Printer - Canon vs Epson..your thoughts please


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seankyh

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My Canon S820 photo printer has been acting up again and causing quite bad banding effects despite having changed the printhead recently.
Now thinking of changing printers. 2 caught my eye so far:

Canon iP8500 and the Epson Stylus Photo R800. Can anyone here please share your thoughts on these printers in terms of:
1) Photo Quality, Colour gamut
2) Maintenance and support (any issues?)
3) Abilities (borderless?print on paper roll?)

If you have another printer to recommend, do share as well.
 

I am using the canon Ip8500. It is a very fast printer. Like canon in general.
But colour print are average. Colours are not natural and a bit over saturated.

For BW forget it. It sucks !

For document it is great and again you got speeeed.

Before this canon, I was using an Epson. The quality of the prints was better. Not that great but still better than the canon. Downside is how slow the beast is. Great for BW prints ! :thumbsup:

If you want a fast printer, go for the canon. If you are keen on BW and slightly better colour prints then Epson is for you.

But frankly, if you are keen on quality prints, the only way is the photo lab. They are cheaper these days and a home printer is only for the convenience.

Therefore, I will not switch back to Epson. I will stick with my speedy but not fantastic canon.
 

I am using the canon Ip8500. It is a very fast printer. Like canon in general.
But colour print are average. Colours are not natural and a bit over saturated.

For BW forget it. It sucks !

For document it is great and again you got speeeed.

Before this canon, I was using an Epson. The quality of the prints were better. Not that great but still better than the canon. Downside is how slow the beast is. Great for BW prints ! :thumbsup:

If you want a fast printer, go for the canon. If you are keen on BW and slightly better colour prints then Epson is for you.

But frankly, if you are keen on quality prints, the only way is the photo lab. They are cheaper these days and a home printer is only for the convenience.

Therefore, I will not switch back to Epson. I will stick with my speedy but not fantastic canon.

Thanks for your thoughts. Appreciate it. I'm not looking for a fast printer but a good one that produces good quality. I don't have images good enough for the photolab yet :bsmilie:
I've used the Canon S820 for more than 6 years already. The printhead keeps dying and each time I replace it, it costs about SGD90. Whereas the Epson printers I heard have the print head on each cartridge. My canon now has quite severe banding which is getting on my nerves... Another thing I like about the Epson R800 is that it can take roll paper. This is great for pano printing.

You know anywhere I can buy an Epson R800 cheap cheap?
 

I've thrown away two Epson printers so far because of clogging. The printhead is not on the cartridge (that's HP) and the print head is not easily replaceable.

The iP8500 is similar to my i9900 in that it does great colour photos with 8 print cartridges. It's a better than average printer but since they've been discontinued, you might get a good deal.
 

I've thrown away two Epson printers so far because of clogging. The printhead is not on the cartridge (that's HP) and the print head is not easily replaceable.

The iP8500 is similar to my i9900 in that it does great colour photos with 8 print cartridges. It's a better than average printer but since they've been discontinued, you might get a good deal.

yeah just learnt that the iP8500 has been discontinued. What happened to all the photoprinters? Doesn't seem to be any good ones. Maybe i should look at HP.
 

A loyal Epson Colour Printers since the first time I bought one way way way back in the early 90s. Cost me almost $1000 back then for a 300dpi one (it last me 7yrs till I retire it due to better printers around )...They have never let me down. My silly company refuse to believe me to believe me and for the last 12 yrs where I work...all the Canon they bought..are all dead and most only last about 6mths to 1 yr. But they are not so bad...HP printers are worst in my experience.
 

A loyal Epson Colour Printers since the first time I bought one way way way back in the early 90s. Cost me almost $1000 back then for a 300dpi one (it last me 7yrs till I retire it due to better printers around )...They have never let me down. My silly company refuse to believe me to believe me and for the last 12 yrs where I work...all the Canon they bought..are all dead and most only last about 6mths to 1 yr. But they are not so bad...HP printers are worst in my experience.

I am eyeing the Epson Photo Stylus R800 ;p The price quoted was SGD698. You got kangtao to get cheaper onnot?

I sent my S820 to Canon just now. They advised me to not go ahead with the print head replacement because it will cost SGD110 - not worth it.

I'm trying self repair now.. wish me luck :sticktong

Secretly, I'm hoping that I spoil it completely so that can apply to my Finance Controller for the Epson R800 :bsmilie:
 

I cannot help you to find an Epson cheap cheap, but I think Epson is the way to go nowadays.

If you print around 200 prints in one batch, the photo lab is cheaper and better than the printer. 50 SGD for 200 pics.

You just have to wait a bit and gather them.


Thanks for your thoughts. Appreciate it. I'm not looking for a fast printer but a good one that produces good quality. I don't have images good enough for the photolab yet :bsmilie:
I've used the Canon S820 for more than 6 years already. The printhead keeps dying and each time I replace it, it costs about SGD90. Whereas the Epson printers I heard have the print head on each cartridge. My canon now has quite severe banding which is getting on my nerves... Another thing I like about the Epson R800 is that it can take roll paper. This is great for pano printing.

You know anywhere I can buy an Epson R800 cheap cheap?
 

yeah just learnt that the iP8500 has been discontinued. What happened to all the photoprinters? Doesn't seem to be any good ones. Maybe i should look at HP.

The 8500 didn't last too long. The price was too high and too close to the price of the i9900 (US$350 vs. US$499) so I think it couldn't sell very well.

The Pro9000 is equivalent to the i9900, but with different inks and the Pro9500 is great but a small fortune for a personal printer but the colour fidelity of either is great.

I've heard people rave about HP, but I really don't trust anything below their professional printers. I'd choose Epson ahead of HP any day, as long as I printed twice a week to keep it from clogging. Unfortunately, in my case, the power was off during 3 different hurricanes long enough to clog the printer severely and the printer utility never cleaned it well enough. (Sorry, if I seem confusing but I see the personal market as 1. Canon, 2. Epson, 3. HP and the professional market in the reverse order.)
 

I am eyeing the Epson Photo Stylus R800 ;p The price quoted was SGD698. You got kangtao to get cheaper onnot?

I sent my S820 to Canon just now. They advised me to not go ahead with the print head replacement because it will cost SGD110 - not worth it.

I'm trying self repair now.. wish me luck :sticktong

Secretly, I'm hoping that I spoil it completely so that can apply to my Finance Controller for the Epson R800 :bsmilie:

Nah...no special connection to get the best price for it. hehe...I just go pay and get one. It is not like that expensive these day to buy even a high end model. The sticky part is the expensive ink! heh. But so far I have been using a compatible and the colour is not too bad. BUt I notice the more pricey printer you buy...the original ink tend to be abit cheaper. Buy one of those low end ones and you get chocked heheheh..

Wah R800 got to get a FC to approve it? heheh If you are in the designing field that should be an easy sell but if your office is like a typical admin type where printing super sharp graphic is concern, I doubt your FC will be able to justify that! heheheh....
 

Nah...no special connection to get the best price for it. hehe...I just go pay and get one. It is not like that expensive these day to buy even a high end model. The sticky part is the expensive ink! heh. But so far I have been using a compatible and the colour is not too bad. BUt I notice the more pricey printer you buy...the original ink tend to be abit cheaper. Buy one of those low end ones and you get chocked heheheh..

Wah R800 got to get a FC to approve it? heheh If you are in the designing field that should be an easy sell but if your office is like a typical admin type where printing super sharp graphic is concern, I doubt your FC will be able to justify that! heheheh....

Bro, my FC is at home one lar... Work they don't even let me print in colour :bsmilie:
This is for home use. I really love the fact that the R800 can print paper roll ;p
Wait for next PC show...
 

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