wrong, just that we've different experience. I think the only time I'll risk my printer again would be with specialty 3rd party inks for pure monochrome inks, cuz the Canon b/w tends to run slightly magentish.

The reason is because if you use specialized 3rd party paper, you will need profiles even if you are using OEM inks, your private profiles even better. Using say the printer's profile for matt on say Albrecht Durer would not give you the best outcome. 3rd party inks would definately need private profiles (matching the ink to the specific paper) to get to a good color result.

Those Hahnemuhle papers are used for several reasons, most often because of its archival (rag + neutral + buffer + no OBA) which can only be maximized by using together with pigment inks. Another reason is because of the paper giving very different texture and effects due to the absorbtion of the inks.

There are very few out there using these expensive paper on Canon printers. A check on DPReview will give you a feel.

Originally Posted by neo If you really intend to try CIS, advice that you try on the more affordable printers like the Canon iP3000 or Epson R210, and not the higher end series first.

This, I agree unless the vendor is willing to foot all the bills for any issue incurred...